sentences:  But evangelization was slow, with period documents indicating that most pagan beliefs had not been extinguished well into the colonial period.One hundred and thirty encomiendas were created in the region which lasted most of the 16th century and in some cases into the 17th.Spanish dominance in the coastal areas depopulated it of most indigenous people, with the Huastecs retreating south from Tamaulipas to Panúco and Tamaulipas and with many dying in the war and from disease.