PUERTO VALLARTA HISTORY

Pre-Columbian History

Puerto Vallarta valley was an area where the Toltecs an ancient Mesoamerican culture lived by the year 400 B.C. With the disappearance of the Toltecs, other indigenous tribes settled there until the Spanish arrived and made them flee away or took them as prisoners.

The Spanish Intervention

In 1525, the valley witnessed a legendary event. Captain Francisco Cortes de San Buena Ventura, nephew of Hernan Cortes, had arrived with his men to explore the region. When coming across a magnificent vale and descending to the shoreline, they were intercepted by more than 15,000 native warriors, who waved colored banners and had their bows prepared for battle. Captain Cortes’ attempt to have the native group surrender was ignored, and he thought of retreating, but he was convinced by his second in command that it was God’s will for them to fight in his name. Captain Cortes had his 100 men ready for combat and prayed to the Virgin Mary.

Juan de Villadiego, a monk that belonged to the group, convinced them to use a flag with the Holy Cross and an inscription that stated that the one carrying it would prevail. On the other side of the flag there was an Immaculate Conception image and a prayer.

Captain Cortes was about to order to charge, when the banner of the Holy Cross seemed to have been hit by a brilliant ray of light shaped as a halo pointing to the Holy Virgin. Both armies withdrew from battle with the idea that they had been blessed by Divine Grace. And Captain Cortes gave the area the name of Bahía de Banderas, (Flags Bay) in honor to this phenomenon.

The Development Period

However, the valley was not officially discovered until 1541, when Don Pedro de Alvarado found the area and for the next 300 years, it was only used as a safe harbor for Pacific sailors.

Captain Pedro de Unamuno, understanding the need for a settlement in Banderas Bay, proposed to the Spanish rulers to build one in 1587.

In order to serve the national maritime traffic, a Maritime Customs Office was established and the port, officially known as Las Peñas, was open. Then, products like corn, beans, tobacco and coconuts started being shipped from Banderas Bay to Mexico's interior. In 1914, the first post office, including a telegraph, started to operate.

The Congress of the country recognized the port as a municipality on May 31, 1918, and renamed it Puerto Vallarta, to immortalize Don Ignacio Luis Vallarta, Jalisco governor of the time.

The world’s economy recess of the 1930s had Puerto Vallarta strive to become an important vacation destination, without good results. And few and isolated signs of growth were shown in the coming years. In 1931, an airplane landed in Puerto Vallarta for the first time and in 1948 the first hotel called Rosita was inaugurated.

The Golden Age

In 1963, Mismaloya in the municipality of Puerto Vallarta served as the setting for Oscar-winning movie director, John Houston’s Night of the Iguana, where striking scenes of the mountains, the sea, the deserted beaches and awe-inspiring sunsets of the surroundings of Puerto Vallarta were portrayed. Soon, a flock of tourists was attracted to Puerto Vallarta.

There was a demand of more hotels and restaurants and the tourism industry started to flourish in Puerto Vallarta. The construction of Highway 200 that connected Puerto Vallarta with the Mexican interior in 1969, the creation of a commercial international airport in 1970, as well as the development of a deluxe Maritime Terminal with a 550-slip marina, are also other milestones of the growth of Puerto Vallarta.

Nowadays, Puerto Vallarta preserves its unique quaint and romantic aspect due to an ordinance passed some years ago by the clergy of the town. Nevertheless, Puerto Vallarta continues to grow, and its population adds up to 300,000 people, including a foreign company of Americans, Canadians and Australians. With the influx of over 3,000,000 tourists a year, it will not be a wonder if more and more visitors decide to settle in Puerto Vallarta to enjoy its beauties permanently.