Mariano Balleza

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Mariano Balleza
(San Pablo Balleza)
Town
Mariano Balleza is located within Balleza Municipality
Mariano Balleza is located within Balleza Municipality
Mariano Balleza is located in Mexico
Mariano Balleza
Mariano Balleza
Location in Mexico
Coordinates: 26°57′N 106°21′W / 26.950°N 106.350°W / 26.950; -106.350
Country Mexico
StateChihuahua
MunicipalityBalleza
Founded (mission)1640
Population
 (2010)
 • Total2,087

Mariano Balleza is a town in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, close to the border with Durango. It serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of Balleza.

As of 2010, the town had a total population of 2,087,[1] up from 1,990 as of 2005.[2]

History

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It was in this vicinity that Juan Fontes founded the first Jesuit mission to the Tarahumara in 1607, however that mission was abandoned during the Tepehuan war against the SPanish starting in 1616.[3]

This specific settlement was founded as a Jesuit mission, with the name San Pablo Tepehuanes, in 1640, as part of the efforts to evangelise the local Tepehuan people; this was one of the earliest missions in that part of New Spain. In 1830 the State Congress renamed it in honour of Fr. Mariano Balleza, who fought alongside Miguel Hidalgo in the War of Independence. The town is still informally known as San Pablo Balleza.

References

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  1. ^ "Balleza". Catálogo de Localidades. Secretaría de Desarrollo Social (SEDESOL). Retrieved 23 April 2014.
  2. ^ "Balleza". Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México. Instituto Nacional para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
  3. ^ Edward C. Spicer, Cycloes of Conquest (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1962), p. 26-28