SALTILLO, COAHUILA, MEXICO. Saltillo, once the capital of the Mexican state of Coahuila and Texas, was founded in 1586 near a mission established in 1582. In 1785 Saltillo, with the nearby village of Parras and the surrounding district, was detached from the province of Nueva Vizcaya and added to the province of Coahuila. Saltillo was named the capital of Coahuila and Texas in 1824 and remained the seat of government until March 1833. To honor one of the heroines of the Mexican War of Independence, the name of Saltillo was changed to Leona Vicario on November 5, 1827, but the town was renamed Saltillo on April 2, 1831.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Vito Alessio Robles, Coahuila y Texas en la época colonial (Mexico City: Editorial Cultura, 1938; 2d ed., Mexico City: Editorial Porrúa, 1978).