Guadalajara

Less densely populated than the major Native American areas to the south, the Guadalajara region was home to the Nahua Indians, who lived in scattered sedentary agricultural villages. These Native Americans were conquered by Captain Nuno de Guzman between 1530 and 1532. Guzman founded the first city of Guadalajara in 1532. The settlement moved several times before finding its permanent home in 1542, after which Guadalajara became one of the dominant cities of western Mexico. By 1550 the bishop of New Galicia had relocated to Guadalajara, and by 1560 Guadalajara had become the administrative center for all of western Mexico and the capital of New Galicia under the authority of the viceroy of New Spain.

Guadalajara grew slowly, containing approximately 1,500 people in 1600, when, according to one scholar, the inhabitants “ran hares through the streets with their hunting dogs.” In the early years more than half the Spaniards living in the city were administrative, although MERCHANTS and livestock traders quickly became important as well. Because the climate was arid, AGRICULTURE was relatively inconsequential, but livestock raising was central. Guadalajarans consequently often lacked wheat and maize but never wanted for inexpensive meat.

By the 18th century Guadalajara became a major, if isolated, urban center comprising 350 city blocks and a large suburban area. Impressive buildings, including a cathedral (consecrated in 1618) and the Government Palace (1643), graced the city by the end of the colonial period.

Further reading: Eric Van Young, Hacienda and Market in Eighteenth-Century Mexico: The Rural Economy of the Guadalajara Region, 1675-1820 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981).

-Donald Duhadaway