San Luis Acatlán, Mexico

History

The areas has been occupied by Mixtecs and Tlapanecos since the seventh century. Around 1457, the territory was conquered by the Aztec Empire, under the rule of Moctezuma Ilhuicamina. A number of stories exist about the town's beginnings but the most widely accepted has that the area was settled by the Tlapanecos, a group descended from a race called the Yopes. This group was in constant struggle with the Mexicas and other groups that caused them to move around in search of safer ground. In their wanderings, these people also founded towns such as Cintla, Tepetlapa, Ayutla de Álvarez, Suchitonala and Azoyú.

In 1522, after the Spanish conquest, soldiers associated with Pedro de Alvarado arrived, asking him for authorization to found a Spanish town here after discovering gold in a nearby river. Alvarado came here under orders of Hernán Cortés to establish the town, naming it Villa de San Luis. In 1531, nearby Yopes attacked it. The Spanish response was to attack the Yopes, killing most, and taking many of their young as slaves. The few that remained dispersed to Oaxaca and Central America down to Nicaragua.

From the History section of San Luis Acatlán on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.