Copala, formerly known as San José de Copala, is a four-century-old silver-mining town in the
Mexican state
The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named Mexico, United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a sepa ...
of
Sinaloa
Sinaloa (), officially the Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sinaloa), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is d ...
. The town is in the municipality of
Concordia.
History
The area was occupied and ruled by the
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
peoples until 1564, when
Francisco de Ibarra
Francisco de Ibarra (1539 –June 3, 1575) was a Spanish-Basque explorer, founder of the city of Durango, and governor of the Spanish province of Nueva Vizcaya, in present-day Durango and Chihuahua.
Biography
Francisco de Ibarra was born a ...
crossed the
Sierra Madre Occidental
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...
from
Durango
Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...
and conquered the area for
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. In 1565 prospectors discovered
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
veins and the town of Copala was founded to serve the mines. The town was named after a mythical city of gold for which de Ibarra had unsuccessfully searched in northern Mexico.
The town of Copala was destroyed in 1616 by an uprising of
Tepehuan Indians, but was rebuilt after the rebellion was quelled the following year.
[Luis Navarro Garcia (1967) ''Sonora y Sinaloa en el Siglo XVII'', Seville: Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos, p.14-17.]
Economy
The economy of Copala is based on tourism, mining, and agriculture.
Geography
Copala is located at , at an altitude of 610 m. The town is along
Federal Highway 40, approximately 50 km east of
Mazatlán
Mazatlán () is a city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding ''municipio'', known as the Mazatlán Municipality. It is located at on the Pacific coast, across from the southernmost tip of ...
.
References
External links
Copala official website
Populated places in Sinaloa
{{Sinaloa-geo-stub