In San Juan de los Lagos this story is told
The legends in Jalisco are diverse, in different regions the most varied stories are told, but in particular, Los Alytos has different stories of places and characters in the area. The Charro Negro is one and its history takes place in San Juan de Los Lagos.
In addition to being a religious center that attracts thousands every year, San Juan de Los Lagos has an oral tradition and its own stories.
El Charro Negro is told by the author Antonio Aarón Contreras Gallardo, whose account is found in the book Histories, Chronicle and Legends and of Los Altos de Jalisco
Legend of El Charro Negro from San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco
The eighteenth century was ending and San Juan de Los Lagos acquired great fame. The miracles of the Virgin attracted many people, so her fair became important, all eager to expose so many people who visited the city, the wealth that moved in the town, they were the envy of many.
His fame spread not only in America, but it crossed the continent and people came from everywhere. It is the case that a good-looking, gallant, and exceptional manners arrived in the city dressed as a charro with a beautiful horse, with which he began to tour the entire town, taking advantage of his manners to make friends with the locals. Although he presented himself with his name, it has been forgotten, since everyone knew him as “El Charro Negro”.
The man tried to approach all the social circles of the town, asking constant questions about the town, its customs, and uses, interested in the architecture of the houses and their history. He said he came from Spain and that he was waiting for his goods, which he did not bring with him yet because he was looking for a good place to live and that he considered San Juan de Los Lagos as the perfect place for it.
At every step, he drew the women’s sighs and that began to generate jealousy and anger among the local men, who were courteous to him only because of his good manners. For this reason, he began to be watched; The intentions of this character were well directed and it is that he tried to find the place where the money from the fair was hidden because he knew that not everything was delivered to the Crown and for this, he began to rent properties next to where he considered they were hiding the money.
Someone told him that in the house next to the corner of Pedro María Márquez, at its intersection with Alba’s private one, it was rumored that mysterious jugs arrived during the party, so he rented the house on the corner and began to dig with the idea of reaching the other side. Unfortunately for him, when he poked his head out the other side, the owner of the property was already waiting for him, who believed that what the subject wanted was to appropriate his wife, so with a machete, he cut his head off but instead of falling dead on the spot, the body of the Charro Negro ran out, leaving his head behind.
When searching for him, the body was not found and only his head was buried; But it is said that from that night on, during the fair season, you can hear the spurs of the Charro Negro walking down the street, where curiously the women have very strange dreams and the men wake up with less money than they had the night before.
This story was told to me by my aunts and neighbors on Pedro María Márquez Street and Alba’s private street, it is said that not only the spurs of the Charro Negro are still heard, but also the neighing of the horse accompanied by noises of chains that could be the penalties that he has been carrying.
Source: Histories, chronicle and legends and of Los Altos de Jalisco , available for download here
