Jâ'é ãâyá

Jâ'é ãâyá is the Chiricahua Apache name for Chihuahua, in the dry uplands where the Sacramento and Chuvíscar rivers meet. Concho communities lived in this river country before the Spanish mining town developed. The mission of Nombre de Dios stood nearby and was recorded as a dependent village of Santa Isabel in 1694. A few years later, rich discoveries at Santa Eulalia drew miners to the region, and in 1709 a new settlement was established in the valley below the mines.