Page 21 - Eternal San Miguel de Allende

Later, in the early 19th century, this region became the birthplace of the fight for Mexican independence from Spain. Local residents, Capitán Ignacio Allende and the brothers Aldama, among others, were part of a conspiracy against the Spanish colonial government, and they helped form an insurgent army.
San Miguel el Grande was the first municipality to declare freedom from Spanish rule by forming the first city council of independent Mexico. Families loyal to Spain fled in fear, leaving many properties behind, and many grand casonas and haciendas (rural farming estates) were abandoned and looted by roving guerrilla fighters.
The rebellion was short-lived. After initial successes, Allende and other rebel leaders were captured and executed in Chihuahua in 1811. Many fierce battles ensued before independence from Spain was finally won in 1821, thus Capitán Allende was recognized as a martyr, and in 1826, his hometown was renamed San Miguel de Allende.
After many further wars and insurrections, San Miguel fell into a depression from the 1820’s until the end of the 19th century when many municipal projects were constructed during the period of Porfirio Díaz. Dams, aqueducts and railroads brought labor and new arrivals. Agriculture production and fruit orchards also brought brief prosperity.
By the early 1900’s, silver ore mining ended in Guanajuato, as most mines were depleted. Combined with the seemingly endless Mexican Revolution and an influenza epidemic, residents died or fled in waves, until San Miguel de Allende eventually became a ‘ghost town’.
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