Coltauco

Coltauco (from Mapudungun: koltraw/kolchaw (tadpole) ko (water) 'Water de renacuajos''') is a commune in central Chile, located in the Libertador General Bernardo region O'Higgins, specifically in the province of Cachapoal.

Together with the communes of Codegua, Coinco, Doñihue, Graneros, Machalí, Malloa, Mostaza, Olivar, Quinta de Tilcoco, Rancagua, Rengo, Requínoa, Electoral District No. 15 belongs to the 9th Senatorial Circumscription (O'Higgins).

History

Coltauco means “Water of Tadpoles” in Mapudungún (koltraw/kolchaw [tadpole], and ko [water]), this due to the amount of springs, swamps and wetlands that were generated as a result of the proximity to the Cachapoal River, and that made it very propitious for the reproduction of these amphibians.

Its origin, or the first antecedents of the commune, date back to the time of the Spanish conquest, where Mrs. "Melchora de los Reyes" settled in this area and sold her property, the "San José de Coltauco" to the Spanish Captain Don Miguel de Zamorano, who married Doña Juana Dinamarca, back in the year 1726.

This hacienda, around the year 1731, became a small village, thanks to the provisions of Don Miguel de Zamorano's will, which stated that when one of his sons got married, he received a portion of land as a dowry, with the purpose of to inhabit and work.

Later, in 1767, the vice parish of Coltauco was created by Father Antonio Zúñiga, parish priest of Peumo. With this, the administration of the town, which at that time was the work of the curates, remains in the hands of the parish of Peumo.

It was erected as a parish on October 13, 1824 by the governor of the Bishopric of Santiago, Don José Ignacio Cienfuegos y Arteaga, dismembering it from Peumo. And the parish was headed by the Virgen de la Merced, and its first parish priest was Juan de Dios Olmedo who served it for almost ten years.

On December 22, 1891, under the presidency of José Manuel Balmaceda, the Autonomous Commune Law was promulgated which, together with the Decree of Creation of Municipalities, established 195 municipalities in one or more subdelegations within a department (Ministry of the Interior, 1891). Thus Coltauco was formed as a commune, and later the town received the title of Villa on September 1, 1899, by instruction of President Federico Errazuriz Echaurren.

“Coltauco.- Its territory will comprise the sub-delegations 5th Idahue, 6th Coltauco, 7th Almendro and 8th Parral, of the department of Cachapoal, with the limits assigned to them by the decree of October 1st of 1884.” (Ministry of the Interior, 1891)

On March 6, 1894, the first mayoral elections were held in the newly created commune, with the following wealthy people from Coltauco being elected:

Mayors

1° Mr. José Miguel Cuevas

2° Mr. José del Carmen Donoso

3° Mr. Alberto Caprile A.

Aldermen

1° Mr. José Tomas Palma

2° Mr. Juan Crisóstomo Rojas Francino

3° Mr. Emilio Bustos

4th Mr. Plácido Bravo

5° Mr. Pedro Nolasco Flores

6° Mr. Juan David Briceño

From now on the commune has developed thanks to its people and important figures who have contributed to its growth, where we can highlight:

Pedro de la Cuevas. Founder and architect of the “Cuevana” line of horses, the most famous and oldest lineage of Chilean purebred horses. And he provided horses to Manuel Rodríguez and the Carrera brothers to liberate Chile from the Spanish Crown.

Loreto Sanchez. Who left all his inheritance for the construction of the Hospital del Tránsito de la Santísima Virgen, better known as the Hospital de Loreto. Sector that owes its name to this distinguished lady.

Beloved Sofia Garcia. That in his will he indicates "I entrust to my heir, the foundation of a pious work that will be called" Amada Sofía García ", will have the purpose of creating, maintaining and developing in the town of Coltauco a Girls' School in which the students a solid religious formation in the Catholic faith. Fundamental base for the arrival of the Religious of Santa Marta in 1954.

Monsignor Ramón Lecaros Maldonado. Parish priest for more than 36 years in the commune, always dedicated to helping others and to faith in God, he founded the "Amada Sofia García" school, administered the Francisco Javier Lizana Parish school, created the summer colonies on the beach of Matanzas, he founded the Coltauco Commune Fire Department, among many other works.

Berta Zamorano Lizana. A direct descendant of Captain Miguel de Zamorano, she was a distinguished teacher who stood out for her kindness and love for children, a teacher with a true vocation that left a deep mark on the town of Coltauco and a pioneer in raising the need for said community to have an educational unit of the Professional Technical modality. Currently the professional technical high school of the commune bears her name.

Osvaldo Ruiz Garcia. He was in the military and reached high ranks in the Army; he performed with brilliance as Mayor of Colchagua; he was mayor of Coltauco. In these tasks, he demonstrated an extraordinary concern for the Commune and especially for educational problems and the proper functioning of schools. He died the same day that the Coltauquinos had ratified his mandate for a new term.

Miguel Vial Echeñique. A lawyer by profession, he was responsible for introducing the export fruit plantation in Coltauco, one of the fundamental pillars of the commune's economy. He was also a teacher at the parish school, administrator of the Loreto Hospital, founder of the Red Cross, and participated in many administrative tasks entrusted to him in the commune.

The contamination of the Cachapoal River by mining installed upstream caused the loss of many amphibians and aquatic species, which over time and greater exploitation of natural resources, drainage works, agriculture with the use of agrochemicals and poisons They couldn't recover.

Administration

Coltauco belongs to Electoral District No. 15, which integrates together with the communes of Rancagua, Graneros, Mostazal, Codegua, Machalí, Olivar, Requínoa, Malloa, Quinta de Tilcoco, Rengo, Coinco and Doñihue. Likewise, it belongs to the VIII Senatorial Circumscription. It is represented in the Senate by Javier Macaya of the UDI, Alejandra Sepúlveda of FREVS and Juan Luis Castro of the PS. Likewise, it is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Diego Schalper Sepúlveda of RN, Raúl Soto Mardones of the PPD and the independent Marcela Riquelme, Natalia Romero and Marta González.

The Illustrious Municipality of Coltauco is directed by the mayor Félix Sánchez who is advised by the councilors:

• José Manuel Vial
• Teresa Echeverría Medina
• Hemardo Sánchez Huerta
• Sandra Martínez Salas
• Leicy Rivera Abarca
• Otilio Zúñiga Acevedo

Localities of the commune

Frontis Coltauco Municipality Building

The Commune consists of a series of localities, ordered from north to south, and their names have the following origins:

• Quimávida: In honor of the stay of Don José de las Cuevas y Cárdenas, dodado y terrateniente.

• The Caves: The name of the town is due to the landlord don Pedro de las Cuevas and Guzmán.

• Viña La Cruz: Winery of the commune located in the deslinde with the commune of Doñihue.

• Middle Daughter: A result of a division of inheritance of the Rose Ovalle de Vial smelt.

• The Bronzes: The name of the town is due to the old "Los Bronzes" horse farm founded in 1886 by Don Diego Vial Guzmán, which appears in the number 1 of Chilean horse genealogical records.

• Loreto: The Loreto sector owes its name to its benefactor, Mrs.Loreto Sánchez Montes, who, on the death of March 27, 1895, handed over to the Archbishop of Santiago all his assets on the condition that a Hospital was built in two blocks of land that yielded for such effects and that they were adjacent to the other Fundo Las Acacias.

• El Molino: It is not a locality, it is a street where there was an old grain mill, it is currently the entrance street to the fundos area and it goes towards the middle hijuela. The name El Molino is usually given popularly by people who live near the crossroads between H30 and El Molino Street, as a reference point, but it is part of the town of Loreto.

• Parral: Its name is due to the huge fund "El Parral de Doñihue", owned by Don José de las Cuevas y Cárdenas, made and landlord. In its origins, this great hacienda had an extension in the current sectors of Parral, Purén, Rinconada de Parral, Hijuela del Medio, Lo de Cuevas and Los Bronces approximately.

• Rinconada de Parral: Sector de Parral, so called because it is more hidden and far away towards the hills.

• Purén: Due to the pure water of the slopes that abounded in this sector.

• Parral de Purén: area close to Purén, where the huge Parral foundry was set aside.

• Montegrande: Due to the abundant water of the sector and solar exposure it favored trees and bushes to express a great growth.

• Almond: Existence of extensive plantations of Almonds, which no longer exist.

• Lo Ulloa: For a family that had extensive properties in that sector.

• St.Louis: In religious honor of Catholic saintly Saint Louis.

• Idahuillo: In the sector there was a smelt of the same name, and it was called as well as a Spanish diminutive of "Idahue"

• Idahue: Idahue means “Lugar de Piedras de Afilar” in Mapudungun (to [bubble], and flee [place]), this because of the stones that the natives of the hills of the place could get. It is one of the places that had the greatest human settlement by 1800.

• Rinconada de Idahue: Sector of Idahue, so called because it is more hidden and far away towards the hills.

• Idahue Pampa: Idahue sector, so called because it is higher than the rest of the population, and are relatively flat tracts of land.

• Cuesta de Idahue: Sector of Idahue, so called because it is on the slope that unites Coltauco with Peumo.

Education

In Coltauco Centro, there is the greatest demand for schools in the commune. The main schools are the following:

Liceo Berta Zamorano Lizana, commonly known in the area as C40 (Municipal), School F 84 (Municipal), Monsignor Lecaros Institute (Individual/Subsidized), Amada Sofía García School (Subsidized Individual).

Each locality also has municipal schools (School of Almendro, School of Parral, School of Lo Ulloa, School of Idahue, etc.)

Demographics

The commune of Coltauco covers an area of 225 km². It is inhabited by a population of 17,121 inhabitants (2002 Census), corresponding to 8,465 women and 8,656 men. It houses 2.08% of the total population of the region. Of its inhabitants, 34.34% correspond to the rural population and 65.66% to the urban population. For the 2017 census, the commune had 19,597 inhabitants, of which 9,791 are women and 9,806 men. The largest amount of population is located in urbanized areas, and demographic growth has been mainly on farmland and important slopes.

Sports

Trekking or hiking is a physical activity that consists of walking through natural settings, the Commune of Coltauco presents the necessary conditions to carry out this activity in the open air as well as hiking, runig, photographic tourism activities, observation since its resources natural resources are of unique value in the region.

Football

The commune of Coltauco has had a club participating in the National Soccer Championships in Chile.

• Coltauco Alliance (Fourth Division 1989-1990).

References and footnotes

Clarification notes

Footnotes

Bibliography