Due to its distance from Mexico City, the city and the surrounding communities developed relatively autonomously. Some of the earliest missions in the north of the country are located in and around the city. It became an important stop on the road north to conquer what is now the north of Mexico and Southwest U.S. The Jesuits were also missionaries here from 1596 until their expulsion from New Spain in 1767. They founded the Colegio de Guadiana, which was the main educational institution for the north of Mexico during the colonial period.