Canatlan

Canatlán lies in the valleys east of the Sierra Madre Occidental, along a route between Durango and the mountain country of Topia. The region was part of the homeland of Tepehuan peoples. A mission at nearby La Sauceda was destroyed during the Tepehuan uprising of 1616. In 1620 missionaries established San Diego de Alcalá de Canatlán, connecting the settlement with a chain of missions leading north into the mountains.