They followed the same route used in 1686. On 28 February 1695, all three groups left their respective bases of operations to conquer the Lacandon. The San Mateo group headed northeast into the Lacandon Jungle. The Dominican Order built the Catholic church in San Mateo, which fell within the parish of Soloma. San Mateo Ixtatán was forced to give up some of their territory to create the municipality of Nentón in 1876 and it struggled to keep its communal lands. At the beginning of the 1900s, a law was enacted throughout Guatemala that the mayor and councilmen should be ladinos. During the liberal government of Justo Rufino Barrios, extreme poverty and forced migrations to the southern coast created a lasting state of tension in the northern communities of Huehuetenango and specifically in San Mateo Ixtatán. The ladino coastal plantation owners sent contractors to San Mateo Ixtatán on market days. These contractors gave money to local people promising double or triple the amount if they came to work in their coffee and cotton plantations. The locals signed documents insuring their manual labor, but were essentially enslaved because the contracts were unjust and treatment inhumane. On July 17, 1898, a plantation contractor was killed. To cover up the crime, 30 more ladinos were killed. One survived and informed the army who responded by killing 310 Chuj people from San Mateo Ixtatán. The Northern Transversal Strip was officially created during the government of General Carlos Arana Osorio in 1970, by Legislative Decree 60-70, for agricultural development. The decree literally said: "It is of public interest and national emergency, the establishment of Agrarian Development Zones in the area included within the municipalities: San Ana Huista, San Antonio Huista, Nentón, Jacaltenango, San Mateo Ixtatán, and Santa Cruz Barillas in Huehuetenango; Chajul and San Miguel Uspantán in Quiché; Cobán, Chisec, San Pedro Carchá, Lanquín, Senahú, Cahabón and Chahal, in Alta Verapaz and the entire department of Izabal." Highly saturated salt water comes from the ground in several sacred wells. Historically, it is said that many traveled through San Mateo Ixtatán seeking the salt produced there. Many gather to pray in front of the wells to the goddess of salt, Atz’am.