Pinal de Amoles - History

History

The word “pinal” is Spanish and means “pine forest.” “Amoles” is from the Nahuatl “amolli” – a name of a root often used as a detergent. The municipality’s seal contains an “amilli”, along with an eagle with its wings extended to signify hospitality. There are branches and four pine cones to represent the various conifers that grow abundantly in the area, the Cerro de Media Luna mountain and a pick and shovel to represent the area’s past of mining silver, mercury, gold, antimony and other metals. A cross and sword represents the Spanish conquest and evangelization. The date of 1932 signifies the establishment of the municipality. The date of 19 March 1606 represents the founding of the Spanish town.

The first inhabitants of the region were hunter-gatherers as early as 6000 BC. Starting from the 13th century groups of Pames and Chichimeca Jonaz came to the area. Communities of these groups were still found in areas such as El Cuervo, Puerto de Vigas, El Rodezno, Tonatico, Escanela and others when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. Starting from 1534, the Spanish established the province of Xilotepec, which encompassed much of the land around what is now the Sierra Gorda in Querétaro, but it did not manage to dominate this area for centuries because of the fierce resistance of the native peoples, especially the Chichimeca Jonaz. However, the Spanish penetrated the area for evangelization, military purposes and prospecting. The first mine was in Escanelas in 1599. Pinal de Amoles, initially called Real de San José de Amoles, was established in 1606. It was named an Alcaldía Mayor Real with official jurisdiction over what is now the municipalities of Arroyo Seco, Jalpan de Serra, Landa de Matamoros, Pinal de Amoles, San Joaquín, Peñamiller and Cadereyta de Montes. However, this seat of government would be transferred to Cadereyta as the silver from the mines dwindled by 1675. However, this Alcaldía Mayor would form over half of the future state of Querétaro.

Another tactic the Spanish used to try and dominate the region was the establishment of missions to convert the indigenous peoples to Catholicism. The mission at Ahuacatlán was founded in 1693 by the Dominicans.

Complete Spanish domination would come in the mid 18th century, with the defeat of the Chichimeca Jonaz at the Battle of Media Luna, which took place in the municipality. To consolidate this hold, Spanish missionaries under Junípero Serra established five Franciscan missions in the heart of the Chichimeca Sierra Gorda just to the north of Pinal de Amoles, in Jalpan de Serra and other municipalities. As municipality’s settlements grew, new churches were established. The church of San Jose was constructed in 1770. The Bucarieli Mission was founded by Guadalupe Soriano in 1775. He also built the church at San Antonio Escanelilla.

After Mexico’s independence, most of the area’s mines gave out, eliminating the base of most of the area’s economy. Since then, Pinal de Amoles and the rest of the Sierra Gorda in Querétaro would remain underdeveloped compared to the rest of the state. The district of Jalpan was founded in 1825 which included Arroyo Seco, Landa de Matamoros, Jalpan and Pinal de Amoles. During the second half of the 19th century, this district began to subdivide. First the municipality of Ahuacatlán de Guadalupe separated from Jalpan de Serra in 1866, and included Pinal de Amoles, San Pedro Escanela and Bucareli. It would then become a sub prefecture of Jalpan, with government offices moved to Pinal de Amoles in 1894. Other government reorganization included the naming of Pinal de Amoles as a “municipal presidencia” in 1914, Pinal de Amoles was officially declared a town and San Antonio Escanellilla becoming a sub delegation in 1924. The municipality’s current status as a free municipality came in 1932, with Ahuacatlán, San Antonio Escanelilla, San Pedro Escanela and Bucareli as delegations. In 1944, the delegation of Santa Águeda de Pusunguía was added.

While mining declined after Independence, it never ceased completely and there were various operations in the 19th and 20th centuries. En English company installed itself to mine silver in Pinal de Amoles in 1865. A Mexican company was founded in 1887 for the same purpose. A US company called El Soyatal began mining antimony in 1944. Mercury mining began again in 1960, which caused an economic boom, but by 1970, prices for this element fell and ended most of the mining here.

In 2001, the state taxation authority identified major irregularities with the public records of Pinal de Amoles with up to eight million pesos missing.

Ecological projects such as those to clean the waters in local canyons were begun between 2001 and 2003. In 2007, a sewerage treatment plant was inaugurated in Ahuacatlán, mostly paid for by the state and federal governments. The goal of the plant is to prevent contamination of waters in the Escanela, Chuveje and Ahuacatlán Rivers, which lead to the Jalpan Dam.