 A smallpox epidemic in 1762 caused the deaths of 5,300 and depopulated some of the mission communities.After the missions were handed over to regular clergy in 1771, the indigenous population of five communities abandoned their homes for the mountains because of abuses and inability to understand the new priests.During the Mexican War of Independence, various insurgents such as Ignacio and Rafael López Rayón, José María Liceaga, Julián and Francisco Villagrán and Luis Herrera found refuge here.