Bacoachi facts for kids
Bacoachi is a small town located in the northern part of the Mexican state of Sonora. It's also the main town of the Bacoachi Municipality. The area of the municipality is about 487 square miles (1,260 square kilometers). In 2005, around 1,456 people lived there, with 924 of them in the town itself. Bacoachi is located high up, about 4,429 feet (1,350 meters) above sea level.
Bacoachi is found southeast of Cananea. It shares borders with Naco to the north, Fronteras to the east, Nacozari to the southeast, Arizpe to the southwest, and Cananea to the west.
A Look Back in Time
The land where Bacoachi now stands was first home to the Opata Teguima Indians. They called their settlement "Cuchibaciachi". In 1648, a group of Jesuit missionaries started a mission here, naming it San Miguel Bacoachi. The very next year, in 1649, a Spanish captain named Simón Lazo de la Vega founded a Spanish town in the same spot. The name "Bacoachi" means "water snake" in the language of the native people.
Later, in 1784, the Spanish built a fort, called a presidio, in Bacoachi. This fort was special because it was completely guarded by Opata soldiers.
Mountains, Forests, and Animals
Most of the land around Bacoachi is covered by mountains. These mountains are part of a larger range called the Sierra de Sonora. You can still find beautiful pine forests here. The area is also home to many different kinds of animals. Some of these include coyotes, jaguars, deer, raccoons, wild pigs, skunks, and owls.
Life and Work in Bacoachi
The main ways people make a living in Bacoachi are through farming and raising cattle. Most of the farming involves growing different types of grasses to feed the cattle. In the year 2000, there were more than 25,000 cattle in the area!
There aren't many roads in Bacoachi, but the town is connected to Hermosillo, the capital city of Sonora. You can reach Hermosillo using the Hermosillo-Cananea highway. Over the years, the number of people living in Bacoachi has slowly gone down. This is because some people have moved to the United States of America.
See also
In Spanish: Bacoachi para niños
