Manuel J. Cobos, San Cristóbal, and the Hacienda El Progreso

This chapter describes the historic Hacienda El Progreso and its evolution into an industrial-scale sugar plantation and extensive cattle ranch, particularly after its founding visionary, Manuel J. Cobos, returned to San Cristóbal Island in 1879. The island’s climate, vegetation, and contemporary human population are introduced with particular attention on the highland village of El Progreso, the historic hacienda’s namesake. The chapter details the transformation of island landscapes through historic descriptions of the hacienda’s expanding holdings, infrastructure, and human population. Further historic descriptions of Hacienda El Progreso after Cobos’ assassination by his workers in 1904 track its waning fortunes and eventual fate into the 1960s.