General Zuazua Municipality is a municipality and town in the northeastern Mexican state of

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

, it is located in the north-central part of the state, which has been called peripheral region because of its proximity to Monterrey metropolitan area. The municipality is recognized in Nuevo León because of its well-known

Rodeos Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

and the Empalmes, a local dish from this municipality.

Name

The name honors General Juan Zuazua Esparza, who fought in the

Reform War The Reform War (17 December 185711 January 1861) or War of Reform (), also known as the Three Years' War (), and the Mexican Civil War, was a complex civil conflict in Mexico fought between Mexican liberals and conservatives with regional var ...

(1857–1860).

Localities

Geography

The municipality is located in the historic region of the Carrizal Valley which used to be part of the Valle de las Salinas of the former

New Kingdom of León The New Kingdom of León (), was an administrative territory of the Spanish Empire, politically ruled by the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was located in an area corresponding generally to the present-day northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. ...

. General Zuazua Municipality is bordered by the municipalities of Cienega de Flores to the west and northwest, Salinas Victoria to the west,

Higueras Higueras is a Spanish municipality in the ''comarca'' of Alto Palancia, in the Province of Castellón, Valencian Community. In 2015, the population was 91. History The village was first mentioned in the 13th century as ''Torre de la Higuera''. ...

to the north, Marín to the east, and

Apodaca Apodaca () is a city and its surrounding municipality that is part of Monterrey Metropolitan area. It lies in the northeastern part of the Monterrey Metropolitan Area. It is known for becoming recently a heavy industrialized city. As of 2019, ...

and Pesquería to the south.

History

It was founded in 1630 as the

Hacienda A ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards ...

de Abajo by an expedition of Spanish settlers led by Spanish captain Enrique Gutiérrez de Lara, in a region known as Valle del Carizal or Carrizal Valley, within the jurisdiction of the Salinas Valley or Valle de las Salinas, the

de Abajo changed its name in 1650 as the

Santa Elena, in honor of

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

. In 1807, the Carrizal Valley was separated from the Salinas Valley. Santa Helena during the Spanish colonial period had exhaustive battles against the nomadic Native Americans who were exterminated because of their cruelty and frequent raids against the Spanish settlements in the region, primarily perpetuated by the Cuanales and Aiguales, both of

Coahuiltecan The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas. The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter ga ...

origin who inhabited the Salinas Valley. In the early years of the 19th century the Cuanales and Aiguales were almost extinct but the war still continued with the subsequent

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

invasions from

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

to sack towns, mostly in northern Nuevo León during much of the 19th century, by 1840, one of the most intense battles took place in Santa Helena, between the Comanche and the New Leonese Army led by general

Mariano Arista José Mariano Martín Buenaventura Ignacio Nepomuceno García de Arista Nuez (26 July 1802 – 7 August 1855) was a Mexican soldier and politician who also became president of Mexico. He was in command of the Mexican forces at the opening batt ...

, who achieved important victories against them. Arista's army stayed in the hacienda of San Pedro after the battle. On March 2, 1863 the Nuevo León state congress issued a decree by then governor of the state,

Santiago Vidaurri José Santiago Vidaurri Valdez (July 24, 1809 – July 8, 1867) was a controversial and powerful governor of the northern Mexican states of Nuevo León and Coahuila between 1855 and 1864. He was an advocate of federalism. In 1855, he supporte ...

, in which the hacienda of Santa Helena was separated from the Carrizal Valley, created as municipality and renamed as the General Zuazua village, in honor of General Juan Zuazua Esparza, hero of the war of reform. In 1875, the Santa Elena church was finally built and by 1979 was restored, bringing it back its original architecture. Today, it is one of the main tourist attractions of the town, along with the hacienda of San Pedro.

References

External links

Municipal government website
(Spanish) * http://www.inafed.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/nuevoleon/municipios/19025a.htm History of General Zuazua (Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:General Zuazua Municipality Municipalities of Nuevo León