Under the Honduras Land Titles Act of 1861, the British Honduras Company purchased around 1 million acres of land, which included the land where San Pedro Siris and San José Yalbac and other Indian settlements were located.[1]
In 1866 the Icaiche tribe under Marcus Canul attacked Qualm Hill. Fearing that the San Pedro Maya had allied with the Icaiche, the British responded by marching on San Pedro Siris, the principal settlement of the group in December of 1866, but the San Pedro Maya defeated the British and routed their forces. The British eventually retaliated and burned San Pedro Siris in 1867.[1]
Then in the 1930s the BEC evicted and destroyed all Maya villages on their lands.[2]
In 1882, Santiago Pech, the leader of the Icaiche Maya had elected an alcalde for San Pedro Siris.[3]