SLIDE 4

The town of Villa de Santiago de Saltillo and the town of San Esteban de la
Nueva Tlaxcala , were separated by a stream of water that emerged where
today is the church Ojo de Agua, and ran where today is the street of Allende;
They were independent in their civil and religious authorities, buy they were
united in the defense against the nomads, in the commercialization of their
products and in the important festivals, this separation of the towns lasted 236
years, until in 1827, the town of San Esteban was annexed to the Villa of
Santiago de Saltillo, this unin was called city Leona Vicario, name that had this
city until 1830. To be called Saltillo again, was with the union of both towns
that could shape what would be the city of Saltillo.
SLIDE 5
There are several versions about the origin of the name of Saltillo.
One of these versions suggests that it is a chichimeca word, that meant "high
land of many waters".
The most popular version, is that the word saltillo arises of a small waterfall
that fell from an elevation of the land in whose summit was the main water
source of this city, where today is the Church of the Ojo de Agua, the stream
descended directly from this place until what today we know as the street of
Allende, forming a stream that the natives called Saltio.
Another version is that the name of Saltillo derives of the diminutive of the
word "Salto" from the small waterfall that in remote time formed a natural
spring that was in the settlement where Alberto del Canto founded the town of
Villa de Santiago de Saltillo.
Nowadays, the water still flows from the natural spring, although the stream
has been intubated the small natural spring can be visited and thanks to its
purity, the water is drinkable.
Many parishioners also confer miraculous properties on water.