| Estado de Occidente | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State ofMexico | |||||||||||
| 1824 - 1830 | |||||||||||
.svg) Flag | |||||||||||
.svg) Sonora y Sinaloa within Mexico | |||||||||||
| Capital | El Fuerte Cosalá (unknown date) Álamos (1828-1830) | ||||||||||
| • Type | Federal Republic | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 1824 | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1830 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Mexico United States | ||||||||||
Estado de Occidente (English:Western State; also known asSonora y Sinaloa) was a Mexican state established in 1824. The constitution was drafted in that year and the government was initially established with its capital atEl Fuerte, Sinaloa. The first governor was Juan Miguel Riesgo. The state consisted of modernSonora andSinaloa, and also modernArizona more or less south of theGila River (although in much of this area theYaqui,Pima,Apaches, and other native inhabitants at certain times did not recognize the rule of the state).
The constitution was established in 1825 with one of its principles being the making of all inhabitants of the state citizens. This was resented by the Yaqui since they now had to pay taxes, which they had been exempt from before. The Yaqui also considered themselves possessed of sovereignty and territorial rights which were threatened by the state's new constitution.
This led to a new outbreak of war between the Mexicans and the Yaquis (seeYaqui Wars) withJuan Banderas as the leader of the Yaqui forces. As a result of this war the capital of Occidente was moved toCosalá and then in 1828 toÁlamos.
Sonora and Sinaloa were again split into two separate states in 1830.
Under itsConstitution of 1824, Sonora y Sinaloa was a single state of the Mexican Republic. The federal constitution used the name "Sonora y Sinaloa." However the state constitution adopted on 31 October 1825 used the nameEstado de Occidente. The Sonora y Sinaloa state capital was located atEl Fuerte, Sinaloa. The firstGovernor of Sonora y Sinaloa was the Sonoran Juan Miguel Riesgo.
On 30 September 1830, due to constant internal disputes, the state was divided into two states: Sonora and Sinaloa. The territory of Sinaloa corresponds to that of the modern-day state of the same name. The territory of Sonora includes all of the modern state of the same name with the exception of the areas that were ceded to theUnited States during theMexican Cession and theGadsden Purchase in 1848 and 1854 respectively.
Sonora of the 1820s extended north beyond the present-dayUnited States–Mexico border. Settlements existed only in the extreme south of the current state of Arizona and the northern frontier was not defined. Maps from the period show the northern border above today's international border, as far as either theGila River or theColorado River in theGrand Canyon.The Mexican-American War, the 1848Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, and especially theGadsden Purchase established the present border.
