The toros, at last! The anxiously awaited section of "Los toros" has arrived; we sincerely hope that it meets your expectations. This section is based in the book "Historia Del Valle De Union De Tula", written by Ing. Ignacio Gomez Zepeda, and a perspective from our own experiences growing up in "La Union" and since we moved away, our experiences visiting Union de Tula.
Special thanks to Jose Manuel Torres Arechiga for helping us build this web site by facilitating history books of our great town. For some peculiar reason, many of us had felt an urgency to view this part of the web page. You might ask yourselves why? I think that it is the emotions and memories that embrace us when we watch the bullfights. The bullfights make us proudly feel like a part of this town and country which have
HISTORY OF LOS TOROS IN UNION DE TULA According to the book "Historia Del Valle De Union De Tula", this great tradition was born in the surrounding "Haciendas". The cowboys of the various Haciendas started an annual celebration in which they would proudly exhibit their cattle as well as themselves. It was at these fiestas where "Charros" (Mexican horseman) and Cowboys ("Vaqueros") would show off their bravery and courage to the public. There were many great Haciendas that were well managed, so there were always excellent "Charros" and Cowboys.
The first bullfight ring built in Union De Tula was in the year 1908, under the management of Don Roberto Moreno Gonzales, a great entrepreneur who always showed concern for his workers. Mr. Gonzalez contracted this job to Don Taurino Ramirez and Don Primitivo Canales to build the plaza. To inaugurate the new ring, known as the "Plaza de Toros Moreno" the charros held their very first gala bullfight while dressed up in their colorful "matador" outfits. The event was led by matador Sebastian Gonzalez. The bullfight began with the very first bullfight fiesta, or "Recibimiento". A "Recibimiento" occurred when the locals welcomed the cowboys who brought their best bulls in for the event. These bulls would be used later in the bullfight exhibition. After the bullfights, there was more celebrating at "Hacienda La Cabaña" where the orchestra from the neighboring city of Autlan, led by Don Feliciano Garcia entertained the guests. According to Don Pedro Palomino, (the first historian in Union De Tula) this was the grand finale of the inauguration of "Plaza de Toros Moreno". There was another well-remembered bullfight event that was organized in celebration of the first centennial of the Independence of Mexico in the year 1910. To prepare for this great event, there was a patriotic meeting of those who would be in charge of such festivities. The group was composed as follows;
The way this great event was celebrated was as follows;
At 05:00AM, the planting of trees in the garden at the main square.
Solemn religious function in devotion to Virgin Sta. Maria de Guadalupe, led by the misses, or "Señoritas" of the town.
The main families in the town held a banquet for the prisoners, and then at 05:00PM they inaugurated a bridge that the Moreno family built, the bridge that connected Union de Tula into Ameca.
At 06:00AM Prayers and bells ringing all over town, and the raising of the Flag. 09:00PM Musical audience offered by priest, Señor Cura Don J. del Refugio Jimenez.
11:00PM, the reading of the Act of Independence, and the singing of the National Anthem, by a choir composed of 500 voices, and later serenading with extraordinary fireworks.
At dusk, the musicians would parade down the main streets, and at 10:00AM there would be a musical matinee, and then at 01:00PM the religious celebration "in Latin" in the main church.
The historian in the book "Historia Del Valle De Union De Tula" describes that after the passing of Don Roberto Moreno Gonzalez, the rest of his family left Union De Tula, to reside in the State Capital, Guadalajara. The bullfighting ring was then acquired by Don Julian Villaseñor Mejia, who managed it with the help of his sons. Then in 1965, The "Charro Association of Union De tula" acquired the bullfight ring from Don Julian's daughter. The purchase price at that time was $400,000.00 (four hundred thousand pesos). The Charro association of 1965 was formed by 18 members. Some of the major contributors were Ignacio Brambila (Nacho), Lorenzo Ramírez, Hermenegildo Dueñas (El Menene), Ignacio Dueñas, Arturo Robles, Ignacio Valadez, Guillermo Brambila, Rodolfo Brambila, Dr. Jose Santana, Arturo Estrella, Maria Elena Brambila, Guano Brambila, Félix López, Manuel Pérez, Jesús Villaseñor, Adán González, Arturo González, Mr. Anguiano and some others that are not remembered by the author's source (who was the well-known charro, "El Menene" Dueñas). In 1940 there was a bullfight event in Union De Tula with the famous bulls from the neighboring town "El Grullo", owned by Don José Pelayo. These bulls were so big and brave that the matadors brought from Guadalajara were afraid of the bulls and they were hesitant to get out to the ring and fight the bulls. The public who paid money to see the show grew disappointed at the cowardly matadors. Two brothers from El Grullo, Juan and Pedro Durán, bravely ventured out to the ring to fight the bulls. The brother's brave act truly captivated and enchanted the crowds. The people of Union De Tula are fond of "Charros". In 1910 and in later years, three Dueñas brothers performed shows in the plaza thrilling many people. Their names were Francisco, Salvador, and Domingo Dueñas. The town remembers them as the best charros. History says that on one occasion, Don Santiago Rivera, owner of the Hacienda of Ayuquila took his best bulls to Union de Tula. These bulls were so intimidating that they seemed as though they were wild. These bulls were so ferocious, as the cowboys walked the cattle into Unión de Tula, three of their horses were killed by being gord by the bulls.
Understanding that it would be difficult attracting Charros to fight his bulls, Don Santiago, placed fifty pesos bills on the horns of the bulls. At the time, this was a great deal of money. He did so and told the people that any charro that could dare take the bills off the horns could keep the money. Of course, to make their native ranch, Santa Rosa shine in the ring, the great charros of Union de Tula, the Dueñas brothers, took every single bill off the horns of every bull. They were admired Don Santiago ever since. Another Dueñas brothers takes us to a neighboring ranch. The Hacienda of Ayuquila rented over one hundred oxen ("yuntas") to the owner of the neighboring ranch, Santa Rosa, Don Andres Z. Barba, and at the end of the season, the Dueñas brothers were the only ones brave enough to take the oxen back to Ayuquila. On one occasion, brothers Salvador and Francisco Dueñas were taking oxen back to Ayuquila. Don Santiago Rivera's administrator asked if they would help take a stray bull out of a sugar cane fields. The local cowboys had tried to do it themselves but were not able to do so. The Dueñas brothers accepted this task. With the help of dogs, these two excellent cowboys immediately located the ox. This particular ox had such a dreadful look that Salvador told Francisco (nicknamed "Pancho"), "this one we are going to have to lasso the head and feet at the same time; if we don't, whoever lassos it on the head, can be chased and killed, so I will lasso the head and you lasso the feet, so Pancho, don't fail me, my life depends on you". Salvador carefully lassoed the head and when the ox felt the rope, it immediately fired up chasing after Salvador with great audacity to kill. Luckily, Pancho instantly lassoed the charging bull's feet. Both brothers pulled the rope to knock the bull down, but instead of falling, the ox chased the two brothers for over 200 meters. The whole time, the two cowboys would not let go the rope. The watching administrator who was so scared for their lives he ended up regretting having gotten the Dueñas brothers involved. Once again, the brave Dueñas brothers did not fail! They finally managed to knock down the ox. At the end, their ropes had been frayed in 14 areas. In order to walk the ox into the corral, the Dueñas brothers had to use two capstans. This was the kind of animal that was raised in the olden times!!! When the Dueñas brothers arrived in El Grullo with the ox, Don Santiago Rivera was happy with their success and welcomed them. He said to his administrator, "Look Eliseo, these boys deserve a drink, take them to the bar and tell them that I will pay". Just like they were great charros, the Dueñas' were also great drinkers. The two brothers lasted two days and two nights drinking at the bar and listening to music, at the expense of Don Santiago. In another occasion, in more modern times, when the bullfight ring was owned by the charros, there was enormous rivalry between Unión de Tula charros with those of the adjacent town, Tonaya. On one of the annual fiestas in the town, the ranchers from Tonaya, "The Corona's" offered to bring their bulls. They sarcastically remarked, that such bulls needed "real men" to fight them. The charros from Unión de Tula replied, "bring them over on Sunday". On Sunday, the Corona's brought their best bulls (which looked like they were the size of buffaloes). They looked so savage that none of the charros wanted to enter the ring, as the Corona's stood by with pleasure. The crowd then shouted, "If there are no men in here to fight the bulls, give us back our money back". The atmosphere was very tense; it smelled like "death" and "ridicule" and the charros did not know what to do. On one hand was their prestige and on the other, THEIR LIVES! What would they do? Well, their credibility and pride won out and finally, "El Menene" and "Nacho" Brambila dared to enter the ring. They felt that their lives were on the line. El Menene nervously asked the charro from Tonaya, "which bull do we start with?". The Tonayans sent out their biggest, most untamed bull that weighed almost one ton. El Menene immediately lassoed the head and ran away as fast as he can. The bull charged him and almost caught him when Nacho Brambila succeeded to lasso the feet, and the crowd exploded and shouted with intense emotion! To top off this great excitement, "Dago Dueñas" rode the bull perfectly. The bull's bucks were so high and menacing, he managed to control the bull with a miracle. Once again, MAN BEAT THE BEAST, and the bull-fights continued. Each bull ride by the brothers was another amazing feat! The Unión de Tula natives had a glorifying afternoon; they ended up tired and scared but strangely delighted. Afternoons as memorable as this one, at the "Plaza de Toros" are few, and bulls the size of these, according to "El Menene" have never been seen again at the "Plaza de Toros" in Union de Tula.
LA PLAZA DE TOROS TODAY As we mention on the history section of this web page, the bullfight tradition in Union De Tula has not been a commercial one, but it is a grand event in which people from the entire town participate. For many years, these traditional events were suspended and even though the town held bullfight events in the month of December, these were not brought about in the traditional manner that they were in ancient times. According to unofficial sources, approximately 10 years ago, a group of natives in Union De Tula got together and decided to work hard to bring back such beautiful tradition for the annual fiestas in the month of May in which we celebrate the birth of our town. And thanks to these individuals we now have bullfight events just like our natives did at the beginning of the last century. Once again, this group invited each barrio in the town to participate festivities just like they did in the olden days. Union De Tula has been very successful at maintaining this tradition and its economy has benefited. We would like to thank those responsible and those who unconditionally made this dream come true; thank you for bringing back the togetherness of our town through such festivities. We are very proud of these events. We are asking for everyone's help in giving us the names of those who deserve such credit and recognition for their great effort in bringing back such beautiful tradition. Let us honor those who deserve to be honored!  Picture Gallery from Plaza de Toros 1999 and 2000. (Click here)
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