By Luis Felipe Rodriguez
On December 17, 1559, Viceroy Luis de Velasco granted the title of «town» to San Miguel. He ordered the Spanish colonists to make it legitimate by organizing a town hall on January 1, 1560. This way, a border settlement was integrated into the vice-regal political system. David Wright, in his work «The Conquest of the Bajío and the Origins of San Miguel de Allende,» gives the official statement of the time:
«I (don Luis de Velasco, viceroy)…with my permission, some Spanish neighbors have gone to populate the city and area that is designated as San Miguel, which is in the province of Xilotepeque and Chichimecas and on the royal road that leads from this city of Mexico to the mines of Zacatecas. To this end they have populated the aforementioned part, and for the safety of said road, and to avoid the deaths and robberies that the Chichimecas have done and do. The Guachichiles have been given land, orchards, lots where they can build their houses, other farms with certain conditions, and for being such a good city and population, with the qualities that are required to be able to do and perpetuate themselves. In this, a town of Spaniards, there have been more neighbors to come to the said population, and it is expected that there will be perpetuity in it, of which God our Lord and His Majesty will be served…there is no other town…so necessary for the pacification of said Chichimeca Indians, and to avoid the damages that have occurred and may happen on the said roads. And so that there is good government, and the residents have someone to administer justice, and know about the lawsuits and causes that happen between them, it is convenient that mayors and aldermen be appointed. Hereby, in the name of His Majesty…I order that the said town of San Miguel be titled la Villa de San Miguel. As such town, the residents enjoy the privileges and exceptions that the residents of other towns of the kingdoms and dominions of His Majesty can and should enjoy… .»
The order to create the town was given for military purposes as early as December 15, 1555. The Viceroy could not come to the founding ceremony because he was sick and resting in the town of Apaseo. Captain Ángel de Villafañe came in his stead to the founding of la Villa de San Miguel. The assignment of lots for houses, ranches, land for crops, and orchards to 50 Spanish settlers took place. The property of the Spaniards was separate from the lands occupied by the Indians of the San Miguel Indian pueblo.
Documents indicate that Ángel de Villafañe served as mayor of San Miguel in 1555, but he did not last long in office. In 1559, when Viceroy Velasco issued the title of town to San Miguel el Grande, the settlement belonged to the mayor’s office of the province of Xilotepeque and Chichimecas. Shortly after the founding of the town of San Felipe in 1562, a mayor’s office was again erected for this specific region. It then included the new towns of San Miguel el Grande and San Felipe.
