Tonallan

The Tonalá River reaches the Gulf of Mexico on the northeastern side of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Formed by the meeting of the Tancochapa and Zanapa, it winds through the coastal lowlands to a bar at its mouth. During Juan de Grijalva’s expedition in 1518, the Spanish pilot Antón de Alaminos encountered the river, which the newcomers called the River of Saint Anthony.