Isla Mujeres History

Link to source of this map . Every August, Isla Mujeres celebrates the founding of the town & the original Decree is read. In this article, our town historian Fidel Villanueva Madrid, explains some of the circumstances surrounding this document:       "The town was founded in 1850 under special conditions because of the critical situation that existed in the state of Yucatan as a result of the Caste War. The villagers, who were escaping from the horrors of the war, were mostly farmers who came from different parts of the peninsula, and not fishermen as some writers have mistakenly reported. The Decree itself is clear about this because it orders the settlers to till the land of the island for six years, and it does not refer to fishing at all. As for the indicated time of six years, at the end of that period, they would be entitled to the land which they had worked without interruption.      I must add that the capt...

      For centuries Isla Mujeres was a shelter for pirates, until the Lafitte brothers were expelled in the early 1820's. After that, the isle was only occupied a few months of the year by a handful of fishermen from Campeche, Yucatan, and Cuba.This is evident from statements such as those of American John L Stephens, the "Father of Mayan Archaeology", who visited the island in 1842. He said there were only two huts and a shelter made from branches, inhabited by three fishermen and two natives, who were fishing for turtles. The three fishermen told him nostalgic tales about the good times they'd once had with the Lafitte brothers. Less definitive reports from visitors in 1825 said there were about a dozen huts.       When Mexico's War of Independence ended in 1821, the Spanish regime was ousted, and the Yucatan acquired statehood in 1824. There were constant disputes and regional clashes during the following decades, wi...