Puerto Tejada was officially made a town on
September 17, 1897 in Monte Oscuro (Dark Mountain), named after General Manuel
Tejada Sanchez. During the 18th and 19th centuries there had been uprisings of
both black slaves and free blacks in the general area, and maroons had
established settlements in Monte Oscuro, which provided great cover because of
its dense tropical vegetation. After the abolition of slavery in 1852 the
former slaves and the maroons' descendents established themselves as organized
communities forming family farms that produced coffee, corn, plantain, cassava
and cacao. They were
