Angangueo
Encyclopedia
Angangueo is a town and municipality
located in far eastern Michoacán
state in central Mexico
noted for its history of mining and its location in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. It is located in high rugged forested mountains, with the town in a small canyon. The town was officially founded shortly after a large mineral deposit was discovered in the area in the very late 18th century. The mines gave out in the 20th century, but promotion of the area due to its proximity to two butterfly sanctuaries has brought in some tourism.
The main plaza is flanked by two churches: the parish of San Simón and the Inmaculada Concepcíon. The clocks on the two churches often show different times. The Inmaculada Concepción church was built by a single family, in pink stone in Gothic style
to imitate in miniature the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
. The main altar was made of marble from Italy, with images of Saint Joseph
and the Virgin Mary from Paris. The tabernacle contains the “chalice of Angangueo,” an important example of Baroque
silverwork. The San Simon parish is smaller, built with blue-grey stone. Other chapels include Santa Maria Gorita, Misericordia and Jesus Nazareno.
The Casa Parker was an old train station. In the mid 20th century, it became the home of Bill and Joyce Parker, and English/American couple. Bill was the last mine administrator of the American Smelting and Refining Company before the mines were nationalized. The couple became part of the community and eventually their house was preserved and made into a historical museum. Another museum in the area is the El Molino.
The Monument to the Miner is located on a lookout over the town and the Señor del Rescate Chapel, which is now the site of municipal offices.
While residents in and around the town still extract some lead and silver from the hillsides, the town is best known for being in middle of much of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, with two sanctuaries open to the public nearby: Sierra Chincua and El Rosario. The town’s association with the butterflies came when magazines such as National Geographic and México Desconocido began promoting it, along with neighboring Ocampo . The town hosts an annual monarch butterfly festival each year in February to bid goodbye as the insects head north again. The festival consists of artistic and cultural events as well as those related to the region’s traditions and customs. Another annual cultural event is the Day of the Miner on 11 July, which is held to honor a way of life that many in the town do not wish to lose. The rest of the municipality’s annual festivals are religious including the feasts of Santa Cruz on May 3, San Simon on October 28 and the Immaculate Conception on December 8.
There is bus service between Angangueo and Zitácuaro
.
.
The municipality has preschool, primary, middle and vocational schools. The latter two are mostly provided by distance education. Public schools in the municipality include 11 de Julio pre school, 25 de Abril preschool, Benito Juarez preschool, Carmen Serdan preschool, Cbtis 18 vocational highschool, Educacion y Patria primary school, Patito Feo preschool, Emiliano Zapata primary, Escuela Primaria primary, Escuela Telesecundaria Estv 16 314 middle school, Escuela Telesecundaria Estv 16 735 middle school and Escuela Secundaria Tecnica 2 middle school. There is one private primary school called Corregidora.
and the Sierra de Angangueo. Two rivers pass through, the Puerco and the Carrillos along with several arroyos. The climate is temperate to cold with average temperatures between 6.3 and 24.3C. Some areas receive rains only in the summer and other all year round. It is mostly covered in forests of conifers with pines, oyamel and juniper as well as mixed forests of conifers with broad-leafed trees such as cedar. Wildlife include weasels, rabbits, squirrels, skunks, deer and various birds. Much of the municipality is part of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, especially Cerro de las Papas, which contains a major colony of the butterflies each winter.
Another quarter of the economy is from agriculture with corn and wheat as the principle crops, along with barley, beans and fava beans. Other crops include apples, peaches, pulque maguey
, pears, and capulin
. Livestock such as cattle, pigs, sheep and domestic fowl accounts for about five percent. It is the major source of income for a number of communities. There is still some very limited mining of copper, zinc, lead, iron, silver and gold, with some food processing and metal products.
According to the 2005 census, there were sixteen people in the municipality who spoke an indigenous language, mostly Mazahua
and Mixe
. The dominant religion is Catholicism.
When Nuño de Guzmán arrived to the area in 1550, he described it as a “no-man’s land” with no indication of the riches that were underneath the mountains and forests here. The lands were awarded to Gonzalo de Salazar
by viceroy Antonio de Mendoza
as part of a larger area encompassing Zitácuaro and Taximaroa shortly thereafter. Some mining and settlement began in the mid 16th century, but it remained relatively unpopulated until the very late 18th century, when large deposits of minerals were discovered on what is now called the former hacienda of Angangueo. These minerals included gold, silver, copper and more and brought a rush of people into the area. The town of Angangueo was officially founded in 1792 and it became a municipality in 1831.
During the struggle between Conservative and Liberal forces in Mexico in the 19th century
, possession of the town changed hands. In 1865, General Régules took the town plaza for Conservative forces but Liberal forces retook the town the following year. The Temple of the Inmaculata Concepcion was begun in 1882.
In the middle of the 19th century, mining rights were assigned to an English company called Negociación Minera de las Trojes. In the 20th century, it was then conceded to the U.S. company American Smelting and Refining Company, the last foreign concern to have mining rights. In 1953, an accident in the Dolores Mine claimed twenty five miners and the federal government expropriated the area. It was then managed by the Impulsora Minera de Angangueo, which continued mining here until 1991, when it was decided that the exploitation of the mines were no longer economically feasible. From then to the present, there have been disputes between the shareholders in the Impulsora and former miners and the state of Michoacan over the right to continue mining. The mines are considered to be part of the butterfly reserve.
In the mid 20th century, the town has a population of 10,000, its own newspaper and even a mint. However, it has steadily declined since then as the mines gave out. The town gained a new source of income with tourism with the establishment of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve and the promotion of the butterfly colonies located very near the town by magazines such as National Geographic and Mexico Desconocido, beginning in 1980. This has promoted the opening of hotels and restaurants near the butterfly sites, and small transport services thereto. However, this has not brought the town back to its former size.
President Calderón
visited the disaster area and toured some of the attractions, both on ground and by air. He was accompanied by Michoacan's governor Leonel Godoy
to survey the damage. As an alternative to mining, Calderón suggested developing tourism in Angangueo as a Pueblo Mágico
. However, residents demanded the an assurance that the town will not disappearm, and that jobs will be available.
According to the director of the Forest Commission of Michoacan, Alejandro Méndez, deforestation from legal and illegal logging contributed to the landslides in 2010. In addition, cleared areas on hillsides were used to build homes. The landslides in Angangueo and in other areas such as Zamora have prompted studies by government authorities as to the causes of these events as well as the emergency responses.
Later in February, federal authorities announced that no new residents could move into the town and that the current population would be relocated. The decision was made with the rationale that the landslides create too big a hazard for people to live in the current location and a “New Angangueo” would be built. However, local residents were against the plan. Efforts to relocate the town were officially begun in June 2010, with a projected 600 homes in a location called Barrio Sustentable Monarca. The construction was halted by September of the same year, with only a layout traced on the site and no new homes started.
As tourism is being exploited, the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve runs higher risks of being disturbed as thousands of tourists walk the trails around the forest habitats of the butterfly each year. While the resident population demands other sources for economic stability, the government is implementing methods to boost toursim. No efforts have been made to officially moderate the physical establishments, entertainment, noise and vehicles which are prominently growing in the biosphere area.
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...
located in far eastern Michoacán
Michoacán
Michoacán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 113 municipalities and its capital city is Morelia...
state in central Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
noted for its history of mining and its location in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. It is located in high rugged forested mountains, with the town in a small canyon. The town was officially founded shortly after a large mineral deposit was discovered in the area in the very late 18th century. The mines gave out in the 20th century, but promotion of the area due to its proximity to two butterfly sanctuaries has brought in some tourism.
The town
The town of Angangueo is officially called Mineral de Angangueo to distinguish it from the rest of the municipality. Like most mining towns, Anguangueo has an irregular layout of its streets and blocks, which has remained the same since colonial times. There is one main road, which is called both Nacional and Morelos. This road leads up the canyon and ends at the Plaza de la Constitución. Most of the houses around the town are made of adobe with wood details and red tile roofs. There are also balconies which contain pots with flowers in the summer. Like a number of other mining towns from the same epoch, there are a number of tunnels that connect buildings, like the one that connects the Casa Parker with the Inmaculada Concepción church.The main plaza is flanked by two churches: the parish of San Simón and the Inmaculada Concepcíon. The clocks on the two churches often show different times. The Inmaculada Concepción church was built by a single family, in pink stone in Gothic style
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
to imitate in miniature the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
. The main altar was made of marble from Italy, with images of Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
and the Virgin Mary from Paris. The tabernacle contains the “chalice of Angangueo,” an important example of Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
silverwork. The San Simon parish is smaller, built with blue-grey stone. Other chapels include Santa Maria Gorita, Misericordia and Jesus Nazareno.
The Casa Parker was an old train station. In the mid 20th century, it became the home of Bill and Joyce Parker, and English/American couple. Bill was the last mine administrator of the American Smelting and Refining Company before the mines were nationalized. The couple became part of the community and eventually their house was preserved and made into a historical museum. Another museum in the area is the El Molino.
The Monument to the Miner is located on a lookout over the town and the Señor del Rescate Chapel, which is now the site of municipal offices.
While residents in and around the town still extract some lead and silver from the hillsides, the town is best known for being in middle of much of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, with two sanctuaries open to the public nearby: Sierra Chincua and El Rosario. The town’s association with the butterflies came when magazines such as National Geographic and México Desconocido began promoting it, along with neighboring Ocampo . The town hosts an annual monarch butterfly festival each year in February to bid goodbye as the insects head north again. The festival consists of artistic and cultural events as well as those related to the region’s traditions and customs. Another annual cultural event is the Day of the Miner on 11 July, which is held to honor a way of life that many in the town do not wish to lose. The rest of the municipality’s annual festivals are religious including the feasts of Santa Cruz on May 3, San Simon on October 28 and the Immaculate Conception on December 8.
There is bus service between Angangueo and Zitácuaro
Zitácuaro
Zitácuaro is a city in the Mexican state of Michoacán. The city is the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of the same name, which lies at the extreme eastern side of Michoacán and borders on the adjacent state of México...
.
The municipality
As municipal seat, the town of Angangueo is the local government for about thirty other communities, which together make up a territory of 85.64km2. About half of the municipal population of 9990 (2005) lives in the town proper Other important communities include Colonia Independencia, Jesús Nazareno, Catingón and La Estación. It is located in the far northeast of the state and is part of the Tlalpujahua region. It is bordered by the municipalities of Senguío, Ocampo and Aporo with the State of Mexico to the east. It is mostly rural with just over 2,000 housing units and some public sports facilities in the seat and several other communities. It is directly connected by road to neighboring municipalities of Aporo and TlalpujahuaTlalpujahua
Tlalpujahua is a town and municipality located in the far northeast of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is a former mining town, home of the Dos Estrellas Mine, which was the leading producer of gold in the early 20th century...
.
The municipality has preschool, primary, middle and vocational schools. The latter two are mostly provided by distance education. Public schools in the municipality include 11 de Julio pre school, 25 de Abril preschool, Benito Juarez preschool, Carmen Serdan preschool, Cbtis 18 vocational highschool, Educacion y Patria primary school, Patito Feo preschool, Emiliano Zapata primary, Escuela Primaria primary, Escuela Telesecundaria Estv 16 314 middle school, Escuela Telesecundaria Estv 16 735 middle school and Escuela Secundaria Tecnica 2 middle school. There is one private primary school called Corregidora.
Geography
It is very mountainous terrain with an average altitude of 2,580 meters. Its geography is part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic BeltTrans-Mexican volcanic belt
The Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt also known as the Transvolcanic Belt and locally as the Sierra Nevada , is a volcanic belt that extends 900 km from west to east across central-southern Mexico...
and the Sierra de Angangueo. Two rivers pass through, the Puerco and the Carrillos along with several arroyos. The climate is temperate to cold with average temperatures between 6.3 and 24.3C. Some areas receive rains only in the summer and other all year round. It is mostly covered in forests of conifers with pines, oyamel and juniper as well as mixed forests of conifers with broad-leafed trees such as cedar. Wildlife include weasels, rabbits, squirrels, skunks, deer and various birds. Much of the municipality is part of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, especially Cerro de las Papas, which contains a major colony of the butterflies each winter.
Economy
Tourism related to the butterflies accounts for over one quarter of the municipality’s economy, however it is mostly limited to the municipal seat, which makes most of its living from tourism and commerce. Most of the rest of the land is used for forestry, both legally and illegally. Much of the illegal logging is done on biosphere lands and by organized groups, which have fought back against the operations mounted against them by state and federal authorities.Another quarter of the economy is from agriculture with corn and wheat as the principle crops, along with barley, beans and fava beans. Other crops include apples, peaches, pulque maguey
Pulque
Pulque, or octli, is a milk-colored, somewhat viscous alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey plant, and is a traditional native beverage of Mexico. The drink’s history extends far back into the Mesoamerican period, when it was considered sacred, and its use was limited to...
, pears, and capulin
Capulin
Prunus salicifolia , known as Capulin, is a species of cherry. It is similar to the Jamaica cherry. The capulin is often called the capuli, capoli, capulin, or capolin in both Mexico and Colombia...
. Livestock such as cattle, pigs, sheep and domestic fowl accounts for about five percent. It is the major source of income for a number of communities. There is still some very limited mining of copper, zinc, lead, iron, silver and gold, with some food processing and metal products.
According to the 2005 census, there were sixteen people in the municipality who spoke an indigenous language, mostly Mazahua
Mazahua language
The Mazahua language is an indigenous language of Mexico, spoken in the country's central states by the ethnic group widely known as the Mazahua but who refer to themselves as Hñatho. Mazahua is a Mesoamerican language and shows many of the traits which define the Mesoamerican Linguistic Area...
and Mixe
Mixe
The Mixe or Mije is an indigenous group inhabiting the eastern highlands of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. They speak the Mixe languages which are classified in the Mixe–Zoque family, and are more culturally conservative than other indigenous groups of the region, maintaining their language to this...
. The dominant religion is Catholicism.
History
There is no agreement as to the origin of the name. It has been translated as “entrance to the cave,” “very high thing” and “inside the forest.” The municipality has its own coat of arms divided into three sections. One has symbols referring to mining, the second with a representation of a monarch butterfly and the third with mountains and the sun representing the terrain.When Nuño de Guzmán arrived to the area in 1550, he described it as a “no-man’s land” with no indication of the riches that were underneath the mountains and forests here. The lands were awarded to Gonzalo de Salazar
Gonzalo de Salazar
Gonzalo de Salazar was an aristocrat, and leader of several councils that governed New Spain while Hernán Cortés was traveling to Honduras, in 1525-26.- Early life :...
by viceroy Antonio de Mendoza
Antonio de Mendoza
Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, Marquis of Mondéjar, Count of Tendilla , was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from April 17, 1535 to November 25, 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from September 23, 1551 to July 21, 1552...
as part of a larger area encompassing Zitácuaro and Taximaroa shortly thereafter. Some mining and settlement began in the mid 16th century, but it remained relatively unpopulated until the very late 18th century, when large deposits of minerals were discovered on what is now called the former hacienda of Angangueo. These minerals included gold, silver, copper and more and brought a rush of people into the area. The town of Angangueo was officially founded in 1792 and it became a municipality in 1831.
During the struggle between Conservative and Liberal forces in Mexico in the 19th century
Reform War
The Reform War in Mexico is one of the episodes of the long struggle between Liberal and Conservative forces that dominated the country’s history in the 19th century. The Liberals wanted a federalist government, limiting traditional Catholic Church and military influence in the country...
, possession of the town changed hands. In 1865, General Régules took the town plaza for Conservative forces but Liberal forces retook the town the following year. The Temple of the Inmaculata Concepcion was begun in 1882.
In the middle of the 19th century, mining rights were assigned to an English company called Negociación Minera de las Trojes. In the 20th century, it was then conceded to the U.S. company American Smelting and Refining Company, the last foreign concern to have mining rights. In 1953, an accident in the Dolores Mine claimed twenty five miners and the federal government expropriated the area. It was then managed by the Impulsora Minera de Angangueo, which continued mining here until 1991, when it was decided that the exploitation of the mines were no longer economically feasible. From then to the present, there have been disputes between the shareholders in the Impulsora and former miners and the state of Michoacan over the right to continue mining. The mines are considered to be part of the butterfly reserve.
In the mid 20th century, the town has a population of 10,000, its own newspaper and even a mint. However, it has steadily declined since then as the mines gave out. The town gained a new source of income with tourism with the establishment of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve and the promotion of the butterfly colonies located very near the town by magazines such as National Geographic and Mexico Desconocido, beginning in 1980. This has promoted the opening of hotels and restaurants near the butterfly sites, and small transport services thereto. However, this has not brought the town back to its former size.
Environmental concerns
One 5 February 2010, heavy rains and hail caused flooding and mudslides in the region, with Angangueo being hard hit. Landslides on two of the hills surrounding the town buried sections and blocked roads. The week prior a smaller slide killed three minors. The slides forced the evacuation of hundreds due to the danger of more slides. The Topos came in from Haiti to help look for survivors and bodies.(topos) At least 1,000 were homeless, and moved to a shelter in San Josè del Rincón, Mexico State. Many houses built on the riverbanks were swept away. At least thirty were killed by the event in the town alone. Bodies were found in the municipal seat and in smaller communities such as Salitre. 2,500 people lost everything in the disaster.President Calderón
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
visited the disaster area and toured some of the attractions, both on ground and by air. He was accompanied by Michoacan's governor Leonel Godoy
Leonel Godoy
Leonel Godoy Rangel is a Mexican lawyer, politician and the current governor of Michoacán. He is a former president of the Party of the Democratic Revolution .-Political career:...
to survey the damage. As an alternative to mining, Calderón suggested developing tourism in Angangueo as a Pueblo Mágico
Pueblo Mágico
The Programa Pueblos Mágicos is an initiative led by Mexico's Secretariat of Tourism , in conjunction with other federal and state agencies, to promote a series of towns around the country that offer visitors a "magical" experience – by reason of their natural beauty, cultural riches, or...
. However, residents demanded the an assurance that the town will not disappearm, and that jobs will be available.
According to the director of the Forest Commission of Michoacan, Alejandro Méndez, deforestation from legal and illegal logging contributed to the landslides in 2010. In addition, cleared areas on hillsides were used to build homes. The landslides in Angangueo and in other areas such as Zamora have prompted studies by government authorities as to the causes of these events as well as the emergency responses.
Later in February, federal authorities announced that no new residents could move into the town and that the current population would be relocated. The decision was made with the rationale that the landslides create too big a hazard for people to live in the current location and a “New Angangueo” would be built. However, local residents were against the plan. Efforts to relocate the town were officially begun in June 2010, with a projected 600 homes in a location called Barrio Sustentable Monarca. The construction was halted by September of the same year, with only a layout traced on the site and no new homes started.
As tourism is being exploited, the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve runs higher risks of being disturbed as thousands of tourists walk the trails around the forest habitats of the butterfly each year. While the resident population demands other sources for economic stability, the government is implementing methods to boost toursim. No efforts have been made to officially moderate the physical establishments, entertainment, noise and vehicles which are prominently growing in the biosphere area.