Beyond a century, however, tradition is of no value. The pre-Hispanic Tarascans and those of a few generations ago are merged into “antepasados” and unless an historically known event is referred to, it is difficult to know to what period a tradition refers.

—Ralph L. Beals, Pedro Carrasco, and Thomas McCorkle, 1944

This article examines the emergence and transformation of the legendary Vasco de Quiroga from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. It argues that from the mid-eighteenth century onward Vasco de Quiroga has been transformed into a humanist icon due to the shifting needs of various “historical presents.” Today Vasco de Quiroga is remembered for the utopian communities he dreamed of establishing among the “Indians” of Michoacán, where he served as the first bishop from 1536-1565. However, the traditional image of Vasco de Quiroga as a saintly father figure who understood and was beloved by his Indian charges is best understood as an after-the-fact reconstruction rooted more in colonial discourse, creole perceptions and the formation of modern Mexican nationalism than the sixteenth-century past.