in August 1591, Fray Juan Gómez proceeded with the conversion of local indigenous tribes to Christianity. At that time, there were a mere seven haciendas in the region: Acatepulco, founded in 1571, Santa María de Gracia, Totolco, El Salitre, Juanacatic, Patagua and Cartagena. At the end of the 17th century the small Spanish population in the area was centered on Cartagena and a hacienda owned by the De La O family. A number of land grants in the region were made to Spaniards at the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century. Among the grantees were Felipe Lemus, Juan Jose Pinedo and Francisco Gutierres del Palacio. In April 1711, Fray Antonio Margil de Jesús embarked on a mission in Totatiche whose historical legacy is the local vocation to the Virgen del Rosario, the town and the parish's patron saint. Population began to grow considerably after 1730 due to the local wealth created by the silver mines in nearby Bolaños. Totatiche depended on Colotlán for administrative and religious purposes until 1755 when a local parish was established. Construction on the currently standing parish temple in the town center was finished in 1901. Totatiche hosts an auxiliary seminary of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara. The seminary was founded in 1915 by Saint Cristóbal Magallanes Jara, who was arrested in the town in 1926 and later executed in neighboring Colotlán as part of the persecution of clergy during the Cristero Rebellion. Sources Esteban Valdés Salazar, Historia de Totatiche Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI) State of Jalisco, Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México External links Totatiche, Temastian Municipalities of Jalisco Populated places established in 1595