Yaqui Wars

Wars

The Yaqui Wars began after silver was found in the Rio Yaqui Valley in 1684, leading Spanish colonists to settle on Yaqui land. By 1740, the Yaqui joined with the Mayo, Opata, and Pima tribes to push the colonists out by 1742. The Yaqui stayed neutral during the Mexican War of Independence from 1810 to 1821. In 1825, the state of Occidente made the Yaqui citizens and imposed taxes on them, which they had never paid before.

Fighting started at Rahum, encouraged by Catholic priest Pedro Leyva, with the Virgin of Guadalupe as the movement’s symbol. Juan Banderas, a Yaqui leader who had visions in 1825, tried to unite the Yaqui, Opata, Lower Pima, and Mayo under that banner. He challenged Mexican rule in Sonora and Sinaloa from 1825 to 1832, and Occidente moved its capital from Cosala to Fuerte due to the conflict.

In 1827, Banderas’ forces were defeated near Hermosillo, partly because the Yaqui had only bows and arrows against Mexican guns. He then made peace, receiving a pardon, the title of captain-general of the Yaqui, and a salary. In 1828, Occidente abolished that office, reasserted its right to tax the Yaqui, and proposed dividing their lands.

Banderas renewed the war in 1832 with Opata chief Dolores Gutiérrez. Mexican forces captured Banderas and other leaders after the battle of Soyopa in December 1832. Banderas and Gutiérrez, along with ten others, were executed in January 1833. He remained a powerful symbol of Yaqui resistance.