The first people to populate the area arrived approximately 10,000 years ago, when the climate was wetter and warmer than it is now, with different vegetation and wildlife. Eventually, the area became dominated by Chichimeca tribes such as the Caxcans, Guachichils, Guamares, Huichols, Zacatecos and others, with the Zacatecos being the most numerous in the area the city is today. These people were mining silver and other metals in these hills long before the Europeans arrived, making the area important in pre-Hispanic times.
Colonial period
The Spanish came to the Zacatecas area via Guadalajara. In 1540, Nuño de Guzmán traveled from Mexico City conquering what are now the states of Michoacán and Jalisco. One of Guzmán's lieutenants, Cristobal de Oñate, conquered the area around what is now Guadalajara. Another, Pedro Almindes Chirinos Peralmindes, went to explore the lands to the north, taking Zacatecas with little trouble but not knowing of the riches underneath the soil. And the area initially was simply frontier. Other expeditions followed, including one by Juan de Tolosa in 1546, who brought back rock samples from Cerro de la Bufa, which were determined to contain high concentrations of silver and lead. A mining camp was soon established at the foot of Cerro de la Bufa. The Zacatecos initially fiercely resisted the permanent presence of the Spanish, but the mining potential of the area strengthened the Europeans’ resolve and the natives were defeated in the 1540s. Surveys of the other surrounding hills were undertaken by Tolosa, Diego de Ibarra, Baltasar Temiño de Bañuelos, Andrés de Villanueva and others.
A military mining camp was formally established in 1548 and called Minas de Nuestra Señora de Remedios. The first major vein of silver was found in 1548 in a mine called San Bernabe. This was followed by similar finds in mines called Albarrada de San Benito, Vetagrande, Panuco and others. This brought a large number of
