Cajeme

Cajeme is one of the municipalities of the northwestern state of Sonora, Mexico. Its capital is Ciudad Obregón. It is named after Cajemé, a Yaqui leader. The municipality has an area of 3,312.05 km² (1,278.79 sq mi) and with a population of 398,800 inhabitants (INEGI 2005).

History

Yaqui tribes settled in the region at approximately 1100 and in 1533 had the first contact with the Spanish conquistadors, when Diego de Guzmán arrived at the Yaqui region. The Yaquis defeated the Spanish army. In the 17th century Jesuit missionaries visited the zone to evangelize the Yaqui natives in 1617. In 1619, one of the missionaries, Martín Burgencio founded the villa of Buenavista and later the villa of Cumuripa. In 1715 El Realito was founded, which is located in the northern region of the current municipio). In the 19th century agriculture developed at the villas of Cumuripa, Buenavista and Cócorit.

Buenavista was the site for the military base of San Carlos de Buenavista during the Spanish colony. It was considered the capital of the Villa de Salvación since 1820 and in the second half of the 19th century it was considered part of the Guaymas district, as well as part of the Yaqui pueblos.

Cajemé

Cajemé / Kahe'eme (Yoeme or Yaqui Language for "the one who does not stop to drink water"'), born José María Bonifacio Leiva Peres (also spelled Leyva, and Leyba) was a prominent Yaqui military leader who lived in the Mexican state of Sonora from 1835 to 1887.

Biography

José María Bonifacio Leiva Perez was born on May 14, 1835, at Pesiou (the Yaqui name), Sonora, also known as Villa de Pitic (Pitic is also derived from the Yaqui word "Pitiahaquím," meaning "place surrounded by streams"), and currently called Hermosillo, in honor of José María González de Hermosillo, a hero of the insurgency in the war of Mexican independence against Spain. Cajemé's foremost biographer, Ramón Corral, stated that Cajemé was born in 1837 (Corral, 1959 [1900]), and this date has been used by other writers since then. However, the baptismal record shows that this was incorrect (Iglesia Católica, 1835), and that Cajemé (José María Bonifacio Leiva Peres) was born two years earlier. Ramón Corral's initial newspaper article appeared in Sonora's official state newspaper, La Constitución (Corral, 1887). In the article, José María Leiva's father is identified as Fernando Leiva (born about 1816 at Huirivis, Sonora), and his mother as Juana María Peres (born about 1817 at Potam, Sonora), facts supported by the baptismal record. However, in the biography of Cajemé later published by Corral (1959 [1900]), Corral calls José's father "Francisco," and this name has mistakenly continued to be used for José's father since then.