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

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

, 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 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, or War of Reform ( es, Guerra de Reforma), also known as the Three Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Tres Años), was a civil war in Mexico lasting from January 11, 1858 to January 11, 1861, fought between liberals and conservativ ...

(1857–1860).

Geography

The municipality is located in the historic region of the Carrizal Valley which used to be part of the

Valle de las Salinas Valle may refer to: * Valle (surname) Geography *"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina *University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colombia ...

of the former New Kingdom of León. General Zuazua Municipality is bordered by the municipalities of Cienega de Flores to the west and northwest,

Salinas Victoria Salinas Victoria, is a municipality located to in the center of the state of Nuevo León, Mexico. It shares borders with 11 municipalities including, to the north Villaldama and Sabinas Hidalgo; to the south Escobedo and Apodaca; to the east Higu ...

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 and

Pesquería Pesquería Municipality is a municipality of the state of Nuevo León in Mexico. It is located at 25º47´N 100º3´W and above sea level. It is part of the suburban area of the Monterrey Metropolitan area. Its distance to the Monterrey city ...

to the south.

History

It was founded in 1630 as the

Hacienda An ''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 Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (Du ...

, 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 a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

. 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 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 ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

invasions from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

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, 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