 Unable to simply take possession of land, the Spanish began gaining access through private transactions, such as the purchase of land by Diego Muñoz Camargo and his indigenous wife Brigida de Contreras to form haciendas.Although converted, some pagan practices remained and were persecuted.One instance of this in Ixtenco was the case of Juan Coátl and his followers in 1665, who worshipped in a mountain cave which contained a spring.