Los Mochis () is a coastal city in northern Sinaloa,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of

Ahome Ahome () is a municipality on the coast of the Gulf of California in the northwestern part of the Mexican state of Sinaloa; it is adjacent to the southern border of Sonora state. It reported 388,344 inhabitants in the 2005 census. Ahome (populatio ...

. As of the 2010 census, the population was 362,613, which was 61 percent of the municipality's population. Los Mochis is the western terminus of the Chihuahua-Pacific Railroad (El Chepe), which passes through the scenic

Copper Canyon Copper Canyon (Spanish: Barrancas del Cobre) is a group of six distinct canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental in the southwestern part of the state of Chihuahua in northwestern Mexico that is in size. The canyons were formed by six rivers tha ...

. This railway was originally conceived by Albert K. Owen and approved by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Porfirio Díaz as a trade route linking the cattle markets in Kansas City with the nearest port on the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

Topolobampo Topolobampo () is a port on the Gulf of California in northwestern Sinaloa, Mexico. It is the fourth-largest town in the municipality of Ahome (after Los Mochis, Ahome, and Higuera de Zaragoza), reporting a 2010 census population of 6,361 inhabit ...

. Today the North Pacific irrigation region (Sinaloa-Sonora) in which the Fort Valley is the largest district and is the principal agricultural area of Sinaloa, containing over 70% of all irrigated land and producing sugar cane, cotton,

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s, and many types of vegetables. The valley is one of the largest producers of

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

es in Mexico. Air transportation is provided by Los Mochis Airport. Nearby Topolobampo is the second largest natural deepwater port in the world, and is known for its commercial

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and increasingly important role in shipping.

History

Los Mochis (from ''mochim'', plural of ''mochic'', Cahitan for "earth turtle" and used to refer to the flowers of ''

Boerhavia coccinea ''Boerhavia coccinea'' is a species of flowering plant in the four o'clock family which is known by many common names, including scarlet spiderling, red boerhavia, and in Spanish, ''hierba del cancer'' and ''hierba de la hormiga''. This is a wi ...

'') was founded in 1893 by a group of American utopian socialists who were adherents of Albert Kimsey Owen, an American civil engineer who built the first irrigation ditches in the valley. The colony, organized under the principles of

utopian socialism Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

, survived for 31 years. Albert K. Owen, the American civil engineer who came to do studies for the construction of a railway, was enchanted by Ohuira Bay and imagined the city of the future, where railways and shipping lines converged to ship throughout the world. Today, the port city of Topolobampo continues to be developed and may one day reach Owen's dream. The city was founded by a businessman named Benjamin F. Johnston, who came to make a fortune in the cultivation of

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

. Benjamin F. Johnston arrived at Topolobampo attracted by Owen's city project. Johnston saw an opportunity to exploit resources such as sugar cane and with Edward Lycan, who had been linked to Zacarías Ochoa, owner of a Trapiche (raw sugar mill) named "El Águila", initiated the construction of a sugar mill. Ochoa died suddenly, and Johnston seized businesses that Lycan and Ochoa founded. "El Águila Sugar Refining Company" later became "United Sugar Company." In 1898, Johnston laid the first stone of the sugar mill and drove the rapid growth of the city around it. The first harvest was welcomed in the year 1903. Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón Los Mochis

Johnston was a very powerful and influential businessman, so powerful that he drew the street plans for Los Mochis — a modern city with wide and straight streets. It was not recognized as a city until 1903 along with Topolobampo. On 20 April 1903 a decree was founded by the mayor of Los Mochis, during the state government of Francisco Cañedo. In 1916, establishing the town of Ahome and since 1935 the municipal seat of the latter is in the city of Los Mochis. It is currently the commercial center of Valle del Fuerte and its radius of influence extends from the southern part of the neighboring state of Sonora and to the municipalities of El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Choix and Guasave in Sinaloa. The economic development of the city began with the sugar industry, but in recent decades, its progress rests on the high-tech agriculture practiced throughout the northwestern region of Mexico. A group of enthusiastic people in la Villa de Ahome, under the name of "separatist," fought to create a municipality outside the hegemony of

El Fuerte El Fuerte (Spanish: "The Fort") may refer to: * El Fuerte de Samaipata, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Bolivia * El Fuerte, Sinaloa, a city of Sinaloa, Mexico * El Fuerte, a character in the ''Street Fighter'' video game series Fuerte may also ...

. It achieved its objectives until 5 January 1917 when the mayor came to El Fuerte to install a new city hall in which he presided Ramon C. López who had been appointed by the state governor Francisco Cañedo. The municipality of Ahome was created by decree of the Local Legislature dated 20 December 1917, being governor of the state Gral. Ángel Flores, and was appointed head of the municipality of La Villa de Ahome. In 1918 Florencio A. Valdés, was the first elected mayor. The City Council Ahome preceded by Modesto G. Castro decided to make the move to the town of Los Mochis, justifying that this population had grown so much that already exceeded several times to La Villa de Ahome. The City Council Ahome, in a decision dated 1 April 1935, allowed the change to the header, and the State Legislature passed it through another decree issued on May 10 next, which was published in the Official Journal of State the 30th day of the month. The transfer took place without major problems right away and offices were installed in the house owned by Don Fco. Beltran, at the corner of Hidalgo and Zaragoza next to the local occupied by the former Sindicatura. The old town of Ahome, to remain laggard in the process of the region, had been relegated to second place. Since then the city of Los Mochis, as the town of Ahome whole have had major changes in both economic and social policy have remained constant progress to the municipality.

Climate

Climate in Los Mochis is

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

wet and dry (''

BSh A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a des ...

''), bordering on

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

(''

BWh Bust/waist/hip measurements (informally called 'body measurements' or ′vital statistics′) are a common method of specifying clothing sizes. They match the three inflection points of the female body shape. In human body measurement, these t ...

''). Summers are extremely hot, reaching with overnight lows of with high humidity make the nights uncomfortable, and a heat index reaching in the day. Winters are very warm, reaching in the day, even though the lowest temperature recorded was during January 1971. Rainfall concentrates in the summer: it is common to see thunderstorms and even occasional

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s in August and September, but winters are dry with almost no rainfall, though on 29 December 1978 fell. The highest daily rainfall, however, totaled from a hurricane that hit the area on 8 October 1985 .

Sports

Los Mochis is known for its sports culture and large, high-quality sporting facilities (Ciudades Deportivas) intended to promote participation in sports. It has two large sporting facilities that have

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

tracks, pools,

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

courts,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

fields and a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium with a capacity of 11,000. The city is home to the

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule ru ...

's Cañeros de Los Mochis baseball club. The city's football team is called the Murciélagos de Los Mochis, and its basketball team is known as the Pioneros.

Professional boxing

With many World Champions and undefeated boxers, Los Mochis is considered one of Mexico's best boxing's cities.

Transport

The Copper Canyon Railway provides daily passenger service to Chihuahua, Chihuahua in north-central Mexico. Freight service on this route is provided by the interstate rail conglomerate

Ferromex Ferromex (syllabic abbreviation of Ferrocarril Mexicano or "Mexican Railway") is a private rail consortium that operates the largest (by mileage) railway in Mexico with combined mileage (Ferromex + Ferrosur) of and is part of the North American ...

, or Ferrocarril de Mexicano, which also links to the port city of

. The city is on

Mexican Federal Highway 15 Federal Highway 15 ( es, Carretera Federal 15, Fed. 15 ) is Mexico 15 International Highway or Mexico- Nogales Highway, is a primary north-south highway, and is a free part of the federal highways corridors ( es, los corredores carreteros fe ...

, the main north-south route from Nogales to

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. The city's airport offer domestic flights, mainly to Mexico's largest cities and is served by several airlines.

Notable people

* Jorge "Travieso" Arce, first Mexican to win World Championships in four weight divisions and former WBO

Super Bantamweight Super bantamweight, also known as junior featherweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . There were attempts by boxing promoters in the 1920s to establish this weight class, but few sanctioning organizations or ...

Champion. * Francisco Arce Armenta, boxer, title contender in the

Featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, this ...

division. *

Sergio Arias Sergio Javier Arias Delgado (born 27 February 1988) is a Mexican retired footballer as goalkeeper. Club career Arias has played in Chivas' youth division teams and began playing for the Tapatío squad in the 2006 Season. He has yet to make his d ...

, footballer for

C.D. Chivas USA Chivas USA (pronounced ''CHEE-vahs'') was an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. The club played from 2005 to 2014 in Major League Soccer (MLS) and was a subsidiary of Mexican club C.D. Gu ...

and World Champion with the Mexican U-17 National team. * Luis Ayala, former baseball professional pitcher that played for numerous teams in the National and American Leagues. * Miguel Beltrán Jr., boxer, title contender in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

division. * Edwin Borboa, footballer for the

Potros Neza Neza Fútbol Club, also known as ''Toros Neza'' is a Mexican football team based in the city of Nezahualcóyotl. They play in the Liga de Balompié Mexicano. The club returned for the Clausura 2011 Liga de Ascenso tournament, taking the place ...

. *

Omar Bravo Omar Bravo Tordecillas (born 4 March 1980) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is Guadalajara's all-time leading scorer in all matches. Club career Club Deportivo Guadalajara Omar Bravo has scored 132 goals ...

, footballer for

Club Deportivo Guadalajara Club Deportivo Guadalajara (); often simply known as Guadalajara () and their nickname ''Chivas'' (), is a Mexican professional football club based in Zapopan, Jalisco. Guadalajara is one of the ten founding members of the Mexican First Divisi ...

and the

Mexico national team The Mexico national football team () represents Mexico in international football and is governed by the Mexican Football Federation (). It competes as a member of CONCACAF. Mexico has qualified to seventeen World Cups and has qualified conse ...

. *

Juan Castro Juan Gabriel Castro (born June 20, 1972), is a Mexican former professional baseball infielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, and Philadelphia Phillies, ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

for a number of teams in MLB. * Hugo Cázares, two weight division World Champion boxer and current WBA Super Flyweight Champion. *Daniel Cota, boxer, title contender in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

division. *

Jorge Cota Jorge Cota (born December 11, 1987) is a Mexican professional boxer. Professional career In November 2010, Cota beat the veteran Daniel Eduardo Yocupicio by T.K.O. in the fourth round, the bout was held at Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico. On June 23, 20 ...

, Light Middleweight boxer with a record of 28-3. * Antonio DeMarco, boxer, former WBC

Champion. * Carlos Fierro, footballer for the Chivas de Guadalajara. Winner of the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup *

Denisse Guerrero Denisse Guerrero Flores (born August 8, 1980, Los Mochis, Sinaloa) is a Mexican musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the electropop band Belanova. The band has released five albums since signing to Virus Records ...

, lead singer of the Mexican electropop band

Belanova Belanova was a Mexican pop music, pop band that formed in the city of Guadalajara, Jalisco, in 2000. The group consisted of Denisse Guerrero (lead vocals), Edgar Huerta (keyboards, programming) and Ricardo "Richie" Arreola (Bass (instrument), ba ...

. *

Laura Harring Laura Elena, Countess von Bismarck-Schönhausen (née Martínez Herring; March 3, 1964), known professionally as Laura Harring, is a Mexican-American actress. In 1985, Harring became the first Hispanic woman crowned Miss USA. She later began her ...

, Mexican actress and former

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020, ...

(1985). * Jesús Antonio Hernández, professional Lightweight boxer and is trained by former World Champion, Roberto García. *

Teddy Higuera Teodoro Higuera Valenzuela (born November 9, 1957) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. He played for nine years (– and –) for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Early career Higuera was named the rookie of th ...

, former pitcher for Milwaukee Brewers in Major League Baseball. *

Joel Huiqui Joel Adrián Huiqui Andrade (born 18 February 1983) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. His paternal surname is of Mayo origin (indigenous people of Sonora and Sinaloa). Career Joel Huiqui started his career ...

, footballer for the Monarcas Morelia and the

. * Enrique Jackson, politician and candidate for the PRI presidential

primaries Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

. * Roberto Jordan, 1960s singer *

Francisco Labastida Francisco Labastida Ochoa (; born 14 August 1942) is a Mexican economist and politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), who became the first presidential candidate of his party to lose a presidential election, which h ...

, former PRI candidate to the 2000 Mexican presidential election. * Rosalva Luna Ruiz, Nuestra Belleza México 2003. * Mahonri Montes, professional boxer with a record of 36-9-1. * Fernando "Cochulito" Montiel, boxer, five-time three weight division world champion. *

Andrés Muñoz Andrés Clemente Muñoz (born January 16, 1999) is a Mexican professional baseball pitcher for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the San Diego Padres in 2019. Career San Diego Padres Muñoz signed wit ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. *

Javier Orozco Javier Antonio Orozco Peñuelas (born 16 November 1987) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is popularly known by his nickname "Chuletita". Club career Orozco made his debut on September 17, 2005, against Ti ...

, footballer for the

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club that competes in the Liga MX. It is located in northern Mexico and represents the urban area of La Comarca Lagunera, made up o ...

. * Juan Carlos Sánchez Jr., boxer, title contender in the Super Flyweight division. * Humberto "Zorrita" Soto, three division World Champion boxer and current WBC Lightweight champion. *

Humberto Soto Armando Humberto Soto Ochoa (born May 11, 1980), best known as Humberto Soto, is a Mexican professional boxer. A veteran of the sport for over 20 years, he is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC super featherwei ...

, undefeated Heavyweight boxer. *

Jesús Soto Karass Jesús Soto Karass (born October 15, 1982) is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2018. who has challenged once for the WBA interim welterweight title in 2013. His older brother is José Luis Soto Karass, also a profes ...

, boxer, title contender in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

division. * José Félix Jr., professional Lightweight boxer with a record of 36-4-1. * José Luis Soto Karass, boxer in the

Light Welterweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

division. * Hugo Ruiz, former WBA

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...

champion. * Carlos Urías, boxer, title contender in the

division. * Alma López, MFA, artist, lecturer

Sister cities

Bellflower, California

References

External links

Gobierno municipal de Ahome
{{Authority control Populated places in Sinaloa Gulf of California Populated places established in 1893