Arteaga

History

A few Spanish families occupied this part of the Saltillo valley from 1580, alongside Guachichil people, in a hamlet called San Isidro de las Palomas. In 1591 Tlaxcalan families from Tizatlán arrived to found San Esteban de la Nueva Tlaxcala next to Saltillo, and there was not enough land and water for all of them. Captain Francisco de Urdiñola took several families to the eastern end of the valley and formally founded the congregation of San Isidro de las Palomas on December 31, 1591. The Tlaxcalans planted corn, wheat, oats, beans, squash, and chile, and started the fruit orchards that still define the area.

Local accounts also tell of Irish Catholic exiles who received land here in the early 17th century, after the defeat at Kinsale and the Flight of the Earls drove many to Spain and on to the Americas.

French troops occupied the village during 1865 and part of 1866, and by most accounts behaved well toward residents. San Isidro remained a dependency of Saltillo until December 29, 1866, when Governor Andrés S. Viesca made it a town in its own right and renamed it for General José María Arteaga, who had fought both the American and French invasions. It was named a Pueblo Mágico in 2012.