Pitiquito

---

title: "Pitiquito" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["missions-in-sonora", "populated-places-in-the-sonoran-desert-of-mexico", "populated-places-established-in-1694", "1694-establishments-in-the-spanish-empire", "pitiquito-municipality", "jesuit-history-in-north-america"] topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitiquito" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
official_name	Pitiquito
native_name
settlement_type
image_skyline	Misión de San Diego de Pitiquito noche.jpg
imagesize	250px
image_caption	Misión de San Diego, Pitiquito
dot_x
pushpin_map	Mexico
pushpin_label_position
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name
subdivision_type1	State
subdivision_name1	Sonora
subdivision_type2	Municipality
subdivision_name2	Pitiquito
leader_title	Mayor
leader_name	Gumercindo Ruiz Lizárraga (2006-09)
leader_title1
established_title	Town founded
established_date	1694
established_title2	Municipality established
established_date2	1914
unit_pref
area_total_km2	11979.96
area_land_km2
population_as_of	2005
population_note	(municipal total)
population_total	9,236
population_blank1_title	Municipality
population_blank2_title	Demonym
timezone	Pacific (US Mountain)
utc_offset	-7
timezone_DST	No DST
utc_offset_DST	-7
coordinates
elevation_footnotes	tags--
elevation_m	305
postal_code_type	Postal code
::

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::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/ColorPitiquitoMural.jpg" caption="One of the 19th century murals at the Pitiquito church"] ::

Pitiquito is a small town in Pitiquito Municipality in the northwest of the Mexican state of Sonora.

Area and population

The municipal area is 11,979.96 km² which makes up 6.46% of the state total. The municipal population counted in 2000 was 9,160. https://web.archive.org/web/20091002054221/http://www.sonora.gob.mx/portal/Runscript.asp?p=ASP%5Cpg216.asp The population of the main settlement and municipal seat was 4,862 in 2000. It is located at an elevation of 305 meters.

Communities

Puerto Libertad (Sonora)

Climate

In this region the climate is hot and dry with rainfall between 75 and 200 mm a year. Between December and February nighttime temperatures can drop to 8.5 °C below zero while from June to August they can reach 49.5 °C.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Pitiquito_1961.png" caption="Mission of Pitiquito in 1961"] ::

When the Spanish arrived the area was populated by various sedentary tribes settled along the banks of the Altar and Magdalena rivers. According to local tradition the location took the name of an Indian chief called "Piti" or "Pitic".

The mission at Pitiquito was founded by Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1694 with the name of Natividad del Señor de Pitiquin. It was a visita of Mission La Purísima Concepción de Nuestra Señora de Caborca.

In 1768 the Franciscans took over the churches and the name was changed to San Diego de Pitiquin.

The town became a municipality in 1914.

Economic activity

Agriculture covered 6,901 hectares (2000), most of which were irrigated by pumping from wells. Main crops are alfalfa, beans, corn, grapes, sorghum, and the production of fodder for the cattle industry. https://web.archive.org/web/20060909152121/http://www.sonoraturismo.gob.mx/pitiquito-sonora.htm

Cattle raising is also important with over 30,000 head counted in (2000).

Since this municipality has approximately 170 kilometers of coastline there is also fishing, especially in the settlements of Puerto Libertad and Desemboque. The Mexican power generation parastatal CFE has a large electric plant at Puerto Libertad. A Mexican alternative energy company Biofields is constructing an algae to ethanol system covering several square miles which will process the exhaust from the electric plant.

Tourist sights

Of touristic importance is the San Diego del Pitiquito mission, which sits in the center of town. https://web.archive.org/web/20100630233314/http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/missions/Pitiquito.html. It is the oldest church with surviving indigenous art in Sonora. The drawings are rough, bold, black lines on a white background. They were discovered after being hidden under whitewash for ages. http://www.ourmexico.com/story.php?storyID=41

The small beach communities along the Gulf of California are also of interest and are yet to be developed. Puerto de la Libertad is the most important and is situated on a paved highway from Hermosillo. It has an attractive bay with fine sand beaches and gentle waves, which invite visitors for practicing aquatic sports such as swimming, sailing and angling. Nearby are the only boojum (Spanish cirio) forests outside Baja California.

The beach town of El Desemboque is a Seri Indian town on the Seri communal property which is partially in the municipality of Pitiquito. http://www.sonoraturismo.gob.mx/seris-de-sonora.htm

References

• Enciclopedia de los Municipios de México
• INEGI

References

1. (1967). "Paths of the Padres Through Sonora: An Illustrated History & Guide to Its Spanish Churches". Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society.

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