After the Conquest, the first Spanish arrived here headed by Pedro Rodríguez de Escobar, who were sent by Pedro de Alvarado as scouts. The Augustinian monks who accompanied these soldiers founded the town of Ixmiquilpan, with the founding of the church and monastery of San Miguel Arcángel in 1550. The town grew over time, and by the early 17th century, it was decided to build the first bridge over the Tula River, to connect Ixmiquilpan with the newer settlement of Barrio de la Otra Banda, today Barrio de Progreso. The project was undertaken by Captain Miguel Cuevas y Dávales and inaugurated in 1655.