| Official Name: | Bacobampo |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Pushpin Map: | Mexico |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Sonora |
| Subdivision Type2: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Name2: | Etchojoa |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Population As Of: | 2010 |
| Population Total: | 8,539 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Municipality |
| Population Blank2 Title: | Demonym |
| Timezone: | Pacific MST |
| Utc Offset: | -7 |
| Timezone Dst: | No DST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -7 |
| Coordinates: | 26.9889°N -109.65°W |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 85287 |
| Area Code: | 647 |
Bacobampo is a town in Etchojoa Municipality in the state of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico. It is situated on the west bank of the Mayo River,[1] 20 km north of Huatabampo and 25 km southwest of Navajoa. It is an agricultural town, surrounded by fields. Bacobampo is 22 meters above sea level.[2]
According to the 2010 INEGI census, the town's population was 8,539 inhabitants,[3] making it the second most populated settlement in the municipality.
The Mayo people have continuously inhabited the valley since pre-Hispanic times. The name Bacobampo comes from the local Mayo language, meaning "Baco" (Snake) + "Bampo" (Water), or "Snake in/near the Water".[4] The original name of the settlement was Cumbrocoa or Cumbrocobe, but was changed to its current name in 1895 – when the Mayo River would dry up, the natives noticed snakes in the puddles left behind.[5]
In 1903, the Salido brothers arrived from Álamos and began working the land.[5] Two years later, the settlement classification of Bacobampo was upgraded from ranchería to delegación.[5] In 1920, the brothers decided to split up their land: Ildefonso and Epifanio got their own part in Bacobampo while José María went to .[5] They found success cultivating wheat, maize, beans and chickpeas.[6] Bacobampo was then established as a comisaría on 1 January 1929.[5]
In the 1930s, the federal government invested in the northern border states, building several dams to develop the region's agriculture.[7] The subsequent agricultural boom caused a population surge in Sonoran towns near these dams such as Bacobampo and Colonia Irrigación (which would become Villa Juárez).[8] In 1938, the hacienda of Bacobampo was redistributed to 802 peasants as a part of President Lázaro Cárdenas's land reform policies, and a collective ejido system was set up.[5] [6] Although the cooperative arrangement seemed to work well at first, the group divided into two groups: "collectivists" that were in favor of continuing to share the profits and "individualists" that preferred to break away from the group.[6] Violence broke out and the problem got so serious that Cárdenas visited the town in June 1939 to restore the peace.[6]
There are two middle schools, Lázaro Cárdenas del Río and Gregorio Ahumada,[9] [10] as well as one high school, CECYTES.[11]