Mazatlan Early settlers
According to historians, Indigenous groups were in the region of Mazatlan to the arrival of the Spanish, were Totorames group, who lived from the south bank of the River Piaxtla, to the Río de las Cañas. Are also part of the Municipality of Mazatlán, the group of Xiximes, particularly in the mountains bordering the state of Durango.
Until the early 19th century, Mazatlán was a collection of huts inhabited by indios whose major occupation was fishing, according to Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars, a French explorer. In 1829 a Filipino banker named Juan Nepomuceno Machado arrived and established commercial relations with vessels coming to Mazatlán from far off places such as Chile, Peru, the United States, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. By 1836 the city had a population of between 4000 and 5000.
Foundation of the city, Colonial Period
During the early years of the Spanish conquest in Sinaloa, the region currently occupied by the municipality of Mazatlan remained uninhabited, the nearest town was Chametla, occupied by the Spanish in 1531 and abandoned shortly afterwards, but that gave its name to the Province.
In 1534 the Valley of Mazatlan was divided into 25 Castellanos by an unknown person who did not stay for long. In 1576, Don Hernando de Bazán, who was Governor and Captain General of Nueva Vizcaya, sent Captain Martin Hernandez with his father, brothers and soldiers to occupy the site of Mazatlan, granting them land and titles in return. The Captain's claims were ratified in the City of Durango in 1639 and endorsed in the same city in 1650.
With the entry of Nuño de Guzmán to Sinaloa in 1531 and the appointment of the conquered lands as provinces, begins the internal territorial division in the State. Chametla population was occupied by the Spanish and listed as a province of that name, comprising within its jurisdiction, from the River to the Rio Cañas Elota in boundary with the
