Amaxacotlan

Amaxacotlan, later known as Mascota, lies in a valley of the Sierra Occidental. Its name has been interpreted as a place of deer and serpents. Before the Spanish conquest it was a local lordship whose jurisdiction included Talpa, El Tuito and Chacala, and its inhabitants were Tecos. Francisco Cortés de San Buenaventura reached the district in 1525. Mascota was included in the encomienda of the province of Tenamaxtlán, and Nuño de Guzmán brought it under his control in 1530. Five years later the inhabitants of Mascota and neighbouring towns rebelled; Guzmán ordered an official from Compostela to suppress the uprising.