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Legends of the Bay
by Érika Carrillo |
| Vallarta goes beyond hotels, restaurants and paradise beaches. The history of this costal town, with its traditions, habits and customs, is an ethereal treasure found by talking to the people who live here. It is there, hidden in the spirit of the city and in the voices of its people. Bay Vallarta went out to hunt down ghosts, and in the meantime, found the stories and legends that tell the story of the city; fantastic histories, legends and myths that answered the "why" of things when they were not known. Whether they were borned of real events or not, what is important are the portraits of the ingenuity and the life of other times, the testimonies that form the pillar of the vallartense history. In Bahia de Banderas the legends begin with its own name  When the Spaniards arrived to the coast of the then Xiutla (today Puerto Vallarta), 20 thousand indians arrived to stop the incursion. Each one carried two banners of feathers, one in their hand and another inside their case for carrying arrows. The leading Spaniard, Francisco Cortez de Sanbuenaventura (nephew of Hernán Cortez) ordered the attack, trembling from fear before the fury of the Indians (there were 20 thousand of them!) And to give courage to the soldiers, the friar of the crew descended from the ship, took a banner of the Immaculate Conception and the Holy Cross, and knelt before the Indians. When the banner was raised it was illuminated with golden sparkles. The indians amazed, approached the friar and they left the flags of feathers on their feet, in sign of respect. There were 40 thousand flags on the coast. The act was important for two reasons: It consummated the domination of the valley, and it gave the name of the Bahía de Banderas (Bay of Flags). El Mocho  The legend of El Mocho sprang from a love triangle: Each time a particular peasant left to sell his corn in the Bahia de Banderas, his wife and his friend would have a romance. Heated on both sides, one day they put out to sea and, after a shout from the woman, the terror began. The woman's body appeared mutilated from the waist down. The shark, "El Mocho" had half eaten her. The lover and the husband were left terrorized from the death of the woman off coast. Since then, El Mocho has become the most feared and famous shark. It is believed that he lived in a cave in the Marietas Islands and that each time a ship passed by there, he followed it until Cabo Corrientes, expecting a human tidbit to fall off the ship. Nowadays, if there are any doubts, some navegaters take precautions when passing by there. (There are other versions of this legend, for example, the writers Amalia Gómez and Catalina Escobedo, suggest that the victim was a boy and not a woman.) "It would be the moon, Don Boni" If you have heard this popular saying, pay attention so you will know the story:  Don Boni was a strong man, the owner of a store that sold bundles of "zacate" and other animal feed in the center of Vallarta. As municipal vice president (assistant mayor) he would begin the festivities of Independence Day from the Armory of the town. The Chronicler of the city, Carlos Murguía, relates the facts: After the parade and in the middle of the applause, Don Boni took his position: "Mexicans, (all kept silent) it was 11:00 at night when the sun shone." Then a guarded voice shouted: -"It would be the moon, Don Boni ." "It would be your mother @!#$ blockhead!, I am speaking of the sun of freedom," said Don Boni. And he continued the speech." The anecdote added flavor to the popular history. Since then, the people of Vallarta, when someone shows incredulity at what is said, he mocks, saying "It would be the moon, Don Boni". "The doors of gold"  In the 1940's, a ship sank next to Los Arcos (the nature preserve at the southern end of the bay). The ship, however, was not common: it had doors of gold. The ship was found in 80 fathoms of water (some 150 meters) and it was impossible that someone (with the equipment of that time) could go that deep. As with all mysterious treasure, there was a guardian: a gigantic grouper fish with eyes as large as a plate. The best divers tried to dive down to remove the valuable doors, but they failed to return with the booty. Some returned frightened, alleging that the fish was the size of a launch. Others simply did not return. It is possible then that the ship, "the doors of gold", is still there. And of course, the grouper also. An interesting interpretation of this legend is taken from the book Recuerdos y Sucesos de Puerto Vallarta (Carlos Munguía, 2000) : The merchant shipping lane (from San Francisco, California, to Panama by the Bahia de Banderas), brought, besides merchandise, stories of other shipwrecks that the Spaniards posted among the local inhabitants. One of those stories went as that of the Golden Gates, which the Spaniards named in 1769 "The Golden Door". Possibly the ship that sank possessed this name, and when the gossip arrived to the coast, ("the 'Doors of gold' sank") with all the imagination of the town, they did not delay in creating a legend, which is still around more than three hundred years later. Mermaids in the Bay  Another legend of the sea, told every time there is a full moon during Easter, is that men and women would hurry to Los Muertos Beach. The intrepid entere the ocean and bathe to the light of the moon covered by a magic spell: they became mermaids. (This is the reason which, besides whales and dolphins, the Bay is full of mermaids.) "The Devil is going to Appear" Anselmo was transported o his bicycle down the road from Las Juntas to Ixtapa. A hog from a neighboring corral crossed in front of him and, upon avoiding it, he fell noisily on the sidewalk. Everything went dark. He recovered from the accident when he observed the shadow of a man who had come along. He greeted him from far away and he began chatting about his misfortune to make light of the situation. The man, with a mysterious halo, greeted him with a coarse voice. Anselmo did not look at him, he was bent over repairing his bicycle and barely observed his head but saw the triangle that was formed by his legs.  Suddenly, a strong wind began to blow. The man moved closer each time and with each step the strength of the wind increased. Anselmo no longer needed the light to recognize the face, on the road from Las Juntas everyone knew him. When the stranger was sufficiently close, Anselmo could see his eyes: they were as red, as fire and his body, although it seemed like it, was not human. Trying to dissemble his fear, he told the stranger good-bye quickly and undertook the trip again. He had barely advanced a few meters and the bicycle was elevated. The man with the red eyes brought him up on his arms. Anselmo could not do more than pray aloud and to shout to entreat God to free him from such a maleficent spectrum. The stranger convulsed and covered his ears while he listened to the prayers, then Anselmo took advantage of the action to speed off and was lost from his view. To date, anecdotes such as that of Anselmo are found around the road of Las Juntas. So pass quickly, if not the devil himself might appear. The ones that tell the stories The majority of the stories told about about the Bay have been obtained through oral tradition. Because of that, one must consider that the versions can differ from story to story. Carlos Murguía, the Gómez brothers of Ixtapa, Gerardo Cortez Mora, Amalia Gómez and Catalina Escobedo, are some of the ones that have recollected the legends and stories of Vallarta. However, remember that it is not impossible to learn more stories. Chat with the local people, and if you hear some more we hope you will tell us. Learn More To hear more about the legends of the Bay, and maybe here some more, consider the City and Tropical Tour, Rainforest Adventure, Tequila Six PackTour or the Eco-San Blas Safari. This story was reprinted from Bay Vallarta, issue 16, October 9, 2004. |
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