Diocese in the Republic of Mexico, suffragan of Linares, or
Monterey. Its area is the same as that of the State of Coahuila
(63,728 sq. miles), and its population (1910), 357,652. The city
of Saltillo (5190 feet above the sea-level) is the principal
residence of the bishop and of the Governor of the State of
Coahuila, and, according to above census, has a population of
35,063. This city was founded in 1575 by Francisco Urdinola, and
inhabited by the Huachichiles and Borrados Indians of the
country, and by Tlaxcaltecas brought by the Spanish. The
Franciscan Father Andres de Leon was one of the first
missionaries in this territory in the sixteenth century. In 1827
the name of Saltillo was changed to Ciudad Leona Vicario, in
honor of the celebrated Mexican heroine of that name, but the
original name always prevailed. The Franciscan Fathers of the
Province of Jalisco had eight missions in Coahuila, which, in
1777, formed part of the See of Linares, or Monterey, and
belonged to it until 1891, when Leo XIII erected