Bacobampo is a town in Etchojoa Municipality in

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

, in northwestern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is situated on the west bank of the Mayo River, 20 km north of Huatabampo and 25 km southwest of Navajoa. It is an agricultural town surrounded by fields. Bacobampo is 22 meters above sea level. According to the 2010 INEGI census, the town's population was 8,539 inhabitants, making it the second most populated settlement in the municipality.

History

The

Mayo people The Mayo or Yoreme are an Indigenous peoples of Mexico, Indigenous group in Mexico, living in southern Sonora, northern Sinaloa and small settlements in Durango. Mayo people originally lived near the Mayo River (Mexico), Mayo River and Fuerte R ...

have continuously inhabited the valley since pre-Hispanic times. The name Bacobampo comes from the local Mayo language, meaning "Baco" (Snake) + "Bampo" (Water), or "Snake in/near the Water." The settlement's original was Cumbrocoa or Cumbrocobe, but it was changed to its current name in 1895 – when the Mayo River dried up, the natives noticed snakes in the puddles left behind. In 1903, the Salido brothers arrived from

Álamos Álamos () is a town in Álamos Municipality in the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. Historically an important center of silver mining, the town's economy is now dominated by the tourist sector. Designated a ...

and began working the land. Two years later, the settlement classification of Bacobampo was upgraded from ''ranchería'' to ''delegación''. In 1920, the brothers decided to split up their land: Ildefonso and Epifanio got their part in Bacobampo while José María went to . They found success cultivating wheat, maize, beans, and chickpeas. Bacobampo was then established as a ''comisaría'' on 1 January 1929. In the 1930s, the federal government invested in the northern border states, building several dams to develop the region's agriculture. The subsequent agricultural boom caused a population surge in Sonoran towns near these dams, such as Bacobampo and Colonia Irrigación (which would become Villa Juárez). In 1938, the ''hacienda'' of Bacobampo was redistributed to 802 peasants as a part of President

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...

's land reform policies, and a collective ejido system was set up. Although the cooperative arrangement seemed to work well at first, the group was divided into "collectivists," who were in favor of continuing to share the profits, and "individualists," who preferred to break away from the group. Violence broke out, and the problem got so serious that Cárdenas visited the town in June 1939 to restore the peace.

Education

There are two middle schools, Lázaro Cárdenas del Río and Gregorio Ahumada, and one high school, CECYTES.

Notable people

* Antonio Leyva Duarte, politician and member of the of the Congress of Sonora * Juan Manuel Verdugo Rosas, politician and member of the LX Legislature of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

* Christian Zazueta, baseball player and

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

member

References

{{reflist Populated places in Sonora