It was 1875 when the Novelo Puerto family settled in Motul, Yucatán. It was only three years earlier that this lovely village in the south of Mexico had become a city. At that time the population was less than three thousand.

The Novelo Puerto family lived on one of the most important blocks in Motul. Just across from the main square, and next to the convent and the parish of San Juan Bautista. That is where Rita asked Crescencio to build their house, where their children were born, and where the family became an important part of the area’s development. There weren’t many other houses as large or as elegant as theirs. Perhaps there were six more, belonging to other families who, in one way or another, would participate in exporting Mexico’s products, such as cocoa or, later, in producing henequen.

It was also during this time when Motul saw the sudden appearance of an endless number of new businesses that specialized in books, glassware, hats, jewelry, tools of all kind, earthenware, bread, vegetables, icecream, soap, and candles. And convenience stores, like Crescencio’s, where they sold everything and nothing.

You could say that they grew together: at the end of the nineteenth century, the Novelo Puerto family as well as Motul experienced one of their most important periods.

Marta’s family called it ki and for years they mainly made xanab, yamal, and chim with it: sandals, rope, and bags for carrying what the crops yielded. The old people from the villages told tales of different Mayan princes and priests who had discovered the fiber’s special properties. It is Strong and Durable, which is why it was used it to carry very heavy cargo. There was a close relationship between the agave that produced the ki and the Mayans of this time. For many years it was the mainstay of their economy, their handicrafts, and even literature. When the boom was over, families like Marta’s returned to their ancestral customs.

Amparo’s family called it henequén, this agave fiber, and at the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was selling henequen that allowed them to amass a great fortune. Although their participation in the agave boom was small, their lives took a radical turn. The state of Yucatán was producing 90% of the world’s ropes and bags. That’s why it was called Green Gold. Never before was there a product that brought such riches to the state. But, nothing is eternal. When the henequen industry declined, families like Amparo’s felt lost for many years. At last they continued with their lives: one way or another they had to reinvent themselves.