in the towns of Tlaltenango, Xochipila, Nochictlán and Teocaltech rebelled first, with those in Tequila joining later. These rebels made their stand on Tequila Mountain. Friar Juan Calero of the monastery near Tequila went to try and pacify the situation, but he was killed by a barrage of arrows and rocks. His body was stripped of its robes and hung on the local stone idol. Another monk who died trying to negotiate a settlement was Friar Antonio de Cuellar of the Etzatlan monastery. In October 1541, the situation in Nueva Galicia was so serious that the viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza, arrived from Mexico City. Rebel chief Diego Zacatecas went to meet with the viceroy, but was immediately taken prisoner by the Spanish. The price for his release was the end of the rebellion and for the chief to convert to Christianity. In 1600, Pedro Sánchez de Tagle decided to build a large scale distilling operation based on a local fermented beverage made with the local agave plant. He also introduced the idea of cultivating this plant, native to the region, on a mass scale. At the beginning of the 19th century came another rebellion in the Tequila area, this time led by a man only known as "The Gold Mask". This rebellion was suppressed by the governor of Nueva Galicia, José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa, for which he was subsequently promoted to viceroy of Peru. Shortly after this came the Mexican War of Independence. Rafael Pérez, under orders from José María Mercado, came to Tequila with 200 men to take over the town from royalist forces. After Independence, the town to Tequila was made the seat of one of the departments of the new state of Jalisco. When these departments were reorganized into municipalities, the town of Tequila was made the seat of the municipality of the same name. In 1874, the town of Tequila was given the official status of city. This was in recognition of an event in 1873, when Sixto Gorjón, about 50 police and citizens of Tequila fought off a group of bandits headed by Manuel Lozada, known as "The Tiger of Alicia". The town The town of Tequila has a population of 26,809, accounting for about 73% of the municipality's inhabitants. It contains the main parish church, Our Lady of the Purísima Concepción, built in the 18th century by Martín Casillas. The church has