San Ignacio

History

Before the Spanish, this region was called Piaxtla and was home to several indigenous peoples, among them the Piaxtlas, Totorames, Xiximes, Hinas and Humis, with some Tepehuanes toward the sierra on the Durango side. The town was founded in 1633 by the Jesuit priest Diego González de Cueto. Upriver, the Jesuits also ran the main mission of the area, Santa Apolonia, with its visiting stations of San Mateo and Santiago.

Gold-bearing ore was found in the nearby mountains, and word spread quickly. Fortune seekers poured in, some with their families, heading up to the new diggings. Regional mining kept growing and reached its peak in the nineteenth century in the sierra of El Candelero, and the town's position on the river made it key to that success.

Local legend explains the change of name from Piaxtla. A stranger on a cinnamon-colored mule took a room at the only inn and vanished, leaving a bundle behind. Inside was a statue of a saint with the stranger's face and a note asking to be made patron of the town, and Saint Ignatius of Loyola was duly installed one October 17. The Jesuits were expelled from Spanish America in 1767 and their missions declined. San Ignacio was named a Pueblo Mágico in 2023.