Acapulco has been well known as a
traveler's crossroads for at least a millennium. Its name is a Nahuatl word,
meaning "plain of dense reeds." The earliest local remains, stone metates and
pottery utensils, were left in the 3rd millennium BC. Much later, sophisticated
artisans fashioned curvaceous female figurines. Some hypothesize that there was
early Polynesian or Asian influences in Pacific Mexico as early as 1500 years
before the arrival Christopher Columbus.
Other artifacts resemble those found in highland Mexico. Although influenced by
Tarascan, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Aztec civilizations, sometimes paying tribute to
them and frequented by their traders, Acapulco never came under their direct
control, but instead remained subject to local caciques until the Spanish
conquest.
After conquering the Aztecs, Hernán Cortés sent expeditions south to build ships
and find a route to China. The first explorers sailed from Zacatula, near
present-day Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, on the coast 400 km (250 miles)
north-west of Acapulco. By a royal decree dated April 25, 1528, "Acapulco and
her land ... where the ships of the south will be built...." passed directly
into the hands of the Spanish Crown. Voyages of discovery set sail from Acapulco
for Peru, the Sea of Cortez, and to Asia. None returned across the Pacific,
however, until Augustinian priest Andrés de Urdaneta discovered the northern
Pacific tradewinds, which propelled him and his ship, loaded with Chinese
treasure, to Acapulco in 1565.For more than 200 years after that, a special
yearly trading ship, known to the English as the Manila Galleon, set sail from
Acapulco for the Manila and the Orient. Its return started an annual merchant
fair in Acapulco where traders bargained for the Galleon's cargo of silks,
porcelain, ivory, and lacquer ware. This trade connection, which persisted up to
Mexican independence, was instrumental in placing the Philippines on the east
side of the International Date Line until the end of 1844.Acapulco's yearly
treasure soon attracted marauders, too. In 1579, Francis Drake attacked but
failed to capture the Galleon, but in 1587, off Cabo San Lucas, Thomas Cavendish
seized the Santa Anna. The cash alone, 1.2 million gold pesos, severely
depressed the London bullion market.
After a Dutch fleet invaded Acapulco in 1615, the Spanish rebuilt their fort,
which they christened Fort San Diego in 1617. Destroyed by an earthquake in
1776, the fort was rebuilt by 1783. The War of Independence (1820-21) stopped
the Manila Galleon forever, sending Acapulco into a century-long slumber. The
town suffered considerably from earthquakes in July and August 1909.
Miguel Aleman Valdes was the President of Mexico who put so much in the
modernization and development of Acapulco. He did so much not only as President
but also as the Head of Mexico's National Tourist Commission after he left
office.
There are exports of hides, wood, and fruit, and the adjacent district of
Tabares produces cotton, tobacco, cacao, sugarcane, Indian corn, beans, and
coffee. |
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