El Fuerte

History

The Fuerte River valley is the homeland of the Yoreme, or Mayo, people, who still keep their traditional government, ceremonial centers and dances in communities such as Mochicahui, Tehueco and Capomos. Rock carvings along the river, including more than a hundred at Cerro de la Máscara, are estimated to be between 800 and 2,500 years old.

In 1563 Francisco de Ibarra founded the town of San Juan Bautista de Carapoa some 30 kilometers from the present site, but it was attacked and burned by the Tehueco. To protect settlers, Diego Martínez de Hurdaide began building a fort in 1610, named for the viceroy Marqués de Montesclaros. By the mid-17th century the town of El Fuerte de Montesclaros had grown around it. For a long time it was a trading and farming center for the northwest and a supply point for miners from Urique and Batopilas in the sierra.

After independence, El Fuerte was named the first capital of the Estado de Occidente, which covered today's Sinaloa and Sonora and part of Arizona, under the constitution of 1825. In 1858 Plácido Vega proclaimed the Plan de El Fuerte here. It joined the Pueblos Mágicos program in 2009.