A strategic military position was created here, at what is now called the Cerro (large hill) del Fortín to keep an eye on the Zapotec capital of Zaachila and secure the trade route between the Valley of Mexico, Tehuantepec and what is now Central America.
Azteki so prišli v dolino leta 1440 in jo poimenovali Huaxyacac, kar v jeziku nahuatl pomeni »med drevesi huaji« ("Leucaena leucocephala").