By Luis Felipe Rodríguez
Introduction to this collaboration and thanks to the dear teacher César Hoyos Dobarganes
José Abel Sánchez Garibay says “The importance of being able to show off the chroniclers of our towns and cities and of being able to have them among us, forces every institution to be able to tell or name this notary of history and must be accredited by them every day. This little recognized exercise in these times dates from the year 484 CE. That year marked the arrival of one who would become known as the father of history. Herodotus with his writings recorded the battles of the Greeks against the feared Darius and his son Xerxes with his Persian troops; since in these epic encounters the Greeks, who in the Western world are recognized as the fathers of democracy, came out ahead, this character has since forced every nation and people to hold their memory of the times, achievements, developments and lives of their population.»
The chroniclers and historians of Guanajuato consider that the «official history» is not always fairly told. On many occasions the true characters of history have been left aside, and in their search for the truth, the chroniclers are led into a labyrinth of new stories. The chronicler seeks to preserve the memory of the community and discover additional parallel stories, the treasures of our past.
A time when the fountains of San Miguel were filled with mezcal
Rummaging through the archives of the Municipal Presidency of this historic city, a file was found whose existence was previously unknown. But the facts themselves were preserved by many of the neighbors who were protagonists of a notorious riot that took place at the time of the Mexican Revolution. On May 11, 1911 San Miguel de Allende received the news of the Triumph of the Maderistas and the city prepared to celebrate this event in a manner that reflected their rejoicing at this event. At that time it was Dr. Ignacio Hernández Macías who was the political chief—one of our major streets bears his name. A number of well-known neighbors devised an original way to celebrate.
The fountains—which are still found around the Jardin Principal—were emptied of water and instead were filled with mescal. At that time the price for mescal was six cents a liter, and the fountains, filled with the liquid gave free hand, or rather «free mouth,» to any citizen who wanted to celebrate the revolutionary triumph.
It is pointless to explain the effects produced by the contents consumed. Hundreds of neighbors came to quench their thirst, some even putting their heads directly inside the fountains. Some of those became totally drunk, and began to be teased by others. The first thing that happened was a riot in front of the prison with the prisoners asking loudly to be let out. The rioters, armed themselves with sticks, shotguns and stones, and set fire to the door of the prison. The city officials ended up freeing the inmates, later going to the women’s prison where they did the same. Miraculously, the mayor was able to escape. But his hasty departure, he left his cloak behind. The mob threw it into the fire shouting: «I wish the mayor were inside to burn.»
The rioters continued to ingest the mescal and were emboldened by this as well as the arrival of new followers. These new arrivals were led by a woman named María Vidal, better known as the «Pistioja» and by Manuel Herrera. They attacked the judicial offices and the Political Chief setting fire to the archives, looting the treasury coffers. They stole the safe and dragged it through the streets, haranguing the aforementioned lawyer: «Steal what you can, the money belongs to the people.»
The list of misdeeds that were committed that day is too long to recount. The rioters continued to steal what they could well into the night. They attacked the montepío (pawnshop) La Comodidad of Felipe Dobarganes who chased them away with bullets. The rich farmer Laureano González, complained that ten thousand gold pesos were stolen which he had hidden under a pile of wheat. These acts of looting were carried because there was no organized force to control them. There were not soldiers nor police, everyone was on «the ball.» But a conscientious group was organized, headed by Don Braulio Zavala, and then quickly brought the city to order. However, this was not without cost, two deaths were registered and many wounded.
José de Jesús García, the political leader, was tried and sentenced to death. The others who received the death sentence were: José Espinoza, Porfirio Hernández and Rosalío González for the crimes of homicide, fire, robbery, the destruction of telephone sets, escape from protection, and other crimes. This is the unhappy story of that most unpleasant event that took place and which remained in the memory of San Miguel residents for a long time. It all started with mescal in the fountains
Introduction to this collaboration and thanks to the dear teacher César Hoyos Dobarganes
José Abel Sánchez Garibay says “The importance of being able to show off the chroniclers of our towns and cities and of being able to have them among us, forces every institution to be able to tell or name this notary of history and must be accredited by them every day. This little recognized exercise in these times dates from the year 484 CE. That year marked the arrival of one who would become known as the father of history. Herodotus with his writings recorded the battles of the Greeks against the feared Darius and his son Xerxes with his Persian troops; since in these epic encounters the Greeks, who in the Western world are recognized as the fathers of democracy, came out ahead, this character has since forced every nation and people to hold their memory of the times, achievements, developments and lives of their population.»
The chroniclers and historians of Guanajuato consider that the «official history» is not always fairly told. On many occasions the true characters of history have been left aside, and in their search for the truth, the chroniclers are led into a labyrinth of new stories. The chronicler seeks to preserve the memory of the community and discover additional parallel stories, the treasures of our past.
A time when the fountains of San Miguel were filled with mezcal
Rummaging through the archives of the Municipal Presidency of this historic city, a file was found whose existence was previously unknown. But the facts themselves were preserved by many of the neighbors who were protagonists of a notorious riot that took place at the time of the Mexican Revolution. On May 11, 1911 San Miguel de Allende received the news of the Triumph of the Maderistas and the city prepared to celebrate this event in a manner that reflected their rejoicing at this event. At that time it was Dr. Ignacio Hernández Macías who was the political chief—one of our major streets bears his name. A number of well-known neighbors devised an original way to celebrate.
The fountains—which are still found around the Jardin Principal—were emptied of water and instead were filled with mescal. At that time the price for mescal was six cents a liter, and the fountains, filled with the liquid gave free hand, or rather «free mouth,» to any citizen who wanted to celebrate the revolutionary triumph.
It is pointless to explain the effects produced by the contents consumed. Hundreds of neighbors came to quench their thirst, some even putting their heads directly inside the fountains. Some of those became totally drunk, and began to be teased by others. The first thing that happened was a riot in front of the prison with the prisoners asking loudly to be let out. The rioters, armed themselves with sticks, shotguns and stones, and set fire to the door of the prison. The city officials ended up freeing the inmates, later going to the women’s prison where they did the same. Miraculously, the mayor was able to escape. But his hasty departure, he left his cloak behind. The mob threw it into the fire shouting: «I wish the mayor were inside to burn.»
The rioters continued to ingest the mescal and were emboldened by this as well as the arrival of new followers. These new arrivals were led by a woman named María Vidal, better known as the «Pistioja» and by Manuel Herrera. They attacked the judicial offices and the Political Chief setting fire to the archives, looting the treasury coffers. They stole the safe and dragged it through the streets, haranguing the aforementioned lawyer: «Steal what you can, the money belongs to the people.»
The list of misdeeds that were committed that day is too long to recount. The rioters continued to steal what they could well into the night. They attacked the montepío (pawnshop) La Comodidad of Felipe Dobarganes who chased them away with bullets. The rich farmer Laureano González, complained that ten thousand gold pesos were stolen which he had hidden under a pile of wheat. These acts of looting were carried because there was no organized force to control them. There were not soldiers nor police, everyone was on «the ball.» But a conscientious group was organized, headed by Don Braulio Zavala, and then quickly brought the city to order. However, this was not without cost, two deaths were registered and many wounded.
José de Jesús García, the political leader, was tried and sentenced to death. The others who received the death sentence were: José Espinoza, Porfirio Hernández and Rosalío González for the crimes of homicide, fire, robbery, the destruction of telephone sets, escape from protection, and other crimes. This is the unhappy story of that most unpleasant event that took place and which remained in the memory of San Miguel residents for a long time. It all started with mescal in the fountains
