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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.
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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