British settlement

In early 1830s, from the top of the south mountains one can see the dry valley of Salamá, with its white-wall houses. The road was in good condition, but the descent from the mountains to the creek that surrounded the valley was long and painful. Along the creek's shore there were numerous trees and vegetation, which serve a rest area for the travelers before continuing with the trip under the sun.^[4] Salamá was a small town crossed by a crystalline creek and had a central square with palms in the middle of the valle. Close to the town was the old convent, which was then considered as the largerst and most valuable property of the country, and which was sold in 1829 to Marshall Bennett, Francisco Morazán's commercial agent for the fine wood business in the region.^{[5][lower-alpha 1]} Bennett called it "Hacienda de San Jerónimo", and soon had numerous sugar and coffee plantations, which we possible thanks to the upgrades of the old irrigation system; Bennett replaced the friars' vines with sugar cane plantations and the wine was replaced by a rum called "Puro de San Gerónimo", which became famous across the country.^[4]

The native and black settlers of Salamá were used to the monastery discipline, which Bennett's used in his benefit and his first few years were very profitable. But later on, there were bitter disputes among his descendants and -with the friars gone- soon there were tense disagreements between the hacienda owners and the town's people.^[4]

Hacienda de San Jerónimo crisis

But in 1890 the crisis deepened: natives and mestizos had invaded the outskirts of the hacienda and had been stealing wood and farming products, set several fields on fire, damaged the irrigation system and mutilated livestock. Eventually, an angry mob set the sugar mill on fire attacked the hacienda foreman.^[6] When things reached this point, the owners contacted the British Ambassador, who -after negotiation with the liberal government, who was well aware that its own officers had supported and promoted the attack- agreed to expel the invaders and pay a settlement for fourteen thousand Guatemalan pesos. Besides, it was agreed to sell a portion of the hacienda to settle a town and give it the old church.^[6]