During the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, the Otomis sided with the Spanish and the Matlazincas against. Gonzalo de Sandoval came to the Toluca Valley with 18 cavalry and 100 infantry. They were joined by 60,000 Otomi and conquered the Matlatzincas. The area around what is now the city of Toluca, including Zinacantepec, came under the rule of Hernán Cortés administrated by his cousin Juan Gutiérrez Altamirano in what would become the County of Santiago de Calimaya. The west part of the valleybecame part of the encomendero of Juan de Sámano. This same family founded the Hacienda de laGavia which owned much of the arable land in the municipality.