El Fuerte () is a city and

El Fuerte Municipality Municipality of El Fuerte is a municipality in Sinaloa in northwestern Mexico. Its seat is 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 ...

its surrounding municipality in the northwestern Mexican

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

of Sinaloa. The city population reported in the 2010 census was 12,566 people. El Fuerte, meaning "The Fort", was named a

Pueblo Mágico In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...

("Magical Town") in 2009, due to its many attractions, its historical importance and its appealing small-town colonial aura.

History

The city was founded in 1563 by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

conquistador

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 ...

, the first European explorer of the lofty

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 ...

mountains. In 1610 a fort was built to ward off the fierce Zuaque and Tehueco Native Americans, who constantly harassed the Spaniards. For years, El Fuerte served as the gateway to the vast frontiers of the northern territories of Sonora,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, all of which were sparsely populated by unyielding tribes of native amerindians. For nearly three centuries it was the most important commercial and agricultural center of the vast northwestern region of Mexico. El Fuerte was a chief trading post for silver miners and gold seekers from the

Urique Urique ( Tarahumara: ''Urike'') is a town and seat of the municipality of Urique, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places * Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the s ...

and Batopilas mines in the nearby mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental and its branches. In 1824, El Fuerte became the capital city of the newly created Mexican state of

Sonora y Sinaloa Estado de Occidente ( en, Western State; also known as Sonora y Sinaloa) was a Mexican state established in 1824. The constitution was drafted in that year and the government was initially established with its capital at El Fuerte, Sinaloa. The ...

(reaching up deep into modern-day Arizona). It remained the capital for several years until the split of this state into the states of Sinaloa and Sonora.

Tourism

Tourism remains a major industry in town, although it has been diminished in recent years by tourists being wary of Mexican drug cartel violence in other parts of Sinaloa; however, violence declined by 2013 from a high in 2011. El Fuerte has several holidays and local "Fiestas" which are celebrated with pageants, "Ferias" and the like. Several hotels cater to hunters and fishermen, who hunt (deer, boar, wild hog, wild goat, rabbit, armadillo, a variety of snakes) in the foothills or fish in the nearby

Rio Fuerte The Fuerte River is a river in the state of Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico. It flows from headwaters in the Sierra Madre Occidental to the Pacific Ocean in the Gulf of California. Course It begins at the junction of the Rio Verde (also called ...

river which runs on the northwest part of the town's commercial district. There are also local

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

a short distance from the downtown. The city also serves as a gateway to the popular

Barrancas del Cobre 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 ...

(

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 ...

) situated in the nearby state of Chihuahua. There are no easily travelled roads to

from west of the

Transport

Passenger trains

Visitors usually take the

Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico The Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico (Chihuahua-Pacific Railway), also known as El Chepe from its reporting mark CHP, is a major rail line in northwest Mexico, linking Chihuahua City, to Los Mochis and its port, Topolobampo. It crosses the Si ...

railway, whose local station is a few miles south of town. The route is on the Chihuahua-Pacific Railroad, or ChePe, which passes through the scenic

, from Chihuahua, Chihuahua to the northeast, to

Los Mochis, Sinaloa Los Mochis () is a coastal city in northern Sinaloa, Mexico. It serves as the municipal seat of the municipality of Ahome. As of the 2010 census, the population was 362,613, which was 61 percent of the municipality's population. Los Mochis is th ...

, near the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja C ...

, to the southwest. The town is also served by El Fuerte Airport.

Climate

El Fuerte (Fiestas Patrias) (18238040195)

Sister cities

Southlake, Texas Southlake is a city located predominantly in Tarrant County with minor areas extending into Denton County in the U.S. state of Texas. Southlake is a suburb of Dallas/Fort Worth. As of th2019 census estimateit had a population of 32,376. Histo ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

External links

*http://www.sinaloa.gob.mx/conociendo/municipios/elfuerte.htm *http://www.elfuerte.gob.mx/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20111218024438/http://coppercanyonmexico.com/trip-details/el-chepe-the-train/ {{Authority control Populated places in Sinaloa Populated places established in 1563 Pueblos Mágicos 1563 establishments in New Spain