INTRODUCTION
Agricultural work and livestock ranches were fundamental for the Spanish colonization of the Indies, since the civil settlement of all the territories that were being won for the crown was the best tool to ensure the military conquests. In addition, they were the production centers from which food was supplied to the cities, towns and villages. The tasks, originally called land caballerias, had an approximate area of forty hectares, and were intended for the planting of corn, wheat, beans, chickpeas and other seeds and legumes, and sugar cane. In the ranches for small livestock, sheep, goats, goats and pigs were raised; and in the ranches for livestock, which had an area of more than one thousand seven hundred hectares, horses, mules and cattle were raised. All of this had as its axis the town, which was the place where the big house was located and around which there were orchards of fruit trees and poultry were raised.
The region of the valleys of Ahualulco, Ameca, Etzatlán, Tala, Tequila and Teuchitlán, among others, was always very attractive for the conquerors and first settlers of the kingdom of Nueva Galicia. First, because they were very fertile lands, since they were surrounded by lagoons and there were many streams and springs, so water was never lacking; second, because these valleys were in the middle of the road between Compostela, which was the first capital of the kingdom, and Guadalajara, which was always its main city; and third, for political reasons, since precisely in these valleys was the border of the kingdom of New Galicia, to which Teuchitlán belonged, within the jurisdiction of the town of Tequila, with that of New Spain, on which the jurisdictions of Ahualulco and Etzatlán. There is an old legend that tells us that, from ancient times and until shortly before the Spanish conquest, these lands were inhabited by a race of giants, who measured more than three meters in height and were barbaric people without any science, ferocious and lazy, and they fed on men, so they took on the task of annihilating them. It is curious how since Homeric times the legends of giants have always been associated with volcanic areas, such as this one, whose landscape is dominated by the Tequila hill. And it is also curious that, in the old stories of giants, it is said that, when they died, they were buried in circular mounds, which make us think of the stepped constructions that are found very close to the town of Teuchitlán and that, Until now, no one knows who, how or for what purpose built them.
But while all this can be considered a simple fantasy, there is no doubt that all These valleys were repopulated in the sixteenth century by other types of giants: the Ojeda, the Estrada, the Fernández de Híjar, the Bracamonte. That is, those who, together with the great captain Nuño de Guzmán, carried out the feat of conquering this kingdom, of which they can be considered its founding fathers.
DIEGO DE COLIO
Although he did not participate in Nuño de Guzmán's feat, we must include the Asturian Diego de Colio in this list of giants, for being so directly related to the history of this hacienda. He was one of the first conquerors of Mexico, where he arrived in 1519, from Cuba, in the same fleet and navy in which Hernán Cortés came, and he participated with him in the taking and pacification of the city of Tenochtitlán and all their domains. From there he went on to the conquest of Pánuco, with the advance Francisco de Garay; then, to the first conquest of Jalisco, with Captain Francisco Cortés, a close relative of Hernán; and from there, he went to the conquest of Guatemala with the great Pedro de Alvarado.
Finally, when in the year one thousand five hundred and forty-one the Chichimeca Indians rebelled and he was on the verge of missing the entire conquest of New Galicia, he went to its pacification accompanying the viceroy Don Antonio de Mendoza. After these episodes, he decided to stay and live in this kingdom, where he married Doña Catalina de la Torre, daughter of the lawyer Diego Pérez de la Torre, who was Nuño de Guzmán's successor in the government of this kingdom. He and his wife are considered among the first residents of this city of Guadalajara, of which Don Diego de Colio became ordinary mayor.
About this character Father Brother Antonio Tello makes two references in the second book of his monumental Miscellaneous Chronicle of the Holy Province of Jalisco. The first of them in chapter eight, where he tells us that Diego de Colio was the one who discovered the bones of the mythical giants, unfortunately without providing more information; and the second in chapter fifteen, where he tells us that he was also the one who discovered the María Islands. And although up to now it has not been possible to establish in a documentary manner his direct relationship with this hacienda, we have assumed him to be the beneficiary of a series of grants for large areas of land in the Teuchitlán valley, both for his merits in the pacification of the kingdom as well as the fact of being the son-in-law of his governor, in which Rivera's future work would have originated, based on a series of arguments that will be presented later.
THE ORIGINS OF RIVERA'S WORK
But while this matter is not satisfactorily resolved, it can be stated that the oldest date related to this property is March 19 of one thousand five hundred and sixty, when Don Juan Cacaque, governor of the town of Tepechitlán, which was then called Teuchitlán, together with other very important indigenous lords of said town, sold a piece of land in equal shares to Francisco de Bobadilla, who was his encomendero, and Francisco Narváez, at a price of thirty pesos of common gold, plus a colt that both buyers agreed to give them.
It was four caballerias of land, equivalent to about one hundred and sixty hectares, according to our calculations, for wheat and corn cultivation, which were on the left hand side of the road that goes from the town of Teuchitlán to Ahualulco, along with other lands that the buyers already owned. There is not the slightest doubt that the part of the purchase that fell to the encomendero Bobadilla was the territorial origin of what became the site of Rivera's current work.
On August 3, one thousand five hundred and sixty-seven, Don Francisco de Bobadilla and Doña Francisca de Tapia, his wife, sold the two caballerias of land to Juan Guerra, for a price of one hundred and eighty pesos of common gold. that, of the four purchased seven years ago from the Indians of Teuchitlán, half corresponded to the encomendero. Juan Guerra was son of Juan de Ojeda, conqueror of the kingdoms of New Spain and New Galicia, accountant of the latter for many years and one of the largest landowners of these valleys, whose possessions are related to the origin of haciendas. such as Cabezón, in Ameca, and Santa María de Miraflores, today called Carmen, in Ahualulco. It does not seem to be a coincidence that Bobadilla had sold these lands to Juan Guerra, who at that time was married to Doña María de Colio, the daughter of the conquistador Diego de Colio, since we have come to assume that, in fact, the said Bobadilla had purchased them. seven years ago by order and with the money of Colio himself, who, using the same encomendero, decided to transfer them to his son-in-law Juan Guerra as a dowry, all of which seems to be supported.
First of all, because in the year one thousand five hundred and sixty-one, which would have been the year of his marriage to María de Colio, Juan Guerra began to receive land grants from the royal audience of Nueva Galicia ; but apparently because of his father-in-law's merits, and not his own. During those years, Juan Guerra also began to buy lands adjacent to those he already owned; but it seems that he also did it with the money and on behalf of his father-in-law, who always seemed to be the true recipient of said properties. For one thousand five hundred and sixty-six, the royal audience continues to make land grants to Juan Guerra in terms of the town of Teuchitlán; and that same year, Diego de Colio began to donate and transfer his own properties to his son-in-law.
With all these properties, acquired by dowry, purchases, grants , donations and exchanges, and whose line of business as a whole was by then already agricultural, livestock and also producing worked silver, this work seems to have been configured in the times of Juan Guerra and María de Colio, with the extension and limits that it will retain for centuries. And of all of them, the two caballerías that he bought from the encomendero Bobadilla seem to be the ones that Juan Guerra chose as the nucleus or helmet of his haciendas; perhaps because it has the best farmland, or perhaps because of its strategic location, or perhaps because it has the largest and best-made house, built by Bobadilla or probably by Diego de Colio himself.
THE BIG HOUSE OF LABOR
For those who maintain that in the sixteenth century the houses on the haciendas were very modest, such Instead of adobe and with a thatched roof, or that there were none at all, it is worth remembering that, according to a royal provision dated in the town of Madrid on March 12, one thousand five hundred and thirty-six, the lawyer Diego was informed Pérez de la Torre, father-in-law of Diego de Colio and successor of Nuño de Guzmán in the government of this kingdom, that all the settlers and inhabitants of it are obliged to spend on building and planting land one tenth of what they earned each year .
The purpose of this provision was to ensure the settlers' roots in the new domains of the crown, as well as to serve as proof of their neighborhood in the lands. that were given to them as a mercy. This allows us to assume that, from then on, the haciendas would already have their main house of very good quality; most likely made of stone and with very good roofs of terrace or flat tiles placed on beams, since the straw ones were very dangerous in these valleys, where sugarcane is one of the main crops and where the strong winds of February and March can easily bring a lit spark home during the harvest. And they would also have several rooms, and their corridor with arches, which was the center of the social life of the haciendas, as was the plaza in the towns, since it was the place where doctrine was taught, where women did things. work, where the workers were paid, where the store used to be, and it was also the chapel assembly, which was always located towards one of its ends.
However, and despite the fact that they were more than equipped so that they could live in them with their families, the masters rarely inhabited them permanently, as they preferred the comfort of the city, which was the center of political and economic power and of the social life of the kingdom, in addition to the fact that their positions in the government or in the church forced them to live in Guadalajara. But this hacienda seems to have been the exception, and there is documentary evidence that confirms not only its existence, but also that it was stably inhabited by its owners since the sixteenth century. One of this evidence is the will of Doña María de Sámano, granted on March 5, 1589 in this work, which was then the property of the other Doña María, the daughter of Diego de Colio. María de Sámano, daughter of the conquistador and accountant Juan de Ojeda and the Sevillian Leonor Vaca, was the widow of Francisco Merodio de Velasco, the first mayor of this kingdom, with whom she enjoyed property for many years. the neighboring hacienda of Santa María de Miraflores, today El Carmen; and she was also the sister of Juan Guerra, Doña María de Colio's second husband, so they were sisters-in-law and very close people. His will allows us to assume that, at that time and perhaps long before, the work already had a very well-made house, made of stone and terraced roofs, with several rooms, and that it was large enough and had the necessary comforts enough for Doña María de Colio and some of the children of the two marriages she had to live in, and perhaps her daughters-in-law and sons-in-law; and also to receive and house guests there for long periods, as in the case of Doña María de Sámano, who, in the company of some relatives and all the people in her service, stayed there throughout her illness and until her death. .
Unfortunately, for the year one thousand six hundred and forty-six, barely fifty-seven after what was mentioned, it appears in a document of sale of the property that his house The ancient building had already fallen into ruins, and by then all that remained was a few old walls, all of which had been dismantled. It is unknown when and by whom it was rebuilt, but we know that by the year 1711 it was perfectly roofed and consisted of a room with thirteen rods (about eighty-three and a half centimeters each) long and five wide. , with two rooms five yards wide and four yards long, and a kitchen eight yards in circumference; and next to the house was the chapel, where mass was celebrated. That is to say, the corridor in which it is still located today and the rooms around it are the oldest part of the house. Its factories also included a barn with an adobe wall and a thatched roof, sixteen yards long by five and a half wide, plus another room on the roof that served as a greñero (to store the straw), with nine yards. long by five wide. It also had the mill house, with its height, with good roofs, and the stalls and huts for the crew and the service people.
In another relationship From the year 1729, the main house is still made up of the same room, two bedrooms and a pantry (apparently where the kitchen would have previously been), all covered with roofs; and an interior patio is mentioned for the first time, in which the kitchen is located, with paths made of stones from the river. The mill still appears, on which a granary had been built, and the barns of the Nogales post, where the butler's house was located. And there was a new barn, which was next to the main house of the hacienda, with its corridor, which must have been the other large one that faces the outside. The chapel was still in the same place.
By May 1805, the description of the house was very similar. It was made up of a corridor made up of six stone and lime arches, the living room and the two bedrooms, which opened onto it, two barns at the head of said corridor, a room that served as a store, and the chapel, at the other head. from the same corridor. But now a corridor on wooden pillars was added to the interior of the house and, in it, five rooms, all with their doors, except the kitchen; another small corridor, also on wooden pillars, and in it a piece that served as a soap dish; three more rooms, covered with a roof, and another room in the corner of the main house, next to the corridor.
But by that same year some modifications had been made in the big house. For example, a wall was built that cut the main room into two parts, leaving one for a wheat granary, which there was none, with its grille and window to the corridor; a wall transom, which formed a second bedroom in the main one; and the tent also split into two halves. Two other corridors were made on wooden pillars, and three stone paths were made in the interior patio that was formed, which served as a transit from the homes to the kitchen, from which it is understood that this would be separated from them.
THE NAMES OF THE ESTATE
It seems that in the early days of colonization, neither agricultural work nor ranches Livestock farms had a particular name, and were usually known by that of their owners. This custom was never lost, as will be seen later. Thus, the oldest name with which we know that this hacienda was known is that of the work of María de Colio, probably since 1567, when Juan Guerra, her second husband, acquired it; and María de Sámano still referred to her in that way in her will, dated 1589. María de Colio had been married for the first time to Antonio de Aguiar from Toledo, who had served in the pacification of this new kingdom of Galicia and was one of the first settlers of Guadalajara, and she had three children with him, who bore the names of Diego, Antonio and Luis de Aguiar. She was already a widow when she married Juan Guerra, with whom she had three other children, named Francisco, Hernán and Águeda Guerra de Colio. And as further proof that Diego de Colio could have been the true founder and first owner of this hacienda, there is the fact that Doña María's successor in its possession was Father Diego de Aguiar, the eldest son of her first marriage and the eldest of the grandchildren of the conquistador Colio.
It was precisely Father Diego de Aguiar who gave this farm its first formal name, which was labor of Saint Nicholas, due to the devotion that he or his elders had for the Augustinian saint Nicholas of Tolentino, advocate of the souls in purgatory; and since then, this saint became not only the patron saint, but also the patron of this estate. However, all the haciendas of the time also received one or more popular aliases, which the people gave them and which, as in ancient times, were related to the names or surnames of the owners in turn. Sometimes these nicknames were so popular that they ended up becoming the definitive names of some haciendas.
Thus, to understand how this came to be known as Rivera's work , it is necessary to do a little history. From Juan Guerra's marriage to María de Colio, among other siblings, Francisco Guerra de Colio was born, who, in turn, from his marriage to Doña Catalina de Barrios had Doña María Guerra as his daughter and heir. The latter was married to Don Pedro de la Rea, a rich miner from the jurisdiction of Hostotipaquillo, and with him she owned this hacienda for many years. However, there were no offspring from this marriage; and María Guerra having died in the month of February of one thousand six hundred and forty-eight, her widower inherited the hacienda in full ownership from her, and contracted a second marriage with Doña Isabel de Palma y Meza, or Caro Galindo, by whom he had three children named María, Pedro and Roque de la Rea.
María, the first-born and co-heir with her brothers of her father's property, married around 1666 a man named Nicolás de Rivera, a neighbor and miner in the jurisdictions of Etzatlán and Ahualulco, who, like her legitimate husband, was reputed in his time as the owner of the work of San Nicolás, to which, consequently, they began to call the work of Nicolás de Rivera, which finally led to the current name of work of Rivera, gradually falling into oblivion the name of the saint to whom it was originally dedicated and who, curiously, was the one that was most repeated among the owners of the estate. Nicolás de Ojeda had previously owned it, apparently as guardian of the youngest children of Don Pedro la Rea; and after Rivera, a Nicolás de Villalobos Ramiro, a Nicolás de Siordia, and also a son of this one, who was the priest Nicolás Marcelino de Siordia, also became its owners, so this farm could well have carried the name of the work of the Nicolases. Nicolás de Siordia bought the hacienda on April 17, 1742 for his seven children, among them Nicolás Marcelino, although those who managed it effectively, and apparently very efficiently, were his brothers José Luis and Leandro, who died under circumstances tragic. The time in which José Luis de Siordia had it in his possession was a long period of prosperity, economic boom and territorial growth, which is why it also became known as the work of Siordia or the Siordia, a family that would own it at the time. less for one more generation. However, it is under the alias of Rivera's work that this property has been best known, since it was given to it and until the present day.
LA HACIENDA DE LOS SACERDOTES
But Rivera's work was not only the Nicolases' estate, but also that of the priests. The first cleric related to the history of this property was canon Don Pedro Gómez de Colio, son of Don Diego and brother of Doña María, although he never became its owner. We have little information about him, and we only know that he was a vicar priest of the Teocaltiche valley, and that he spoke the Mexican language fluently. Doctor Pedro Gómez de Colio died in the year 1620 in the city of Guadalajara.
His nephew, Father Diego de Aguiar, of whom we have already spoken, yes He enjoyed possession of the hacienda, inherited from his mother. Born around the year 1545 in the city of Guadalajara, it is said that he had a religious vocation from an early age, having grown up in the church since he was seven or eight years old alongside his uncle, the aforementioned canon Pedro Gómez. of Colio. He was ordained a priest around 1566, when the work was just in the process of formation, and he was considered a man of great culture and humanity in his time. He mastered the Mexican language, in which he addressed the natives and administered the sacraments to them, and he also understood the Tecueje language, which was one of those spoken in Jalisco. Like his uncle, he also became a canon of the holy cathedral church of Guadalajara.
During the long time he owned the work, which was more than thirty-five years , the hacienda grew significantly, as Don Diego bought new ranches for larger livestock and farmland; and it is assumed that, due to his profession, he would have been the one who provided the property with its first chapel. Towards the year of one thousand six hundred and nineteen, at more than seventy years of age, already old, sick and tired of his obligations, he came to retire to his work, which was already managed by his half-brothers Francisco and Hernán Guerra de Colio; and he died there in the year one thousand six hundred and twenty-one.
A little more than one hundred years later, specifically on March 8, one thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine, another priest bought the property. , Dr. Don Salvador Jiménez Espinoza de los Monteros, archdeacon of the holy cathedral church of Guadalajara; although it was later learned that he did not buy it for himself, but as a representative, with instructions and with the money of the infantry colonel Don Juan Flores de San Pedro, who was its true owner. But not for long, because just eight years later, on October 12, 1737, the colonel sold it again, now to a priest. He was the priest Juan Bautista de Olachea y Loperena, born at the end of the seventeenth century in the parish of Tecolotlán, and who at the time he bought the work was nothing more and nothing less than the rector of the Senor San José de Seminary College. this city of Guadalajara, where he had his residence.
In the year of one thousand seven hundred and forty-two, as has already been seen, Don Nicolás de Siordia bought the hacienda to his seven children, one of whom was the priest Don Nicolás Marcelino de Siordia, although the one who always took control of the businesses was his brother José Luis. The latter was succeeded in possession of the property by his son, the priest José Carlos de Siordia, as one of his heirs; although only for a while, since then he left control of it to his younger brother José María, keeping the neighboring hacienda de las Fuentes for himself.
And for To conclude this list of priests, Rivera's work also belonged to the prebendary Don Francisco Díaz Inguanzo, who was vicar priest of the town and parishioner of Zapotlanejo. In 1832, this priest sold the La Labor and La Laja haciendas, which were united as the same property, to Don Guadalupe Gómez Hurtado de Mendoza, one of the co-owners of the Ayones ranch, a rich rural estate in the neighboring municipality of Etzatlán.
THE DAYS OF KEEPING AT WORK
Since the distant times of Father Diego de Aguiar began to spread the cult of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, advocate of the souls in purgatory, on the hacienda, which then grew greatly and took root among all the people of the hacienda and its surroundings. When her niece and successor María Guerra, granddaughter of Juan Guerra and María de Colio, died, she established by testamentary clause that on September 10 of every year the feast of San Nicolás de Tolentino would be celebrated, as he was the patron saint and the invocation of the estate; and also established a mass dedicated to the Virgin of Purification on her day, which is February 2nd, because it is also a dedication to labor, and on which date the Indians and the other neighbors of her and its surroundings celebrated the festival. large part of the hacienda.
Pedro de la Rea, the husband of Doña María Guerra, died in September of one thousand six hundred and sixty-three, and also by testamentary clause he established a mass said in the chapel of the hacienda on the first day of November of each year, dedicated to all the saints of the court of heaven, and another one the following day, in commemoration of all the souls who are in the punishment of purgatory, whose The patron saint is precisely Saint Nicholas of Tolentino. That is why in the chapel, in addition to a large pasta crucifix and a three-yard-long golden and green wooden cross that was on the altar, a large figure was always present. of Saint Nicholas, crowned with his silver diadem, and an image of our Lady of Candelaria, half a yard high, with her scepter, silver crown and satin dress.
Unfortunately, already at the beginning of the 19th century it was said in a document that these bulk figures were very mistreated; and we do not know when his cult and devotion began to decline.
About us
Hacienda Labor de Rivera Hotel Boutique & Events is an authentic treasure from the 17th century that has been conditioned to offer the comfort and conveniences of the 21st century. We are located in Teuchitlán Jalisco, just 55 km from the city of Guadalajara and 15 minutes from the Guachimontones Archaeological Zone. Our boutique hotel offers 21 bedrooms full of charm and luxury with beautiful views that convey peace, harmony and tranquility. In addition, we have different spaces such as rooms for business meetings, terraces full of colonial essence, large gardens, a private lake and a Lienzo Charro that can be the scene of charrería shows, Mexican folklore and skirmishes. Without leaving aside the agave landscape, the 7-hectare forest with wetlands and water sources, the spa cabin, restaurant and vestiges of an old tequila factory. Our beautiful chapel "Del Señor de la Ascención" is consecrated for special ceremonies and celebrations.