Heaven and earth, without shelter from shadows, relentless. Fire fell from above, fire left the bowels of the world, fire accumulated all directions, in solemn silence.
“To the Water´s Edge” by Agustín Yañez
The Barranca de Huentitán is a canyon, a huge national park that is unusual due to its proximityto such a large metropolitan area, the metro area of Guadalajara has an estimated 8 million human inhabitants. The barranca has historical significance during Mexican indigenous times as a barrier and meeting place and during the Spanish Conquest as a natural area of conflict and separation of states.
As a migrant to México I am struck always flying into the country of the huge fast contrasts between unpopulated mountainess territories and dense urban areas. The Barranca is on the edge of Guadalajara México´s second city, is a refuge for urban dwellers and adventure sport area, but also an area of tremendous interest geogically and biologically.
This 1,137-hectare national park and protected wildlife zone within Guadalajara Metropolitan area, The a ravine with a suspension bridge & ruins of a hacienda. features a ravine with a suspension bridge & ruins of a hacienda.
The Santiago River Canyon marks the border between the provinces of the Sierra Madre Occidental to the North and to the south, east and west the volcanic belt that transverses Mexico.
The canyon by definition has steep slopes, 46% on average, marginal reliefs are varied with notable differences in altitude and shapes, from flat and gently wavy surfaces to hillside elevations, domes and volcanic cones.
The canyon historically has been studied by naturalists and collectors of distinct species. The Frenchman Frenchman Henri Galeotti in 1836, he was the first naturalist to visit the area and made collections, later the English Edward Palmer in 1886. The barranca contains four distinct climate zones with their flora, fauna and vegetation: tropical forest, disciduous: Oak Forest, Riparian forest vegetation and secondary vegetation. The canyon was declared a Nature Reserve in 1997 in order to protect the area ecologically .
A total of 368 wildlife species in the groups are reported in previous studies for the area: fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds. Great Horned Owls, Collared Peccaries, Bobcats, Gray Foxes, Opossums, Red-tailed Boas, Barn Owls, Leaf Cutter Ants and Vampire Bats are among the species making a home in the canyon.
With waterfalls, hiking and mountain biking paths its an unusually diverse national park within close reach of the metro area.
Nomadic tribes moved through Jalisco 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, as testified by the bones, projectile points and small tools they left behind. There is some evidence that they were passing from the north to the south, following large game such as mastodons and mammoths.
The región is full of rivers, wildlife and a variety of vegetation, canyons and lakes making it a great place to foment agriculture.w
From the 10th to the 16th centuries, many nomadic tribes hunted game in Jalisco’s central valley, the Barranca de Huentitán was a central passage place in which various groups met. When the Spanish conquest arrived the larger region was home to a large group of indigenous tribes. Caxcanes dominated the north eastern region with Huicholes in the mountains to the south. to Lagos de Moreno with the Tecuexes.
The Spanish conquest moved in from the southwest, driven by desire to amass more territory and wealth as they had been doing in the Mexico City región. The City of Guadalajara, named after Nuño de Guzman´s birthplace in Spain actually had 2 locations previous to settling in the valley of Atemajac, a gentler landscape with rolling hills . Indigenous groups fought the Spanish conquest for centuries, aided by the difficult terrain.
“The ‘stags’ came forward, carrying soldiers on their backs. The soldiers wore cotton armor. They bore their leather shields and their iron spears in their hands, but their swords hung down from the necks of the stags. The animals wear many little bells. When they run, the bells make a loud clamor, ringing and reverberating. These animals snort and bellow. They sweat a great deal and the sweat pours from their bodies in streams. Foam from their muzzles drips onto the ground in fat drops, like a lather of amole (soap) When they run, they make a loud noise, as if stones were raining on the earth. Then the earth is pitted and cracked open wherever their hooves have touched it.”
Nahua account of the conquest in the Codex Florentino, it can be found in the Laurenzian Library in Florence, Italy
The Arcediano bridge was the first suspension bridge in Mexico and the second in the American continent, only preceded by the Brooklyn bridge in New York.1 The Arcediano community was located in the Huentitán ravine, in the municipality of Guadalajara .
It was built in 1894 by the engineer Salvador Collado as an assistant at the crossing of the then very large river Grande de Santiago. Guadalajara was then connected by a single direct road with the towns of Ixtlahuacán del Río, Cuquío, Yahualica, Teocaltiche and Zacatecas, and this bridge served as a way for several towns that were completely isolated to have communication with other populations. It also benefited trade and various activities that at that time helped the development of some surrounding towns.
The bridge was dismantled in 2005 by state and municipal authorities to give way to the construction of the controversial Arcediano dam, and a new suspension bridge designed as a replica was inaugurated 700 meters downriver in 2013.
The Barranca de Huentitan with its 1,136 hectares and has an average depth of 600 meters difference remained isolated from the larger city yet was a site for battles in the war for Independence from Spain, later skirmishes during the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero wars of the 1920´s and 30´s. The región is of great interest to naturalists and wildlife researchers, and since 1997 has been a protected ecological zone. Its a favorite place for people who live in and visit the Guadalajara metro area to mountain bike, to hike and enjoy nature.
The sun was reaching the zenith. The horizons danced like bonfire flames. Heaven and earth, without shelter from shadows, relentless. Lumbre fell from above, fire left the bowels of the world, fire accumulated all directions, in solemn silence.
The sun was reaching the zenith. The horizons danced like bonfire flames. Heaven and earth, without shelter from shadows, relentless. Lumbre fell from above, fire left the bowels of the world, fire accumulated all directions, in solemn silence.
The sun was reaching the zenith. The horizons danced like bonfire flames. Heaven and earth, without shelter from shadows, relentless. Lumbre fell from above, fire left the bowels of the world, fire accumulated all directions, in solemn silence.
To the Water´s Edge by Agustín Yañez
“To the water’s edge by Agustín Yañez”