Cadereyta

Cadereyta stands in the semi-arid country south of the Sierra Gorda, where valleys give way to rugged mountains. The region was home to Otomí communities and Chichimeca peoples, including the Pames and Jonaces. Its position at the edge of the mountains made it a base for Spanish efforts to extend colonial authority into the Sierra Gorda.

Captain Alonso de Tovar founded the villa of Cadereyta in 1640 in the valley of San Nicolás de Tolentino. Its early population included Spaniards, Otomí people, Christianized Chichimecas, Africans and people of mixed ancestry. Land grants followed around the new settlement, while missionaries sought to establish a religious presence among the peoples of the mountains. In time Cadereyta became the seat of a wider colonial jurisdiction reaching into the Sierra Gorda.