What groups colonized the Jalisco region of Mexico?

by BlueStripe100

Background info that lead me to this question: My mother is a fair skinned Mexican from Guadalajara, my father is a darker skinned man from San Julian. Both sides of the family have relatives who are light skinned or have colored eyes. I've been told one of my relatives had orange hair when he was younger. I'm caramel skinned with brown eyes and dark brown hair, yet my facial hair is growing bright orange.

Question: What groups that colonized/settled in the Jalisco area of Mexico could have contributed to my orange facial hair?

Mictlantecuhtli

I assume you're talking about post-Columbian Jalisco and not pre-Columbian Jalisco. I'm not sure how far back you can trace your ancestry, but the Spanish definitely began settling in the Jalisco region shortly after the Conquest of Tenochtitlan. Between the early 1520s and 1540, the Spanish were not kind to the local native groups like the Tecuexe, Coca, or Caxcan. People were made slaves, both legally and illegally, many people were sent to the mines to work, and the Spanish married native wives since the supply of Spanish women was so limited in these early years. In 1540 an event known as the Mixton War began in which the Caxcan rose up to challenge Spanish authority and make them pay for their abuse. They allied themselves with the Zacatecos further north as well as some of the other native groups in the region. Despite putting up fairly good resistance early on, the Caxcan ended up losing against a combined force of Spanish, Mexica, and Tarascan forces in 1542. Afterwards, despite a few skirmishes and smaller uprisings, the Spanish began to pour into the Jalisco area to take advantage of its great mineral wealth. The Guadalajara we know today was founded in order to supply these mining ventures including mining ventures up in the modern-state of Zacatecas. Eventually colonial power and religious authority were also moved to Guadalajara which drew even more Spaniards into the region.

If you're interested in the early period I highly recommend the following source

  • Altman, Ida. The War for Mexico's West: Indians and Spaniards in New Galicia, 1524-1550. University of New Mexico Press, 2010.

Unfortunately my knowledge of Jalisco history ends after the Mixton War. My studies are more focused on pre-Columbian history including pre-Columbian migrations into this region.