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Lake Chapala During the Insurgency

We don't find much mention of Chapala in the 17th and 18th centuries, and only one event from the 19th century bears mention, the famed Defense of Mezcala Island.

We must assume that various haciendas were established by the Spanish in the latter half of the 16th century, and for the next two centuries they quietly worked the soil and tended their herds with the help of the local natives who had been reduced to peonage.

The parish church of San Andreas in Ajijic was built in 1749, to replace the older chapel (still standing and in use, just off the Plaza) dedicated to the Virgin of Santiago.

In 1812 Mexico underwent yet another rebellion in a long string of unrest, and this time Lake Chapala was involved. During this rebellion, called 'The Insurgency' Mexicans tried to win independence from Spain. The Insurgency failed, but it laid the groundwork for another rebellion a few years later through which independence was finally attained.

In October of 1812 the natives of Mezcala, a little town on the north shore of Lake Chapala, 20 kilometers east of the town of Chapala, learned that government soldiers under the command of Vincente Iñiguez (or elsehwere called José Maria Iñiguez) were approaching the town, intent on punishing them for harboring one of the leaders of the insurgents, Citizen Encarnación Rosas.

Under the leadership of Rosas, the local men divided their small force of 60 or 70 men into two parts, one group to meet the soldiers approaching along the road, and the other to defend the path into the mountains as an escape route. With about 100 armed and trained soldiers pitted against a small band of locals armed with nothing but stone weapons and clubs, it seemed prudent to have an escape route available!

Despite the odds, the men of Mezcala were victorious, killing more than 60 soldiers, with the loss of only one man. They took the 60 flintlocks of the fallen enemy, along with other weapons and ammunition, and returned home to celebrate their victory.

Joined by Lieutenant Colonel C. José Santana and additional forces from the surrounding villages, the insurgents learned that the government forces were gathering at Poncitlán, and had already received 200 reinforcements, with better weapons and protective armor. Three days after the first battle, a force of 400 natives, armed with nothing but stone slings and cudgels (because they didn't know how to use the flintlocks they had captured) set out on foot for Poncitlán.

A short distance before the town they were met by 100 soldiers, and in a battle that lasted for several hours they were again victorious, suffering only two killed and two wounded, while almost the entire government force was wiped out.

Proceeding into the town they met with the fresh government reinforcements under command of Lieutenant Colonel D. Antonio Serratos. Despite their weariness from the morning's battle, they again prevailed against all odds, killing about 100 more soldiers and capturing 14. Serratos and the remaining soldiers fled across the river, many drowning in the process.

Again the victorious natives returned home in triumph, but scant three days more passed before they learned that overwhelming government forces had been amassed against them. There were two armies approaching from opposite directions, one under command of Don Pedro Celestine Negrete, and the other commanded by Don Manuel Pastor.

Seeking the best defensive position in the area, the natives of Mezcala and nearby Itxicán, numbering about 1,000 men in all, took to the water in more than 200 canoes and sought refuge on Mezcala Island, about 5 kilometers offshore from the village of the same name.

They set to work building stone walls at the most strategic locations. Before they finished they observed Commander Don Angel Linares approaching with a squadron of 80 infantrymen in half a dozen small boats and one larger boat.

It was known among the natives that this Linares had destroyed the village of Tizapán (across the lake on the south shore) a few day before, killing its innocent inhabitants. So they didn't even wait for the boats to approach, but set out in their canoes and attacked.

Again, the natives achieved a swift and complete victory, capturing Linares and 16 of his men. Of these captives, two were pardoned, and 14 were shot. Linares was lead back to Tizapán and there executed.

The commander of government forces in the region, Don José de la Cruz, was so infuriated at the loss of Linares that he ordered 1200 men to Tlachichilco (a few kilometers west of Mezcala) and set about building several large boats. More boats were also brought from the port of San Blas, armed with good artillery.

On the island, they continued to build defenses, habitations and a church. Commander of the island was Brigadier C. Luis Macías, owner of Hacienda de la Palma on the south shore.

There were several skirmishes, in one of which Macías was killed, and command passed to the priest C. Castilian Marcos. Over the years Commander José Maria Vargas also provided much help to the defenders.

Despite several attempts, De la Cruz and his small navy were never able to dislodge the defenders. Even in 1816 when a severe epidemic hit the residents and left nearly all of them ill, they held out. Even De la Cruz tired of the stand-off and suggested to his superiors that the defenders be pardoned in exchange for their surrender. Finally, in November of 1816 a pardon was granted, along with restoration of the villages and seed and oxen for the natives to allow them to resume their subsistence. In exchange, the defenders gave up control of the island and turned over their weapons and ammunition to De la Cruz.

Ruins on Mezcala Island include a military fort and a prison. Apparently the government was so impressed with the defensive position adopted by the insurgents that they built their own fort there in 1819. The site was sufficiently remote as to make a good prison too, and with the fort overlooking the prison site it could be well guarded too. (In 1842 Gen. Manuel Micheltorena set sail for San Diego from Mazatlán with several hundred soldiers, to take up his appointment as Governor of California. His 'soldiers' however were for the most part the dregs of Mexican prisons -- mostly, according to one participant {Michael White}, from the prison 'on Lake Chapala.' ) Both the fort and the prison were abandoned in 1855, though to date I have been unable to find out why.