Melchor Múzquiz

Melchor Múzquiz (usually known as Múzquiz) is a town in the Northern Mexico state of Coahuila. It is an interesting town with an indigenous population of Kickapoo and Seminole Indians who fled the United States in the mid 19th century. The area has also been the site of paleontological digs that discovered that the first residents of Múzquiz looked an awful lot like cast members from a Jurassic Park movie. The town is one of Mexico's designated Pueblos Mágicos.

Understand
By the early 18th century, Northern Mexico was a tough place for a Spanish settler to put down roots. The hot, arid climate was bad enough, but the westward expansion of the United States to the north was putting constant pressure on the indigenous Americans, many of whom fled further west and south into Mexican territory where they would often attack Spanish settlers trying to establish farms or mines in the region.

In 1737 the Spanish established Santa Rosa María del Sacramento as a fort to protect the state of Coahuila y Tejas against indian incursions. The fort also served as a military prison. A town began to grow around the fort. The town was named Melchor Muzquiz in 1850.

In the 1830s, Texas revolted against the Mexican government and became a state of the U.S., though native indian incursions continued in Texas and across the states of northern Mexico. Also in the 1830s, the U.S. government instituted programs of genocide and forced removal of indigenous peoples from the eastern United States. A group of Seminole people who had interbred with African slaves feared slavery if they remained in the U.S. and so migrated to Melchor Muzquiz in Coahuila, where they established a new homeland. These people are known as the "Black Seminole" in the U.S. (where a population also has a reservation in Oklahoma) and in Melchor Muzquiz are called the Mascogos. In Melchor Muzquiz, the Seminole have an ejido adjacent to the Kickapoo lands.

In the early 19th century, the Kickapoo tribe occupied a wide swath of territory stretching across the midwest into Texas and Mexico. In 1850, the Mexican government granted an ejido (communal lands) to the Kickapoo. The Mexican Kickapoo tribe is closely associated with 3 Kickapoo tribes recognized by the U.S. government in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The Kickapoo ejido is 17,000 acres on the former lands of the Hacienda de Nacimiento.

Today, the town of Melchor Muzquiz embraces its Kickapoo and Seminole communities and takes pride in local indigenous festivals and traditions.

Get in
The nearest airport to Melchor Muzquiz is Piedras Negras . It is served by regional carrier Aerus with flights from Monterrey.

By bus
The nearest town with good bus service is Nuevo Rosita, about 20 minutes by taxi from Melchor Muzquiz. Nuevo Rosita is served by several daily buses operated by Autobuses Anáhuac from both Piedras Negras and Monclova. The bus from either city to Nuevo Rosita will take about 2 hours with tickets starting at M$300.

By car
Melchor Muzquiz is 150 km south of the U.S./Mexico border at Eagle Pass/Piedras Negras. From Piedras Negras, drive south on federal highway MEX-57 (and/or tollroad MEX-57D). The trip is on good, straight, well-paved roads and will take about 2 hours.

Get around
Múzquiz is easy to get around by walking. Its a small town laid out on a grid system with one highway (MEX-53) running through the center. For recreation areas or to visit the indian ejidos, a taxi is useful. Taxis are plentiful and can be found near the Parque Principal, or your hotel receptionist can call one for you.

See




Do
There are hundreds of square miles of open land around the town and good areas nearby for active outdoor sports including hiking, mountain biking, kayaking and zip lining. Natural areas include the Rio Sabinas and nearby parks.



Buy
There are some grocery and convenience stores around town but no traditional marketplace and no shops with any distinctive regional products.

Connect
Cell coverage is spotty in the area, though 4G coverage in town is generally reliable. Service along roads into town is often limited to 3G.

Go next

 * Piedras Negras
 * Monclova
 * Cuatrociénegas