Hualahuises
Coat of Arms
In the upper left quarter is the church of "San Cristóbal de los Gualagüises". In the upper right quarter is the lion derived from the Spanish province of Leon, and the Mexican province of Nuevo Reino de Leon.
The lower left quarter shows a representation of Martin de Zavala, founder of the town, giving his sword to a woman of the tribe of the Gualagüises. The fourth quarter shows some citrus trees, the main crop in the area and the silhouette of the Sierra Madre Mountains, and the Hualahuises River.
The banner has the official name of the Town: San Cristóbal de Los Gualagüises and the year it was founded (1646) and the year the arms were granted (1984).
San Cristóbal de Gualagüises
In the current state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico is a small town by the name of Hualahuises. It is situated south of Monterrey and 7 miles from Linares. This is a summary of notes collected on the history of my mother's birth place.
The ancient Indian settlement of Gualagüises named for the Indians by that name, consisted of many Indian tribes from this part of the country. Some interesting facts about the Gualagüises Indians, (also spelled Hualahuises), are noted below.
During the exploration of Nueva Espana, Hualahuises was visited by Cabeza de Vaca in 1536 and by the Spanish Capitan Alonso de Leon in the 1600s . "In 1635, the Gualagüises tribe lived near the Boca de Pilon, and members of the tribe cooperated in the capture and sale of young Indian children" to the Spanish. The Gualagüises Indians also engaged in raids against the Spanish.
The militant Gualagüises Indians were subdued in 1655 at which time Governor Zavala established a mission named "La Mision de San Cristóbal de Los Gualagüises". Today known as Hualahuises.
In 1685 the governor, Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo visited the mission and noted that he found it to be a small church with a thatch roof (jacal) and that it was in the care of fray Juan de Menchaca. The mission had 70 families and an Indian captain by the name of Anastasio. He belonged to the Pariguara nation.
The small establishment was repopulated with Tlaxcaltecas Indians in 1715, and it took on the character of a town and mission. In 1830 the State Congress conferred the title of "villa" to the Mission de San Cristóbal de Gualagüises, which now became Villa de Hualahuises.