Papasquiaro

Papasquiaro lies in a valley on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental in Durango, where mountains and river valleys gave Tepehuan communities varied ground. The best land was cultivated, while maize, gathered plants and game supplied the households. Mountain paths linked the settlements across rough terrain.

Spanish mining, haciendas and missions reached Durango and pushed the Tepehuan apart. Jesuits entered the northern Tepehuan lands in 1610 and gathered people into mission towns. Uprisings led by the Tepehuan from the first decade of the seventeenth century brought severe Spanish repression, and the great revolt of 1616 was crushed by 1620 after heavy losses on both sides.