El Tuito, county seat for the Cabo Corrientes area, had its bonanza thanks to sugar cane and candy production.
Between 1876 and 1938, El Tuito was an area where you could find 1000 head strong cattle ranches, enormous sugar cane fields, coconut oil palm fields on the coast and a productive and self-sustained society. At the time, the land that runs from its urban area to the Los Arcos boulders by Puerto Vallarta was owned by just one person. Of such splendor, all that remains are the ruins of the El Tuito Hacienda and its mill, where “piloncillo” (brown sugar cones), sugar and fire water were produced. You can still see the foundations of the adobe walls that enclosed the hacienda some meters away from an Indian petroglyph that shows a Patolli ball game.
There are neither title deeds nor documents with which to understand the history of such a successful sugar emporium; almost everything has been lost in time. However, the one thing that’s left is the testimony of Don Roberto Avalos Castillon (1921-2001), jealously guarded in a video held by the Regional Tourism and Analysis group of the University of Guadalajara here at their coastal campus. The information taped in 1998 had not been transcribed until now.
The El Tuito Hacienda was founded in 1876 by two families that arrived from Guadalajara, the De la Madrid family and the Michel family. They first set out to find the right piece of land to establish their sugar mill. “I remember perfectly well how they processed the sugar cane and how it was staggered down to the ovens and wood burning heaters; that’s why I think they were very careful when choosing the terrain”, Don Roberto remembers. He had been the mayor of Cabo Corrientes from 1971 to 1973.
Once they chose the location, they gathered workers and populated the community. They built the hacienda with the mill to one side where they processed the sugar cane. The land they purchased for their industry was vast. “The entire area, from the ruins of the hacienda to where the hacienda’s river and the Nogalera River joined, was covered with sugar cane. Their property went all the way to Los Arcos in Puerto Vallarta. The border went down the coast to Quimixto and then up the mountain to a very important point which is Yelapatapa” he explained.
Sugar cane harvest is seasonal, so most of the hacienda’s activity was carried out at the beginning of the year. Grinding began punctually every January 2nd and didn’t end until the harvest was done, generally around the month of April. “The grinding was pretty rustic. The mill was a large, 18-foot wide stone, with a wooden axis. It had a box up top which was propelled by a water fall. The water fell about 9 feet, which allowed the wheel to turn quite rapidly. Then it had three pieces of rod iron on which they placed the sugar cane to be crushed and pressed. They could put in four, eight or even ten stalks of sugar canes, and it could work it”, said Don Roberto.
Although the hacienda was able to become productive in a short while, the owners were faced with their share of problems. “After a time, the local Indians kicked them out; they had to flee or be killed. That was around 1900. During that time, the owners had a foreman called Nabor Estrada, who came from Las Guasimas, but was originally from Ixtlahuehuey; an honest, hard working man. When the trouble came and they had to flee, they left it all in his hands, trusting his integrity”, he said. From Avalos Castillon’s point of view, the De la Madrid and Michel families did right in trusting everything to Estrada, since he was a straight and strong man. He was able to keep the hacienda running and was able to pay them every cent of what they had given him. When Nabor died, his widow, Epifania Pena operated the hacienda with one of the workers, Alfonso Garcia. He had been the person in charge of the store and understood the marketing of the mill’s products perfectly well. “He only knew about the store, not really anything about the land nor anything else, but he learned. Garcia kept the store for a little while. It was located where the billiard hall is now. However, when Dona Epifania passed away, the capital was left to her nephews, Enrique, Teodulo and Epifanio Robles. Finally, all of Nabor Estrada’s capital ended up in Alfonso Garcia’s hands, who bought it off of Dona Epifania’s heirs bit by bit”, he said.
The ex-mayor tells that Garcia was a good boss, who helped the people out and made sure the hacienda was productive. Under his watchful eye, El Tuito became a self-sufficient community. They not only didn’t need to bring things in from the outside, but they supplied sugar and “piloncillo” to the entire region.
In 1938, the Agrarian Reform came into being thanks to President Lazaro Cardenas, and the Ejido El Tuito was formed; all of Garcia’s land was shared out. “The truth is that that reform really screwed us all. That division of land finished off the population. Even though Alfonso told the “ejidatarios” (common owners): “Gentlemen, I’ll buy all your sugar cane or at least mill it for you, but please don’t let this industry die out”, they decided to plant beans and corn until the hacienda began to fall apart; they didn’t have the money to keep it going anymore” Don Roberto concluded.
Cabo Corrientes County was established in 1944 and El Tuito became its seat of government even though the sugar mill and hacienda had already disappeared. The area’s main economic activity nowadays is agriculture, producing corn, beans, watermelon, gum tree and coconut oil palm, and adventure tourism. Although the bonanza has ended, the magic of the town still remains.
Between 1876 and 1938, El Tuito was an area where you could find 1000 head strong cattle ranches, enormous sugar cane fields, coconut oil palm fields on the coast and a productive and self-sustained society. At the time, the land that runs from its urban area to the Los Arcos boulders by Puerto Vallarta was owned by just one person. Of such splendor, all that remains are the ruins of the El Tuito Hacienda and its mill, where “piloncillo” (brown sugar cones), sugar and fire water were produced. You can still see the foundations of the adobe walls that enclosed the hacienda some meters away from an Indian petroglyph that shows a Patolli ball game.
There are neither title deeds nor documents with which to understand the history of such a successful sugar emporium; almost everything has been lost in time. However, the one thing that’s left is the testimony of Don Roberto Avalos Castillon (1921-2001), jealously guarded in a video held by the Regional Tourism and Analysis group of the University of Guadalajara here at their coastal campus. The information taped in 1998 had not been transcribed until now.
The El Tuito Hacienda was founded in 1876 by two families that arrived from Guadalajara, the De la Madrid family and the Michel family. They first set out to find the right piece of land to establish their sugar mill. “I remember perfectly well how they processed the sugar cane and how it was staggered down to the ovens and wood burning heaters; that’s why I think they were very careful when choosing the terrain”, Don Roberto remembers. He had been the mayor of Cabo Corrientes from 1971 to 1973.
Once they chose the location, they gathered workers and populated the community. They built the hacienda with the mill to one side where they processed the sugar cane. The land they purchased for their industry was vast. “The entire area, from the ruins of the hacienda to where the hacienda’s river and the Nogalera River joined, was covered with sugar cane. Their property went all the way to Los Arcos in Puerto Vallarta. The border went down the coast to Quimixto and then up the mountain to a very important point which is Yelapatapa” he explained.
Sugar cane harvest is seasonal, so most of the hacienda’s activity was carried out at the beginning of the year. Grinding began punctually every January 2nd and didn’t end until the harvest was done, generally around the month of April. “The grinding was pretty rustic. The mill was a large, 18-foot wide stone, with a wooden axis. It had a box up top which was propelled by a water fall. The water fell about 9 feet, which allowed the wheel to turn quite rapidly. Then it had three pieces of rod iron on which they placed the sugar cane to be crushed and pressed. They could put in four, eight or even ten stalks of sugar canes, and it could work it”, said Don Roberto.
Although the hacienda was able to become productive in a short while, the owners were faced with their share of problems. “After a time, the local Indians kicked them out; they had to flee or be killed. That was around 1900. During that time, the owners had a foreman called Nabor Estrada, who came from Las Guasimas, but was originally from Ixtlahuehuey; an honest, hard working man. When the trouble came and they had to flee, they left it all in his hands, trusting his integrity”, he said. From Avalos Castillon’s point of view, the De la Madrid and Michel families did right in trusting everything to Estrada, since he was a straight and strong man. He was able to keep the hacienda running and was able to pay them every cent of what they had given him. When Nabor died, his widow, Epifania Pena operated the hacienda with one of the workers, Alfonso Garcia. He had been the person in charge of the store and understood the marketing of the mill’s products perfectly well. “He only knew about the store, not really anything about the land nor anything else, but he learned. Garcia kept the store for a little while. It was located where the billiard hall is now. However, when Dona Epifania passed away, the capital was left to her nephews, Enrique, Teodulo and Epifanio Robles. Finally, all of Nabor Estrada’s capital ended up in Alfonso Garcia’s hands, who bought it off of Dona Epifania’s heirs bit by bit”, he said.
The ex-mayor tells that Garcia was a good boss, who helped the people out and made sure the hacienda was productive. Under his watchful eye, El Tuito became a self-sufficient community. They not only didn’t need to bring things in from the outside, but they supplied sugar and “piloncillo” to the entire region.
In 1938, the Agrarian Reform came into being thanks to President Lazaro Cardenas, and the Ejido El Tuito was formed; all of Garcia’s land was shared out. “The truth is that that reform really screwed us all. That division of land finished off the population. Even though Alfonso told the “ejidatarios” (common owners): “Gentlemen, I’ll buy all your sugar cane or at least mill it for you, but please don’t let this industry die out”, they decided to plant beans and corn until the hacienda began to fall apart; they didn’t have the money to keep it going anymore” Don Roberto concluded.
Cabo Corrientes County was established in 1944 and El Tuito became its seat of government even though the sugar mill and hacienda had already disappeared. The area’s main economic activity nowadays is agriculture, producing corn, beans, watermelon, gum tree and coconut oil palm, and adventure tourism. Although the bonanza has ended, the magic of the town still remains.
