We had finished a railway journey that we had dreamed of for a long time, aboard the train El Chepe (Chihuauha to Pacific Railway), between Creel and Los Mochis, through the Barrancas del Cobre, the flat, semi-desert lands of Sinaloa.
Awakened in Los Mochis, we found ourselves faced with the uncertainty of what we would do next. It lasts beyond the one hour check out time that we stretched.
We returned from a lunch burritos, having lunch a short distance from the house where the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, El Chapo, was captured.
When we re-entered the Hotel Balderrama in Los Mochis, we came across Bernardo Balderrama, the owner of the chain, who we remembered having approached us, days before, at a tourist fair. “Wait a minute… we know each other, right?” question us.
We thought a little to be sure and confirmed it. “Ah, yes, I remember. So they liked our hotel there Barrancas del Cobre (Copper Canyon)? And what about the train journey? It’s incredible, isn’t it?”
Conversation leads to conversation, when we explain the impasse we were in, he invites us to spend a few nights at another Balderrama hotel, the one in El Fuerte.
We had passed there, almost at the end of the route on the railway tracks. El Chepe train.
We knew that many passengers chose to start or end their trip there, to get to know the city, colonial, elegant and with a prolific history.
We accept immediately.
At half past four, we got into a van. An employee named Salvador was guiding her.
We covered most of the route at night, accompanied by two traffic police officers who Salvador was forced to give a ride to.
The Hacienda del Hidalgo Inn, Historic Gateway to El Fuerte
We check into El Fuerte and Posada Hacienda del Hidalgo after six in the afternoon. We had dinner, investigated the historic center, which we found darker than we expected.
In a Mexican state of cartels and countless incidents outside the law, we quickly returned to the safety of the Posada and dedicated ourselves to office tasks.
New day. At 10 am, Miguel Ángel León, manager of the inn, rings us at the door. Miguel welcomes us.
I had to leave soon. In the time he had left, he made a point of showing us what was special about Posada Hacienda del Hidalgo, in addition to its surreal colonial beauty.
As we passed through the garden to which the room opened, we immediately noticed a bronze statue, with a hat covering almost all of its face and a sword at the ready. “Zorro? Why do they have a statue of him here?”
Oh, you still don't know? I'll explain everything to you.
And, at dinner, take your cameras to take photos and film.
From that surprise and disbelief, little by little, we surrendered to the increasingly strange reality.
"Follow me! I will show you our most important room, 46.” Moments later, we examined some rooms that Miguel claimed were where Diego de la Vega, “Zorro” not disguised as Zorro, was born.
Already late, Miguel leaves us in the care of a maid.
We continue to circle the hacienda, marveled at its combination of architecture and decoration, a kind of colonial chimera converted, adjusted and improved since the property's military genesis, dating back to the 17th century.
One of many others haciendas exuberant landscapes that continue to beautify Mexico.
The Foundation of the City's Predecessor, almost half a millennium ago
The pioneering colonial settlement appeared a long time ago, in 1563.
Francisco Ibarra, a Basque conqueror, founded it, named Villa de San Juan Bautista de Carapoa, the first European to venture into the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Also founder of Durango and governor of Chihuahua.
Around 1610, the town remained vulnerable to constant attacks by the Zuaque and Tehueco indigenous people who for centuries dominated those lands, leaving countless rock records.
Which are present, in genetic terms, in a large part of the region's mestizo inhabitants
Ibarra ordered the construction of a fort on the banks of the Fuerte River.
This fort – El Fuerte de Montesclaros – brought the settlers together around its protection and the sustenance that the Fuerte River guaranteed.
Over the years, it became the most important agricultural and commercial warehouse in the immense Mexican Northwest.
And, in 1824, capital of the state of Sonora y Sinaloa.
The simplified term El Fuerte is now used, instead of the longer previous ones.
Diego de La Vega. Son of Alejandro de La Vega. And from El Fuerte
Diego de La Vega appears in this context. His father, Alejandro de La Vega, son of Spaniards, already born in Mexico, was married to a mixed race woman (half Spanish, half indigenous).
From this relationship, in 1795, their son Diego was born. Alejandro de La Vega had transformed an old garrison on the Garapoa hill that the Spanish authorities had abandoned into his family mansion.
The birth supposedly took place in room 46 that Miguel Ángel showed us.
Nine years of Diego de La Vega's life flow in El Fuerte. His mother passes away. The mining in which their father Alejandro had invested leaves them both in trouble.
Disillusioned with what fate had in store for him in the town, Alejandro moved to Los Angeles, a city in the then Mexican province of Alta California.
El Fuerte no longer has any news about the De La Vega. Decades later, reports arrived. So amazing that they justified the statue in the garden in front of the room. And much more.
Discovering El Fuerte
We leave for the historic heart of the town.
We find the central square that Mexicans call Zócalo, arranged around an open garden, in good Mexican colonial style, equipped with a bandstand.
Portentous imperial palm trees appear, with verdant canopies that contrast with the ocher of the bricks of the immense Municipal Palace, where the city is managed.
El Fuerte serves one train tourist attraction that takes families and lovers to discover the city.
We watch it pass by and sound its infectious melody, as we climb the slope of Pousada Hidalgo, on the way to the old military fort.
The Old Fort that Inspired Baptism
This was the structure that inspired the name of the town.
Today, it houses a well-kept historical museum, arranged under walls with open views.
From the top, we admire the Fuerte River, right in front, meandering through an immense oasis.
Towards the Pacific coast, beyond the green patch, we still see the flat desert.
In the opposite direction, we get a glimpse of the slopes of the Sierra Madre Occidental.
As photogenic as it is historic, the fort serves as a backdrop for the most diverse purposes.
It features an intense photo session by Nallely, a quinceñera beautiful and proud.
Her friends make her purple dress, the bouquet of flowers and the tiara that crowns her.
They photograph her in front of the walls, of a large cactus saguaros, and in cowgirl outfits, on a restless horse.
As we wandered around, we passed through the Zócalo again.
Dolores' church hosts any Catholic ceremony.
Family members and guests arrive in their best attire.
They line up in front of the door.
In the opposite arcades, a few foreigners, Mexicans and foreigners, chat, massaged by the winter sun.
Soon, it gets dark. We return to Posada Hacienda del Hidalgo.
The Theatrical Reappearance of El Zorro in the Hacienda that saw him born
At the appointed time, we sat at a table around the pool, having dinner. Halfway through the meal, without warning, a figure dressed and masked in black bursts in.
As Miguel Ángel had predicted, El Zorro bursts in, sword in hand, armed with a lot of jokes and a flirtatious charm that he dedicates to the women present, to the point of kidnapping two single guests for the scene.
Hacienda del Hidalgo thus celebrated its relevance in a character who achieved worldwide notoriety. It is up to us to explain how.
Now, in his adult life spent in Alta California, Diego de La Vega became an anonymous vigilante.
When the Spanish and, later, Mexican authorities oppressed and abused their poor and defenseless subjects, they attacked and robbed those responsible, restoring justice and their dignity.
El Zorro: from Alta California to Books, Screens and the World
Over time, the character of El Zorro became legendary. It gave rise to literary works. The first appearance of the masked Z was in the novel “The Sign of Zorro” by the American Johnston McCulley, from 1919.
The following year, the success of the silent film that adapted the story led the director to convince McCulley to write more and more adventures. McCulley extended El Zorro's life for more than forty years, spread across five main series and fifty-seven short stories and episodes.
From 1919 onwards, several other literary works appeared, including comics, plays and radio series. One of the most eloquent novels to which the legend gave rise was “Zorro: the legend begins” by Isabel Allende.
40 films were also released around El Zorro.
Stars such as Alain Delon, Anthony Hopkins and António Banderas, the last two, in “The Mask of Zorro”, from 1998.
Night after night, Miguel Ángel León, also manager, worked to captivate guests and keep Posada Hacienda del Hidalgo's role in the legend alive.
We are certain of one thing: conquered, grabbed and kissed pretend by the enigmatic son of the house, the women present will never forget it.
Neither El Fuerte nor Zorro returned home.
