Bolsón de MapimÃ
The Mapimí Desert ( also Bolson de Mapimí ) is located in the central highlands of Mexico in the state of Durango and forms one of the two large desert areas in the Mexican highlands. The climate is dry with a rainy season in the spring. The rain falls mainly in the form of violent but brief downpour, a year there in the five-year averages (1979 - 1984) about 265 mm of precipitation with minima and maxima at 81 mm at 513 mm during this period. The temperatures in summer are about 35 ° C and in winter from fall to below 4 ° C, yielding an annual average at about 20 ° C.
In the Bolson de Mapimí there is an approximately 103 000 ha nature reserve ( Reserva de la Biosphere Mapimí ), the core area is about 35 000 ha. It is located on the border of the states of Durango, Chihuahua and Coahuila. Worthy protection, the area is partly due to the locally very rare yellow - edge tortoise and other endemic species.
It consists mainly of desert steppe and is covered with half a meter high tuft of grass.
The location is situated Mapimí At its southern edge.
In the literature, the Bolson de Mapimí place as the scene of some scenes in Karl May's Wild West novels (for example Winnetou II, The Waldröschen ).
Indigenous Peoples
Before the invasion of the Spaniards in the north of Mexico lived in the present territory of the nomadic and semi-nomadic Mapimí various hunter-gatherer groups. This group of mountain people, the small mobile settlements (Spanish Ranchería ) inhabited and in bush huts (called Wickiups, Spanish Jacales ) lived among the Tarahumara, Pima Bajo ( Lower Pima ) and the Tobosos. These strains were able to escape the Spanish and Mexican influence long and fight off the intruders successfully because they could retreat to the Mapimí and the surrounding mountain ranges again and again. In the constant fighting and riots especially the Tarahumara and Tobosos had excelled and were feared by the Spaniards. But even these groups knew only hard against the advancing southward warlike Apaches, particularly Chiricahua, Mescalero and Lipan protect, since they are the advantage of deserts and mountain ranges, which they had enjoyed over the Spaniards, were now made. The Apaches themselves were semi-nomadic and predatory perennial mountain dwellers, also next to the Tarahumara, the fastest runners and excellent rider (which these were not ). Now Time and again there were bloody clashes between Apaches and the mountain tribes, which in addition had to fight against the Spaniards, not to be forced to live in the missions. Against 1750, the Tobosos were either exterminated, had settled in the Spanish settlements and missions or joined the Apaches. From this point, the Mapimí for hunting and residential area of the Mescalero Apaches and from 1865 some groups of Lipan Apaches belonged. It was not until around 1881 living in the Mapimí Apaches were no longer to make greater war and raids in a position, but sporadic raids on Spanish and Indian settlements ( the Tarahumara and Pima Bajo ) took place until the 1930s.