By John David Cutbush and Shana Hugh

How much do you know about the history of Mazatlán? Did you know that Mazatlán was the first city in America to be attacked and bombed by a plane? And did you know that Mazatlán is part of the only state to still play the pre-hispanic game of Ulama? Mazatlán is a city with stories to tell. Before the Spanish conquered México, the area around Mazatlán was inhabited by indigenous people known as the Totorames. They left behind exquisite polychrome pottery with elaborate red and black designs indicative of a high culture. You can see samples of this pottery on display at Mazatlán's Museo Arqueológico, which is dedicated to preserving the history of the state of Sinaloa. The archaeology museum is located downtown (Sixto Osuna 76) and is open 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. However, unlike their renowned inland neighbors, the Toltecs and Aztecs, the Totorames left no pyramids or grand works. Their civilization was gone 200 years before the Spanish arrived. But other local pre-hispanic tribes survived. Just 80 km south of Mazatlán is one of the oldest prehispanic populations in Sinaloa: Chametla, in the municipality of Rosario. When Cortes led the Spanish conquerers searching for a passage to Baja California Sur, they met heavy resistance from the locals. This, then, is evidence that the natives were inhabiting the land before the spaniards came to Mazatlán. After Cortes conquered the Aztecs around present-day México City in 1521, his lieutenants were dispatched to explore and subjugate more of the country. In 1531, renegade opportunist (and enemy of Cortes) Nuño Beltran de Guzman burned his way through Sinaloa with his private army under the banner of conquest. Guzman layed waste to a broad western belt of Pacific México, but also managed to found several towns including Guadalajara, Tepic and Culiacan. He was followed by conquistador Francisco Ibarra, who founded the mining town of Copala in 1565. After a brutal battle with nearby natives, the lands were divided among the spaniards, who became the first permanent residents of what is now Mazatlán. Despite Spanish conquest of the prehispanic peoples of México, some remains of prehispanic culture have endured. For example, the game of Ulama has been a perennial facet of Sinaloan culture. Ulama is derived from the prehispanic sport, Ullamaliztli, which was played in Mesoamerica for fifteen hundred years. The Spanish thought the "ule" (ball used to play Ulama) had magical properties and were, therefore, intimidated by it. Fear and confusion even caused Catholic priests-- who came to America during colonization-- to prohibit the indigenous people from playing the game. But the game survived and is still played today in Mazatlán, one of the last places it is played on earth. Mazatlán was first mentioned in 1602 as the name of a small village, San Juan Bautista de Mazatlán (now called Villa Union), 30 miles south of present day Mazatlán. The name Mazatlán means Place of the Deer in the Nahuatl language, tongue of the Aztecs. However, because the Aztec empire never extended this far to the northwest, it is believed that a Nahuatl-speaking interpreter traveling with Guzman translated the name from the local language. In Spanish, the word for "Deer" is Venados (as in Isla de los Venados, or Deer Island). Although present-day Mazatlán was not yet settled in 1600, English and French pirates used the hill-screened harbor as a place from which to attack the rich galleons that plied the coast.

In response, the colonial government established a small presidio on the harbor and watchtowers atop the cerros, and Mazatlán began to develop as a port town. By 1800, the pirates were gone. Nevertheless, legends persist of treasure buried in hidden caves and under windswept sands, waiting to be discovered. Cerro Vigia, or "Lookout Hill" is one of Mazatlán's three highest observation points (Crestón Hill-- where the lighthouse is located-- is the highest). This lookout was once used by the Spanish to guard the harbor, then later used by Mazatlecans to defend their port in a battle against the French, over 200 years ago. A monument atop the hill called The Cañon is a cannon that commemorates Mazatlecan bravery. The year 1821 brought Mexican independence from Spanish colonial rule after a ten-year struggle. Mazatlán prospered as a port city, and served as the capital of Sinaloa from 1859 to 1873, with a population of several thousand. It was occupied by the U.S. Navy in 1847 during the Mexican-American War, by the French in 1864 (while the United States was pre-occupied by its own Civil War), and by the British in 1871. Under Mexican President Porfirio Diaz (1876-1910) the railroad arrived in Mazatlán, the port and lighthouse were modernized, the cathedral was finished, and the arts blossomed. Unfortunately, the nineteenth century also brought disaster to Mazatlán: tragically, while touring Mazatlán in 1883, the opera company of Angela Peralta-- the "Mexican Nightingale"-- fell victim to a yellow-fever epidemic that claimed the lives of more than 2,500 Mazatlecos. The 20th century brought the revolution of 1910-17 and with it the distinction of being the second city in the world to suffer bombardment from an airplane (Tripoli, Libya, was the first). Cerro de la Neveria (Icebox Hill), adjacent to downtown Mazatlán, is honeycombed with limestone caves once used to store ice imported from San Francisco during the mid-1800s. Mazatlecan families used this ice to preserve their seafood and other perishables before the days of household refrigerators. By the time of the revolution, the hill was used to store ammunition. Devil's Cave-- the red gate which pierces the side of the hill near the malecon-- served as an escape route for soldiers guarding the ammunition. The biplane sent to bomb the hill missed it's target and dropped the package of dynamite and nails onto the city streets, killing two citizens. Today, Cerro Neveria holds only numerous radio and microwave antennae. The decade after the revolution brought prosperity to Mazatlán as its commercial fishing industry continued to expand, followed by the depression of the 1930s. Recovery after the second world war led to port improvements and new highways, followed by the "discovery" of Mazatlán by tourists during the 1960s and 70s, when the city expanded along the Playa Norte. As tourism continued to increase, high-rise hotels sprouted further north in the "Golden Zone." By the early 1990s, the number of inhabitants pushed past half a million, with another million visiting annually. Now in the 21st century, Mazatlán continues to grow and attract foreign interest. Much of the charm of Mazatlán is due to the fact that it does not owe its existence solely to tourism, as its other industries continue to prosper. With tracts of prime real estate still empty, Mazatlán keeps an attractively imperfect air, and despite the giant tourist complex taking shape at its north end, Mazatlán still strikes a good balance between old and new.