From Five Fishermen to 1500 Refugees: Isla Mujeres in the 1840's

         In 1842, when an American archeologist visited, he found the isle abandoned except for a few turtle fishermen. Five years later, a newspaper report said there were 1500 people on the isle, trying to escape the Caste War.

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       This page from an paper about the Caste War by Michel Antochiw says that after ChanCenote fell (where 2000 rebel Mayas attacked and 60 men tried to defend the town) and Valladolid fell, panic spread across the Peninsula. Thousands fled by boat and the press reported there were 1500 refugees in Isla Mujeres and 3000 in Cozumel. 

        It says in the first few months of 1848, there was not a single pueblo, hacienda, or ranch that had not been invaded by the forces of the rebel leader Cecilio Chi. While he and his companions were heading toward Merida, the immense region from Rio Lagartos, Tizimin, and Valladolid to the Caribbean was left to its fate, forgotten by both the whites and by the rebel Maya. (By the summer of 1848 the rebels had a force of between 100,000 and 150,000 men.)

      Thousands of mestizos, whites, and natives were scattered in the jungle forests, far from the burned towns, haciendas, and ranches, without means of escape or to protect themselves from the elements or appease their hunger.

          It says that by the end of 1848, the Yucatan troops had regained Valladolid and Tizimin, establishing the Eastern boundary there, and the area to the east of that line was considered to be the territory of the enemy rebels. Although the advance by the rebel Maya had been ruthless and full of anguish, the reconquest by the whites was no less so among the various Mayan communities.

Maps showing rebel territory in 1848. The first is in the summer and the second is in December. (Source)

      In August, 1850, the town of Dolores was founded on Isla Mujeres by about fifty families who were trying to escape the horrors of the war. The Yucatan government wanted Mexican settlements on the islands of Isla Mujeres and Cozumel because the British in Belize were allied with the Mayan rebels and taking advantage of the chaos along this coast to try and settle it. 

        In 1850, it was reported that at Boca Iglesia (in what is now the municipality of Isla Mujeres between here and Holbox, at Cabo Catoche), there were more than 700 Britons, and that Isla Mujeres was surpassing Campeche as a shipping port for Palo de Tinte. (A valuable wood, used for dye, whose harvesting and marketing often involved British "pirates/smugglers" & nearby Belize, with a fair amount of tax evasion and questionable or lacking timber rights.)

     Therefore, the settlers of Dolores weren't allowed to leave the isle without permission from the authorities. They were exempted from military service and required to report any foreigners who visited, and whether they had intentions to stay. To obtain legal title, they had to grow crops and reside continuously for six years.

      The islanders were without protection and feared attacks by the rebels. They were required to build a barracks, establish a police force, and to construct their own roads and infrastructure. Two years after founding the town, they endured their first major hurricane. More than twenty hurricanes have hit the isle since then.

     The celebrations for the 167th anniversary of the founding of the town will include family oriented activities & the reading of the Decree from 1850. Follow Isla Mujeres News & Events for more information. Translation & information provided by MaraVilla Caribe B & B and Isla Mujeres History.