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Photograph of Don Modesto Güereña
in the airport | Don Modesto
Gûereña Rosas from Alamos, Sonora, was the brother of renowned entrepreneurs
Antonio and Joaquin. He moved to this Port in 1923 following his brothers steps. Don
Modesto was a great businessman. He moved a visionary who created jobs that benefited
many families raising the region's economy. Don Modesto started his fishing business
in 1925. He hired longshoremen and sailors that he sent fishing business on rowboats
and sailboats. Each boat was well known by their names and crew. Amongst them
were La Indita (Little Indian Girl), la Marcela, Corbeteña, and La Paloma
(The Dove). The sailors used fish netting for general fishing and special fishing
cord for catching red snapper and codfish. The fish was first sun-dried, then
sent by ship via Manzanillo and transported by train to the central Republic. His
business included the exportation of pearls. He brought special divers from La
Paz, Baja California, who were exclusively dedicated to the fishing of pearls. Don
Modesto also exported alligator hides. There were plenty of alligators in the
swamps in Vallarta. The hides were exported to New York City in the United States.
These events took place from 1925 to 1937. Around the same time, Gûereña
started exporting sharkskin, fins and oil. During Second World War, all the fish
products were sent to Hamburg in Germany and to a company in Los Angeles, California.
The fishing business was booming and Eduardo, Don Modesto's son, was at this time
old enough to take charge of the family business. He bought new fishing boats
and went to sea. His boats' names were La Ixtapita (Little Ixtapa), Lupita I,
(nickname for Guadalupe), Lupita II, Margarita and San Igancio. Don Modesto named
coastal captains to Cayetano, Martiniano Rodríguez, José Martín
del Campo, Serafín, Lupe and Trinidad Chavarín, Bartolomé
Tovar and Gilberto Flores, better known as El Tripas (The Tripe). The
fishing became so successful that Don Modesto had to order the construction of
an upscale 56- ton fishing ship that he named El Tiburón (The Shark). It
was the first of its kind in this port and a masterpiece of designer Gonzalo Hernández. The
new ship started fishing trips to Socorro Island for shark fishing, to Guaymas
and Mazatlán for shrimp fishing, and to closer areas of the bay for a variety
of fish. When there was bad weather, they would anchor either at Las Marietas
(name derived from María) islands, Los Corrales of Punta Mita (Point Mita). Doña
Lupe, Eduardo's mom, supplied the fishermen with plenty of food. I remember clearly
seeing big containers full of homemade tamales (dish made out of cornmeal wrapped
in corn husk) that she herself made! There were always people, especially sailors,
in and out of the house at all times! Don Modesto giving
orders on one side, his daughter Rosita weaving the fish netting on the other
side, and Doña Lupe, the mother of his children, always loving and smiling.
I was aware of all this because we were the Gûereña's neighbors. Don
Modesto had a lot of people working for him and he became a mentor to his employees.
He was well known for his enormous heart and generosity. He helped people from
the group of CTM (Confederation of Mexican Workers) to solve their differences
with CROM members. During the Second World War, Don Modesto
managed an upscale production of chewing gum from the chilte tree and latex material
that was highly priced for the fabrication of rubber articles. He controlled the
exportation of costly woods from the towns of Congregation, Yelapa, Quimixto and
Pisota. There were a few men who followed his steps. Among
them were Jesús Palacios, José Baumgarten Joya, Cloro Palacios and
some other names I cannot recall. Don Modesto was a man
of untiring, iron-strong disposition. After the Second World War the fishing business
stopped producing. He sold Tiburón fishing ship to a company in Guayaquil,
Ecuador. His captain Cayetano and crew went to Ecuador to deliver the ship to
the new owners. Gûereña dedicated himself
to grow a variety of fruit trees, such as mangoes, limes, sour sop (tropical fruit),
papaya, and bananas. He exported produce to many places in the Mexican Republic.
His first transport bus was named La Banana. Don Modesto
was an unforgettable man. He often spoke using adages that became popular in Vallarta.
Some of the sayings I remember were -"¡Chispas, quemen!" (a sort
of, "Holy Molly!!"), or "Este cochino hombre" (This dirty
old man!). He also loved hunting. Unfortunately, hunting cost him his right arm
during an accident that happened with his own shotgun. The
Gûereña Rosas family was well known in Vallarta as great entrepreneurs. Don
Antonio Gûereña, Modesto's brother, was a wealthy farmer. He was
the owner of Hacienda Coapinole and grew tobacco, beans and corn at great quantities.
Although on Antonio lost his land to the Common Landing Development, he continued
his farming business helping other farmers to get ahead. Antonio was also an entrepreneur
who owned one of the best supplied stores in town. He married one of the most
beautiful socialites of Vallarta, Señorita Clotilde Munguía Quijade
from a prominent family in our society. In 1935, a ship
named El Progreso was beached at the pier where Hotel Rosita is at present. The
event attracted a curious crowd that wanted to see the maneuvers to return the
ship to sea. After many hours of labor between sailors and other helpers, they
were able to float the ship back to the ocean. Catalina
Montes de Oca Aguilar
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Catalina Montes de Oca Aguilar Autobiography
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