The Rincón is the common name given to the rancho community area located near the capital of San Luis Potosí, of the state of San Luis Potosí. The bottom image gives you an idea of the geographical areas surrounding the state. San Luis Potosí is located approximately 225 miles NE of Mexico City. The Rincón is where all of our ancestors come from. The people make a living farming, raising some animals and of course some hunting of deer deep in the hills. There are several distinct ranchos in the same area, with the one nearest any transportation being La Sequedad, which roughly translated means “the dryness”, or “the drought”. Near there is another rancho, Temescal. Both are in fairly arid territories. From Temescal, there is the Zammaripa clan, many of whom have settled in California and married into our Castillo family. The image at the top shows several of the ranchos spread throughout the country side. By following La Sequedad and continuing to Paso Blanco there is a trail/road that one can follow all the way to the end where the Rincón del Refúgio is located. There are other ranchos along the way but the Google map was not able to locate all of them, just the ones showing in the image. The landscape changes with the change in elevation. From the desert type of environment at La Sequedad, as one progresses onto the other ranchos, the land becomes greener and more fertile. And it seems that with the changing elevations thre are different varieties of nopales, a food staple of everyone there. By the time one arrives at the Rincón, it is almost tropical with some many tall, beautiful trees. Our Abuelo, Bartolo, lived alone for who knows how long high up in the mountains at a place called Rancho Viejo. It is very beautiful up high and that is where he lived for many years after our Abuela Diega passed away in 1935. The “ruralness” of the area is changing, some of the primitive road is being paved giving the outside world access to the ranchos, and where in the past life was very primitive, there is now electricity. Plumbing isn’t there yet nor is natural gas, but eventually I’m sure. With change some things will be lost forever, for good or bad remains to be seen. A couple of things come to mind about the “ruralness” of the area. One of those being that way back when the dirt road was more of a trail than a road, a bus used to come by once a week to take the people into the capital of San Luis Potosí to shop and sell their wares at the mercado. The bus used to come in at night and park at the furthest rancho, El Rincon, and before sunup would begin taking on passengers. From the Rincón it would make its rounds to all of the ranchos picking up passengers along the way until people were hanging on the sides, sitting on top and sharing the inside with small animals and a very crowded bus. The bus would take everyone home at the end of the day and the last ones being dropped very late at night. Probably now most people drive their own vehicles into town as the road is much improved and times have changed. One of the other peculiar aspects of life back then was the weekly bath. It used to be that the men would bathe one day and women the next. High up on hillside our ancestors constructed a large catch basin made of rock that caught the water coming down from the top of the mountain. The water was the main source of irrigation for crops and to give the cattle and horses a drinking source. Because of these reasons, it was forbidden to use soap when bathing. All one could do was soak themselves and rub down with a rag to get the grime off using the super cold water in the catch basin. The people have always lived a simple, peaceful life and hopefully that will never change. Our ancestors have lived there who knows for how long living off the land, remaining humble and passing those traits onto all of us.
Cabecera Municipal: Villa Hidalgo
Población Indígena: 23. Lénguas Indígenas NAHUATL y HUASTECO.
This most recent online search reveals that perhaps there are only 23 residents in Villa Hidalgo that are Indigenous and the two native languages spoken are Nahuatl (Aztec?) and Huasteco. The Huasteca tribe is the one that was most predominant in the state of San Luis Potosí and their musical style is still popular in the area. Villa Hidalgo is the closest town to the ranchos and where official documents are maintained
Villa Hidalgo got its name in 1854, from Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla a Catholic priest and leader in the war for independence from Spain. At the end of this year the name was changed to Villa Iturbide, the Royal House of México. In 1928 the legislature changed its name back to Villa Hidalgo,
And the Rincon was also known by another name, El Molcajete, I just never found when it was first named Molcajete and when it changed to El Rincon.
Rios-Castillo Family History 