Girón was the first and most significant town founded by Spanish colonizers
in the region, and Bucaramanga (founded on December 22, 1622) did not overtake
Girón in population or economic significance until the early 19th century. In
the 1860s and 1870s the city attracted a core of German merchants and
adventurers (the most famous of whom was Geo von Lengerke and tensions between
the newcomers and local merchants flared in 1879 when the event named "La Culebra Pico de Oro" (The
snake of gold beak)occurred. With the political reorganization of 1886
Bucaramanga replaced
