Sonora

IGNACIO SOTO Governor of Sonora

"Good government is to faithfully interpret the needs and longings of the greatest number of the people and to satisfy them to the greatest possible degree."

Arizona couldn't ask for a nice neighbor than Sonora. These two states live side by side in harmony and accord, each contributing to the well-being of the other.

Sonora is just across the street from us, in a way of speaking, whether you are in Nogales, Douglas, Bisbee, Ajo or Yuma. You may visit for a short afternoon or for weeks. Our neighbor to the south will have something interesting for the visitor every minute of the stay.

From a statistical viewpoint Sonora is impressive. The state is the northernmost state in the Republic of Mexico, covering an area of 113,457 square miles. The population. according to the 1950 census, is 520,000 inhabitants, a gain of 155,824 in ten notable years of advance and accomplishments.

The shores of Sonora, on the Gulf of California, extend for 534 miles from the mouth of the Colorado River to Agiabampo Bay, on the border of the state of Sinaloa. Most notable features of this extended shoreline are the bays of Puerto Libertad, Adair, Punta Peñasco, Tepoca, Kino, Tastiota, Guaymas, Tobari, Yavaros and Agiabampo.

Sonora is divided in three definite climatic zones: The eastern, which is mountainous; the central, extensive valleys of which are irrigated by the principal rivers; and the western, essentially arid desert. All climatic conditions are found in Sonora, from desert to mountains, but during most of the year temperatures are moderate. Altitudes range to 6562 feet above sea level. Winters in the central and coastal regions are very pleasant, about like southern and central Arizona. Summers in this same area are humid and hot.

The industrial development of Sonora has been pronounced during the past ten years, during which time one hundred ten factories, large and small, have been established. The most important of these are meat packing plants and plants for freezing and processing of shrimp and other seaproducts. Flour mills and modern plants for the manufacture of cement, textiles, fats and oils have added to the selfsufficiency of the state. Sonorans have awakened to the wealth of raw materials to be found in their state. For instance the fishing industry, completely operated by Mexicans, is now operaing with over two hundred ships and ten freezing and packing plants, representing an investment of two hundred million pesos. Ten years ago this industry was controlled by Japanese. It has expanded under Mexican control.

The Mariachis are the wandering troubadours of Mexico. This type of music originated in Jalisco long ago when rich, colonial landowners organized groups of musicians to play at their weddings. The word comes from the French word "mariage."

Sonora has a large cattle industry, in fact, one of the larg est in Mexico, with investments in lands, equipment and live stock of around one billion pesos. Livestock, numbering approximately two million head, represent five hundred million pesos on the hoof. In the last four years four canning plants and one meat packing plant have been built with a sufficient capacity to handle the annual production of the cattle industry. It didn't take Sonora long to recover from the damaging effects of the U. S. quarantine on Mexican cattle caused by the hoof-and-mouth disease south of the state.

The vast mineral resources of Sonora have yet to be prop erly exploited. Sonorans, however, are now turning their attention to this industry and hope that the coming years will bring into production several mines as large as the Anaconda subsidiary at their Cananea.

They do not do things by half measures in our sister state. The emphasis has been on public education. The state has made greater strides toward the goal of universal education than has any other state in Mexico. In 1950 there were en rolled in the public schools of the state 94,902 children, as against 61,310 in 1940. There are now in operation in the state 711 public and private schools, employing 3,000 teachers. During the past seven years, 231 school buildings have been built and equipped, a record no other Mexican state can equal. Public funds spent for education has risen from 3,200,000 pesos in 1937 and 5,176,000 in 1944 to nearly 8,212,584 pesos this year. The facilities of the University of Sonora at Her mosillo have been expanded to answer the needs of the ever increasing number of graduates coming up from the public schools. A college of agriculture near Navajoa is training the modern farmers for Sonora of tomorrow.

Sonora has been fortunate in her inspired leadership for the past eight years. Governor Abelardo Rodriguéz, former president of the Republic and native son of Sonora, Mexico's outstanding industrialist and empire builder, gave the state the impetus to move forward. Under his regime the face of the slate was transformed. His successor is Governor Ignacio Solo, who represents the new and progressive ideal of leader ship for Mexican states. Governor Soto was never in any sense a politician before taking office. He has been a success ful business man for many years, the owner of a large cement factory, and one of the state's most progressive citizens.

When Governor Rodriguéz retired from office, Sonorans had to find a big man to succeed him. That man was Ignacio Soto. He is more than fulfilling the trust bestowed upon him by the people. Statistics tell the story.

But statistics do not tell the complete story of Sonora. Sonora is something one must see at first hand. When one realizes the wealth of scenic and historial interest in the state, one then understands how important this state is as a travel adjunct to Arizona and how concerned Arizonans are with its development. For instance, the completion of the highway from Nogales to Hermosillo (air-moe-see-yo) and Guaymas (why-mus) has been described in a far-fetched way as one of the major road building achievements in Arizona. The reason is simple. The year after this road was completed travel to Nogales from Tucson increased 26 per cent and gaso line consumption in Santa Cruz county increased 46.4 per cent. Next month this fine, new highway will be hard sur faced to Ciudad Obregon, a distance of 90 miles south of Guaymas, and next year will be completed to Sinaloa.

The State Capitol in Hermosillo was damaged by fire and will eventually be replaced by an imposing modern structure.

Sonora is history. You can follow the trail of the Padres through the Altar Valley, in and around Magdalena, where la Fiesta de San Francisco is held in early October each year. When you visit these missions in such places as Tubutama, Caborca, Oquitoa, and Pitiquito you are in places that are dreamy reminders of the days of Conquest. Magdalena is an old town in the center of a busy farming district, hardly an hour's drive from the border. The paved highway not only takes you through this green valley but brings you to and through Imuris (ee-moo-rees) and Santa Ana (san-tana). small towns typically Mexican. What was once the domain of the fierce Yaquis is now an agricultural empire. The Yaquis are industrious farmers.

The University of Sonora at Hermosillo is offering a wide range of courses to graduates of Sonora's secondary schools.

An easy half day's drive from Nogales brings you to Hermosillo, the "pretty little city," capital of the state. The Museum and Library which has just been completed here is one of the most beautiful public buildings in all of Mexico. The city itself is notable for the building boom that has changed its character completely in the past six years. First class accommodations are available in Hermosillo, a city worth more than a passing visit if for no other reason than its progressiveness, the modernity of its architecture, the friendliness of its people. Guaymas, of course, is the tourist mecca of Sonora. Here the desert and the Gulf meet. This sea port has long been famed for its deep sea fishing, the general excellence of its accommodations, the picturesqueness of its location. When the marlin and the sword fish are running in May and June. sportsmen from all over the United States check their gear in at this port. In May the town celebrates the annual Fiesta de la Pesca (Fish Festival), the main feature of which is the promenade of fishing boats in the harbor. With the completion of the highway south next year, the quaint village of Alamos in the hills near Navajoa will be prominently discussed in tourist literature. Described as the "Taxco of Sonora," Alamos retains its colonial charm and distinction.

This new highway we speak of crosses the Yaqui and Mayo Valleys, which brings to mind Sonora's greatest achievement of modern times-her agricultural expansion.

The modern textile factory at Hermosillo is indicative of the industrial expansion taking place at this time in the state.

Ortega, architect-builder, has earned a national reputation for his achievements in design and construction in Hermosillo.

When the dams under construction, or planned, are built, Sonora will be one of the richest agricultural regions in Mexico with nearly one million hectares (two and one-half acres to a hectar) under cultivation, including the areas irrigated by wells. Around Ciudad Obregon, Navajo and Huatabampo, 600,000 acres will soon be under cultivation, a territory that surpasses in area the cultivated valley of the Nile River. Now under construction in the great Yaqui Valley of Southern Sonora is the Alvaro-Obregón Dam (Oviachic) on the Yaqui River, and planned for construction is the Camoa Dam in the Mayo Valley on the Mayo River. Not only will these dams bring more acreage under cultivation but they will also provide control of two rivers whose tempestuous floods have been very damaging in recent years. In the words of George R. Martin, Secretary-Manager of the West Coast of Mexico Vegetable Association of Nogales, Arizona, the Yaqui-Mayo districts are part of “an agricultural empire that is abuilding faster than any known in recorded history.” The money crop from Southern Sonora, grown principally for export to the United States and Canada, consists of tomatoes, peas, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers. Sonora tomatoes reach the American market when American tomatoes are not in production which brings fancy prices for fancy products. The distribution of Mexican vegetables, according to Mr. Martin, forms a large and important business in Nogales, Arizona, where 400 people are employed by the shippers and growers, with about 100 employees on the payrolls of the government, the telephone and telegraph companies, the railroads and the customs brokers all allied with the industry. It is estimated that the annual net income of owners and employees of produce firms in Nogales amount to about $775,000, the bulk of which is spent in Arizona. Over 1,000 large trucks with trailers come to Nogales each season to rush vegetables to nearby states. Railroad freight bills amount to about $4,000,000 annually. of which about $1,600,000 goes to the S. P. of Mexico. Furthermore, this industry provides employment to about 6,000 farm workers and their families in Mexico, a fact which vividly illustrates the value of good neighborly relations in a business and commercial sense. Sonora is good business for us!

Public health has been stressed in recent years in Sonora. The public clinic at Hermosillo caters to ills of the needy.