La Aduana & Environs

La Aduana is one of the oldest towns in Sonora, Mexico, founded in the mid 16th century as a by-product of the famous Coronado expedition of 1540. Coronado, sent by the Viceroy Mendoza to follow reports of the "7 cities of Cibola" whose streets were paved with gold, camped over the winter of 1540-1 in the area of La Aduana. La Aduana, an area of unnatural beauty and greenery, was a natural oasis with abundant water and animals. Moreover, huge veins of silver were discovered in the immediate mountains that ring the small town. In a short time La Aduana became a bustling mining town featuring the famed "Quintera mine."

In spite of its remote location, and because of the extreme wealth of its mines, La Aduana developed into a town of over 5000 population. Colonial life was hard and dangerous. Chemicals used in the refining of silver severely reduced life expectancy. Nevertheless, La Aduana boasted all of the modern improvements and amenities of each of the three centuries of its history. Ruins today clearly show the splendor that once was La Aduana, but ruins and near extinction were to be its 20th Century reality.

After almost 400 years of silver production, the realities of Mexican economics and politics, the antiquated methods of mining, the declining value of silver as a metal worldwide and coming social revolution served to halt the mining in La Aduana. The mines closed in 1906 after long and bloody labor strikes. Squatters and pirates looted and destroyed most of the mines and the town buildings. What thieves, Indian attacks and civil war didn't destroy, Nature and time and abandon did. By 1950, the town and the mines were just a memory. Attempts to reopen the mines subsequently failed miserably. In 1978, 10 years after complete abandonment of any and all attempts, La Aduana was ceded to the few surviving mining families and squatters as an "ejido."

In the 1990's, a new plan to return ownership of the collective lands to the squatters was instituted. Poverty had hit a low point in La Aduana.

However, the former mines now afforded a new and much more attractive offering. The land around La Aduana and the town, itself, had been untouched for nearly a century. Its delicate eco-system restored where damaged.

La Aduana offers the Nature enthusiast a unique experience as a double environment where the Sonora Desert collides and overlaps for a brief 10 mile zone with the Sinaloan Jungle. Animal and plants native to both Ecosystems are found in the immediate environs of La Aduana. Uniquely a desert for 8 months from October through June and a jungle from the end of June through September, a huge variety of birds, insects, reptiles and mammals, and plants can be found in the area. The area is crisscrossed with easily-followed trails and dirt roads.

Although desert areas are usually parched and extremely arid, La Aduana receives annually close to 39 inches of rain, has an abundance of natural water, and is green year-around. This is in marked contrast with the rest of Southern Sonora. La Aduana, ringed as it is with mountains, some of them the highest in Sonora at close to 5000 feet, enjoys a climate that is considerably more temperate than nearby Alamos with summer temperatures rarely exceeding 100 deg. F. and averaging 93-5 deg. F. as summer highs. Likewise it enjoys a much milder winter with freezing virtually unexperienced. Winter highs average 70-80 deg. F. Very clear, blue skies are the rule here. Rain when it does fall is largely restricted to the summer desert monsoons from July to September, when temperatures may not go above 75 degrees F. for two weeks or more.

In a few words, La Aduana is to many persons Paradise in the Desert. It is a magical, tranquil and very special place!

Casa La Aduana now has an Online Store where you can buy unique, quality gifts as memories of your visit to our 17th Century Mexican Oasis. Our store also offers Chef Samuel Franklin Beardsley's new cookbook, Mexican Gourmet. Click Here to Visit Online Store!

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