Santa Cruz de Rosales is a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
and seat of the
municipality of Rosales, in the northern
Mexican state
The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...
of
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
. As of 2010, the town had a population of 5,570,
up from 5,377 as of 2005
[ Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. ''Principales resultados por localidad 2005'' (ITER). Retrieved on October 25, 2008]
History
The Rosales region, formed by the middle and lower reaches of the
San Pedro River, was evangelized during the seventeenth century by
Franciscans
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
who settled among the indigenous
Conchos
The Río Conchos (Conchos River) is a large river in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It joins the Río Bravo del Norte (known in the United States as the Rio Grande) at the town of Ojinaga, Chihuahua.
Description
The Rio Conchos is the main r ...
and founded the
Misión de San Pedro de Conchos in the mid-17th century. In 1714, the Franciscans planted a new mission with the name of Santa Cruz de Tapacolmes on the eastern side of the Río San Pedro and west of what is today the city of
Delicias. The mission remained at that place until 1753, when it was relocated to its current place on the western side of the Río San Pedro, to improve defensibility from native attacks. The grounds where the new settlement was founded were donated by Sergeant Major
Juan Antonio Trasviña y Retes and
Nueva Vizcaya governor
Manuel de San Juan y Santa Cruz. The settlement received the epithet of ''Tapacolmes'' by the Indians that Trasviña y Retes brought from the
Ojinaga region to populate the settlement.
Santa Cruz de Tapacolmes became an important population center of the region. It was first a subdivision of the township of
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
. In 1820, with the reinstatement of the
Constitution of Cadiz, it was designated the seat of the new Municipalidad de Tapacolmes and a town hall was constructed. On July 12, 1831 a decree of the
Congress of Chihuahua
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...
gave it the status of Villa and the town and municipality was renamed ''Santa Cruz de Rosales'' in honor of the insurgent revolutionary hero
Víctor Rosales
Víctor Rosales; (1776 – 20 May 1817), was a Mexican military officer born in Zacatecas, in the central Viceroyalty of New Spain. Rosales was a field marshal in the Mexican War of Independence.
In the Mexican War of Independence, Rosales ser ...
. The name was soon simplified by the locals to Rosales.
In 1848, after the signing of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ( es, Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo), officially the Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits, and Settlement between the United States of America and the United Mexican States, is the peace treaty that was signed on 2 ...
in February, the state of
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
was again invaded by the US army under
General Sterling Price, claiming the existence of a state of war between the two countries and rejecting the explanations of Governor
Ángel Trías Álvarez, who had participated in signing the peace treaty. Trias then retreated with his Chihuahua government to Rosales, where on March 16, 1848 Price's forces attacked the Mexican garrison under what has come to be known as the
Battle of Santa Cruz de Rosales
The Battle of Santa Cruz de Rosales was an engagement of the Mexican–American War that took place after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had been signed.
Background
Arriving in El Paso on 23 February, Brigadier General Sterling Price, commande ...
. The Mexicans resisted under the command of Trías until they were exhausted, at which point they had to surrender. After Price's superiors in the US learned of the action, Price was recalled back to El Paso with his forces and reprimanded for his insubordinate and unauthorized behavior.
In 1862, on his retreat to the north of Mexico in the face of the
invasion of Mexico by the French forces of Napoleon III, President
Benito Juárez arrived at Rosales, who was received with a banquet and dance in his honor. During the celebration, Juárez agreed to dance to the second song played during the festivities, a polka called "La Escobita" which was to his great liking. When he later moved to the city of
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
, he had chance to hear the piece again but, as he did not know its name, he called the song ''La Segunda de Rosales'', a name that acquired popular roots and how it is still known to this day.
Towards the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the importance of Rosales in the region declined to the benefit of the nearby
Villa of Meoqui
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became sm ...
, where the central railway passed through. But in the second half of the 20th century, the region received a great boost. In the 1940s, the federal government built the Francisco I. Madero Dam, better known as the Las Vírgenes Dam, just five kilometers upstream from Rosales and which, together with other flood control structures recently built, created Irrigation District 05, today one of the most productive agricultural zones in the state of Chihuahua. (The
Municipality of Delicias
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
, formed in 1935 from parts of the Santa Cruz de Rosales and the Meoqui municipalities, became the greatest beneficiary of this water project.)
On January 22, 1992, a new decree of the
Congress of Chihuahua
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...
restored the original name of Santa Cruz de Rosales to the community.
Geography
Location
Santa Cruz de Rosales is located in the central area of the state of Chihuahua and in the valley formed by the
San Pedro River, one of the main rivers in the state and a tributary of the
Conchos River. The town is located in the northern margin of the municipality of Rosales at the geographical coordinates and sits at an altitude of 1,180 meters above sea level. Two state roads connect Santa Cruz de Rosales with its closest neighbors,
Meoqui
Meoqui is one of the 67 municipalities of Chihuahua, in northern Mexico. The municipal seat lies at Pedro Meoqui. The municipality covers an area of
370 km², making it one of the smallest in the state but one of the most densely populate ...
and
Delicias, which are 25 and 15 kilometers away respectively. The road that joins Santa Cruz de Rosales to Meoqui also connects it with
Congregación Ortíz, the second most populated town in the municipality.
Demographics
According to the results of the Population and Housing Census conducted by the
National Institute of Statistics and Geography
The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI by its name in es, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática) is an autonomous agency of the Mexican Government dedicated to coordinate the National System of Stat ...
in 2010, the total population of Santa Cruz de Rosales is 5,570 inhabitants, with 2,746 men and 2,824 women.
[ This makes it the 27th-largest municipality in Chihuahua by population.
]
See also
*Battle of Santa Cruz de Rosales
The Battle of Santa Cruz de Rosales was an engagement of the Mexican–American War that took place after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo had been signed.
Background
Arriving in El Paso on 23 February, Brigadier General Sterling Price, commande ...
References
Populated places in Chihuahua (state)
{{Chihuahua-geo-stub