SAN MIGUEL

cabecera (county seat) of General Sarmiento partido (county), Gran (Greater) Buenos Aires, Arg., northwest of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires provincia. The early settlement of the area centred on the agricultural plantation of San Jose del Pilar, founded by Adolfo Sordeaux in 1862. Ten years later Sordeaux established the town of San Miguel. In 1889 it became the capital of the newly created partido of General Sarmiento. The first astronomical observatory in Argentina was founded in 1935 in San Miguel. The city is the home of a Jesuit seminary and an agricultural experimental station. Dairying is important in the lands west of San Miguel, which were formerly devoted to beef-cattle ranching. San Miguel, and General Sarmiento partido in particular, experienced rapid growth in the 1960s and '70s. Two major railways, running west-northwest from Buenos Aires, and the national highway system serve San Miguel. city, east-central El Salvador, at the foot of San Miguel and Chinameca volcanoes. Founded in 1530 by Spanish settlers near the west bank of the Ro Grande de San Miguel, the city was badly damaged by a severe earthquake in 1917. It was rebuilt and has become one of the largest cities of El Salvador. San Miguel's position east-southeast of San Salvador on the Inter-American Highway (a section of the Pan-American Highway) and on the International Railways of Central America make it the most important commercial centre of eastern El Salvador. The city's industries include the production of textiles, rope, and leather goods. Henequen (a fibre for twine), grain, coffee, cotton, and sugarcane are grown in the surrounding agricultural area. San Miguel has modern municipal buildings, an 18th-century cathedral, and a branch of the University of El Salvador. The town's industries suffered disruptions during the early 1980s because of fighting between government troops and leftist guerrillas. The ruins of an ancient Indian town are nearby. Pop. (1987 est.) mun., 183,449. county, north-central New Mexico, U.S. The northwestern portion of the county lies at the southern end of the Sangre de Cristo range of the Southern Rocky Mountains, with Hermit Peak (10,263 feet ) and Elk Mountain (11,661 feet ) its highest summits. The county's southwestern portion, including the Glorieta Mesa, is in the Basin and Range Province. From west to east the land descends, first across the Las Vegas Plateau, which includes several small lakes and ponds, then across plains marked by buttes and mesas and scarred by canyons and dry creek beds. Most of the county is in the Raton section of the Great Plains. The county is drained by the Pecos, Gallinas, Canadian, Mora, and Conchas rivers. Recreation areas include Pecos National Monument, Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge, Santa Fe National Forest, the Pecos Wilderness, and Storrie Lake, Villaneuva, and Conchas Lake state parks. The Santa Fe National Historic Trail crosses the county. The Anasazi pueblo at Pecos National Monument originated about 1300 and endured for over five centuries. Francisco Vzquez de Coronado's 1541 expedition passed through the region; in 1620 a Franciscan mission was established at the pueblo, which joined in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt against Spanish rule. Comanche Indians hunted buffalo on the plains. San Miguel county was established by Mexico in 1844; after becoming part of the United States, New Mexico reestablished it in 1852. Nearly three decades later New Town, now part of Las Vegas, became infamous for harbouring outlaws such as Rattlesnake Sam, Web-fingered Billy, Cold-deck George, and Billy the Kid. New Mexico Highlands University (founded 1893) and New Mexico State Hospital, at Las Vegas, the county seat, are the major factors in making government the leading employer in San Miguel county; cattle ranching is also an important economic element. Area 4,717 square miles (12,218 square km). Pop. (1990) 25,743.