Los Mochis () is a coastal city in northern

Sinaloa Sinaloa (), officially the (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities, and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales. It is located in northwest Mexic ...

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 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 the western terminus of the Chihuahua-Pacific Railroad (El Chepe), which passes through the scenic Copper Canyon. This railway was 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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...

as a trade route linking the cattle markets in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

with the nearest port on the

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

, Topolobampo. 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 a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

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 originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

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 (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

and increasingly important role in shipping.

History

The indigenous peoples of this location include Yoreme ( Mayo), Cahita, and Guasaves/Tamazulas. The name Los Mochis comes from ''mochim'', the plural of ''mochic'', the Cahitan word for "earth turtle". The noun is used to refer to the flowers of '' Boerhavia coccinea.'' Initial development began 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 survived for 31 years. Owen, 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. The port of Topolobampo continues to be developed and may realize 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 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 stout, jointed, fib ...

. Johnston arrived at Topolobampo, attracted by Owen's city project. He saw an opportunity to exploit resources such as sugar cane. With Edward Lycan, who had been linked to Zacarías Ochoa, owner of a ''trapiche'' (raw sugar mill) named "El Águila", Johnston initiated the construction of a sugar mill. In 1898, Johnston laid its first stone and drove the rapid growth of the city around it. The first harvest was in 1903. Ochoa died suddenly, and Johnston seized businesses that Lycan and Ochoa founded. "El Águila Sugar Refining Company" later became the United Sugar Company. Johnston was an influential and powerful businessman, who personally drew up the plans for the wide and straight streets of Los Mochis. It was not recognized as a city until 20 April 1903, along with Topolobampo, by decree of mayor Ramon C. López during the governorship of Francisco Cañedo. On 20 December 1917, the town of Ahome was established by decree of the local legislature. In 1918, Florencio A. Valdés was the first elected mayor of Los Mochis. On 1 April 1935, the Ahome City Council declared Los Mochis the seat of government of Ahome, city councillor Modesto G. Castro noting that Los Mochis was already several times more populous. The decision was ratified by the state legislature on 10 May 1936. The transfer took place promptly and without major problems, and municipal offices were installed in a house owned by Don Fco. Beltran, at the corner of Hidalgo and Zaragoza next to the former union hall. Los Mochis is currently the commercial center of Valle del Fuerte and its influence extends from the municipalities of El Fuerte, Choix, and Guasave in southern Sinaloa to the state of Sonora to the north. The economic development of the city that began with the sugar industry is now based on the high-tech agriculture practiced throughout northwestern Mexico.

Geography

Climate

Los Mochis has a hot arid climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''BWh'') despite averaging of rain annually. 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 with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

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 by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

tracks, pools,

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

courts,

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

fields and a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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

Mexican Pacific League The Mexican Pacific League (, or LMP), also known as the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons, is a professional baseball Winter league baseball, winter league based in Northwestern Mexico. The league comprises 10 teams. It wa ...

'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.

Transportation

The Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico provides daily passenger service to

Chihuahua, Chihuahua The city of Chihuahua or Chihuahua City ( ; Lipan language, Lipan: ) is the state capital of the Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. , the city of Chihuahua had a population of 925,762 inhabitants. while the metropolitan area had a popu ...

in north-central Mexico. Freight service on this route is provided by the interstate rail conglomerate Ferromex, or Ferrocarril de Mexicano, which also links to the port city of Topolobampo. The city is on Mexican Federal Highway 15, the main north-south route from Nogales to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. 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 boxing weight classes, 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 sanct ...

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, ...

division. * Sergio Arias, footballer for C.D. Chivas USA 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 (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

division. * Edwin Borboa, footballer for the Potros Neza. *

Omar Bravo Omar Bravo Tordecillas (born 4 March 1980) is a Mexican football manager and former footballer who played as a striker. Bravo spent the majority of his playing career with Guadalajara, where he made over 400 appearances and scored 160 goals ac ...

, footballer for Club Deportivo Guadalajara and the Mexico national team. * Juan Castro,

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

for a number of teams in MLB. * Hugo Cázares, two weight division World Champion boxer and current WBA

Super Flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council responded to pressure from A ...

Champion. *Daniel Cota, boxer, title contender in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division. * Jorge Cota, 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 The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 14th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was h ...

* Denisse Guerrero, lead singer of the Mexican electropop band

Belanova Belanova is a Mexican pop music, pop band formed in Guadalajara, Jalisco, in 2000. The band consists of Denisse Guerrero (lead vocals), Edgar Huerta (keyboards, programming) and :es:Ricardo_Arreola, Ricardo "Richie" Arreola (Bass (instrument), ...

. * Laura Harring, 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). * Teddy Higuera, former pitcher for

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

in Major League Baseball. * Joel Huiqui, footballer for the Monarcas Morelia and the Mexico national team. * Enrique Jackson, politician and candidate for the PRI presidential

primaries Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pri ...

. * Roberto Jordan, 1960s singer * Francisco Labastida, 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,

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners 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 ...

and 2024 MLB All-Star. * Javier Orozco, footballer for the

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

. * Juan Carlos Sánchez Jr., boxer, title contender in the

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 class (boxing), weight classes, having held the ...

, undefeated Heavyweight boxer. * Jesús Soto Karass, 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 th ...

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 and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

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

division. * Alma López, MFA, artist, lecturer

Sister cities

Bellflower, California Bellflower is a city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was founded in 1906 and municipal corporation, incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, th ...

References

External links

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