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The States of Mexico

A train runs through Copper Canyon, in the Sierra Madre mountain range of Chihuahua. Copper Canyon is four times as large as Arizona’s Grand Canyon, and is almost 300 feet (about 90 meters) deeper than the Grand Canyon.

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costs. The city was founded in 1581 by the Spanish, and the old sections of the city still exist. If you cross the Chihuahuan Desert to the south of Juárez, eventually you will

come to the state’s capital, the city of Chihuahua. This city, founded in 1709, is the center for the state’s mining operations and cattle raising. The lumber industry of the Sierra Madre mountains also contributes to much of the city’s income. Although Chihuahua is exposed on the north to the desert’s sandstorms, it also has rich pasturelands. During the Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa had his headquarters here; his band of cowboys and bandits attacked the government of Porfirio Díaz from this base, and his home, Quinta Luz, is still one of the city’s major attractions. The state of Chihuahua contains people as diverse as the land itself. In the 1920s, Mennonites from the United States were attracted here by the rich pastures, and today they still maintain their communities in Chihuahua’s agricultural areas. Like the Mennonites, the Tarahumara people live in isolation from the rest of the world, but their ancient native culture is far different. The Tarahumara sell their crafts in Chihuahua’s cities, and then retreat to their simple lifestyle in Chihuahua’s Sierra Madre mountains.