Caborca, Sonora April 6 Fiesta

Welcome back to scene of battle that ousted Americans

In 1857, the people of Caborca, Son., rose up against a small private army that had come from the United States to conquer and colonize the town.

The U.S. government had no part in the invasion, which was crushed by the Caborca people after a week of shooting. Those mercenaries not killed in the fighting were executed, and their leader is said to have had his decapitated head placed in a jar of mescal.

For almost a century, Caborca has celebrated the victory in its annual Fiestas of April 6. The city's mayor, Dario Murillo Bolaños, stopped in Yuma recently to invite residents to this year's shindig, set for March 29-April 1 in the city located about two hours south of Lukeville.

Murillo has made the fiestas less a celebration of a battle and more a showcase of Sonora's arts and culture and the investment and recreational opportunities Caborca affords.

Maybe the Caborcans of 1857 wanted the Americans out, but today they want them to visit.