Journal of the Southwest

The Río Yaqui Delta: Early Twentieth-Century Photos from the Richardson Construction
Company
Author(s): Jeff Banister
Source: Journal of the Southwest, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Autumn, 1998), pp. 397-401
Published by: Journal of the Southwest
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40170115
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TheRio YaquiDelta: Early Twentieth-
CenturyPhotosfrom theRichardson
ConstructionCompany

Jeff Banister

In the latenineteenthcentury,Mexicanarmyengineersweresent to
the Rio Yaquidelta to lay the groundworkfor futureagriculturalpro-
duction. The ComisionGeojjrdfica, under federalorders, launcheda
to
militarycampaign survey land and distributeit to colonistshungry
for parcelsof their own. These earlyeffortsfailedmiserably,however,
as surveycrewsand foot soldierswere unpreparedfor tenaciousYaqui
resistance.LikeSpaniardsandindigenouspeoplesbeforethem, the en-
gineersandwould-besettlersthreatenedto wrestresourcesfromYaqui
Valleyinhabitantswho held the river,its thousandsof streamsand ar-
royos,and nearbymountainsin sacredregard.But with foreignfinan-
cial muscleand Mexicanarmyfirepower,much of the Yaquiterritory
was finallyappropriatedby the 1890s. The region'sculturallandscape
wason the vergeof unprecedentedchange.
Carlos Conant Maldonado,general managerof the Sonora and
SinaloaIrrigationCompany,was the firstto bringprivatecapitalinto
the Rio Yaquifor agriculturaldevelopment.His engineerscompleted
surveyingand establishedthe distritode riegogrid work, the cadastral
systemthat dividedthornycoastalscrubinto workableplots of varying
hectareage.Nevertheless,despite Conant's vision and efforts, flood
damage to canal infrastructure,stubborn Indian resistance(though
flaggingby then), and failureto generateinterestin the projectulti-
matelyled to bankruptcyin 1905.
Soon after, the Los Angeles-bornRichardsonbrothersformed a
constructioncompanyto take over where Conantleft off. With pres-
tige andprofitsfromtheirminingoperationselsewherein Sonora,they
initiatedan ambitiousreal estate venture to attractsettlers. Project
headquarterswere set up near the newly-constructedrailline passing
throughEsperanza,therebylinkingYaquiValleyproduceto U. S. con-
sumers.Yaquiand mestizolaborerswere employedto carvestill more
canalsfrom the SonoranDesert floor, level the brushfor farmroads,

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 398 < Journal of the Southwest

and install valves, locks, and dikes to siphon river water onto freshly-
cleared fields. Richardson Construction gave capital-intensive export
agriculture in the Yaqui Valley its biggest boost thus far.
The following photos, archived in the University of Arizona Special
Collections Library,begin to narratehow settlers, land speculators, and
an increasingly rationalized world food market reshaped Hiakim, the
Yaqui homeland.

Figure 1. Yaqui River, 1907.

Figure 2. Yaqui River, 1907.

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 Figure 3. On the Conant Canal, 1908.
Figure 4. Richardson Construction Companypropaganda (probablyin Guaymas, Sonora).

Figure 5. Near LosHomos, Taqui Valley.

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Figure 6. Settler'shome in the Taqui Valley,1910.

Figure 7. Rear entrance to Richardsonfamily's "Casa Verde,"1912

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 Figure 8. On the RichardsonBrothersfortified "Casa Verde"
during the Mexican Revolution, 1913.

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