Four times as large as the Grand Canyon in Arizona
The Copper Canyon (Barranca del Cobre) actually consists of six separate canyons in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico’s north-west. By area, the Copper Canyons are four times as large as the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
The Sierra Madre Occidental with its jagged mountains is also called the Sierra Tarahumara after the regional Indian tribe. In pre-Columbian times, Indians lived here but did not settle in one or the other particular place. These Indians are thought to be related to today’s Tarahumara. Archaeologists have discovered ancient remnants of buildings with storage vessels dating back to the year 1000. At the beginning of the 17th century, Jesuits conducted a search for copper, and coming to the canyon they named it Copper Canyon or, in Spanish, Barranca del Cobre. The Tarahumara only settled in the often inaccessible regions around Copper Canyon when the new holders of large properties drove them from the plateau. The Spaniards mined silver, gold, opals and other ores in the canyons. Plans for a railroad to connect the USA (Texas) and northern Mexico with the Pacific were first discussed in 1903. However, it took a long time until these bold plans were finally executed between 1953 and 1961.
