Olancho Department

The Cave of Talgua, also known as "The Cave of the Glowing Skulls," is located near Catacamas. It was used as a burial site by the native peoples, and over time, the bones left there were covered by the calcite dripping from the ceiling, giving them an eerie, sparkling appearance. Radiocarbon testing indicated that the burials were made around 900 B.C., well before the rise of the Mayans and other civilizations. The ossuary chamber was discovered in 1994 by a Peace Corps volunteer named Timothy Berg, along with two Catacamas locals named Desiderio Reyes and Jorge Yáñez, and research is still being conducted in the area. In the 18th and 19th century, Olancho resisted government authority from Tegucigalpa, resulting in armed conflicts.

On December 7, 1864, the arrest of a deputy named Rosales caused a rebellion against the highest authorities of the department and the central government. Led by the colonels: Barahona, Zavala, and Antúnez, more than a thousand rebels marched towards Tegucigalpa in 1865. Faced with this situation, the then president of the republic, General José María Medina, organized a military expedition and led it. , to counter the rebels. At the end of the confrontation, Medina and his men imposed themselves on the rebels, capturing the leaders whom he shot, beheaded and buried. Several of the towns and villages of the Departments of Olancho Honduras were burned along with their inhabitants and many of the rebels were shot and killed in combat. After this fact; There were many deportations and a massive exodus of Olanchanos to other parts of the country, leaving the Department of Olancho with a diminished population. Manto lost his title of departmental head, which was transferred to Juticalpa.

Three years later, in 1868 the young man Serapio Romero, known as Cinchonero, got up in Juticalpa with a group of men; against the biggest in the square: Nazario Garay. Both men held a duel with machetes, ending the winner Serapio Romero. Then, defying the central government, the 'Cinchonero' unearthed the heads of colonels Barahona, Antúnez and Zavala and paid them a posthumous tribute. To this new rebellion, the government responded by sending a military contingent, who ended up defeating, capturing and beheading Serapio Romero. After these bloody events, Olancho became an almost depopulated department and therefore, quiet.

Central park and church at Camopamento.

To this day, the old independent sentiments persist among Olanchanos, although the department's role as an agricultural producer has made it an integral part of the Honduran economy. The former president of Honduras, Porfirio Lobo, hails from the department, specifically from the city of Juticalpa. Also former president now congressman Manuel Zelaya Rosales is from the city of Catacamas, also from the department There is an accurate saying about Olancho known by all residents of the region that has become the unofficial motto: "Olancho es ancho para entrar, y angosto para salir." This is variously translated as "Olancho is easy to enter, and hard to leave", or more literally: "Olancho is wide to enter, and narrow to leave". True understanding of, and appreciation for, this motto takes years to develop. It has also been said to be because of the historical violence of the department. There is another saying, "Olancho: Entre si quiere, salga si puede" (literally, "Olancho: Enter if you want, exit if you can").

The Olancho Department remained as one of the most violent areas in Honduras until 2012.[3] In June 2012, after a Drug Enforcement Administration agent killed a suspect in Honduras, it was confirmed that the US government has been running covert operations in the Olancho area to combat drug trafficking.[4] Currently, many multinational corporations as well as charitable and religious organizations with personnel in Honduras actively discourage their members from visiting Olancho, as do the governments of the US,[5] Canada,[6] France,[7] New Zealand[8] and the UK,[9] among others.