Sombrerete, Mexico

History

The earliest known culture of this region was that of the Chalchihuites, which existed from the late Pre-classic to about 900 AD, and was mostly sedentary and agricultural. It is not known why the settlements of this area were abandoned, but theories center on climate change, attacks from nomadic peoples and the fall of the large cities of the central valleys of Mesoamerica. From then until the arrival of the Spanish, the nomadic Chichimecas dominated the area.

In 1555, nine years after discovering silver in what is now the city of Zacatecas, Juan de Tolosa and a small group of Spaniards and allied indigenous arrived to find more. They settled near a small spring, calling the area Real y Minas de Sobrerete. The name came from Friar Jerónimo de Mendoza, who noticed that one of the mountains (Cerro de Sombreretillo) surrounding the valley looked like the common three-corner hat of the time, when viewed from the side.

In 1567, the San Mateo monastery was established as the region's main evangelical center. Soon after, the mines became important producers of gold, silver, lead, tin, and mercury, and by 1570, the settlement had grown enough to be officially declared a town by the Audiencia de Guadalajara, with the name Villa de Llerena.

From the History section of Sombrerete on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.