The Yaqui Wars outlasted that of the Maya Campaign by only a few centuries. The wars involved a series of conflicts between Spain and later Mexico, and the Yaqui Indians beginning in 1553 and lasting through 1929, with a number of decisive battles occurring between 1899 and 1910. Together with the Caste War against the Maya, these were the last conflicts of the Mexican-Indian Wars.
In February 1896 an event known as the Yaqui Uprising began after the Mexican revolutionary Lauro Aguirre drafted a plan to overthrow the government of Porfirio Díaz. Aguirre and his men were able to convince several Yaqui and Pima native groups to join in the revolt. On August 12, 1896 a combined force of no less than seventy men attacked the customs house at Nogales, Sonora. A battle then ensued, which left at least three people dead and many more wounded. During the fight, a group of American militia formed in the adjoining town of Nogales, Arizona assisted the Mexican defenders in repelling the attack. Ultimately the Yaquis and the others were obliged to withdraw from the area, ending the uprising and leading to a United States Army operation to track down the hostiles. Two companies of the US 24th Infantry Regiment were assigned to hunt the rebels, who were also being pursued by troops of the Mexican Army. In 1897, a peace treaty was signed in Mata Ortiz (a small village in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico) between the Yaquis and the Mexican government, but in 1899 another serious outbreak of hostilities began. This time it led to the bloody Mazocoba Massacre of 1900, which resulted in several hundred Yaquis being killed and more than 1,000 taken prisoner.
By 1903 the decision was made to deport both peaceful and rebellious Yaqui natives to the Yucatan and Oaxaca. Meanwhile, from 1904 to 1909, the Mexican governor of Sonora, Rafael Izabal, led organized manhunts in which about 8,000 to 15,000 Yaquis were taken prisoner and virtually enslaved. An additional 15,000 to 60,000 Yaquis perished in the deportations between 1900 through 1911. Following the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910, Yaqui warriors joined all of the armies of the major rebel factions. They also began resettling their ancestral lands along the Rio Yaqui River. In 1911, Díaz was exiled and the new President, Francisco Madero, took office. He promised the Yaqui people compensation for their losses, but by 1920, when the main phase of the war ended, the promises were forgotten. By 1916, a number of Mexican generals, such as Alvaro Obregon, began establishing estates on Yaqui land. This led to renewed hostilities between the natives and the military.
The last major engagement of the Yaqui Wars came almost ten years later during the Yaqui Revolt of 1926-1928. The battle began in April 1927 at Cerro del Gallo. On April 28, 1927, Mexican Federal troops captured 415 Yaquis, including 26 men, 214 women, and 175 children. Because the Yaqui had withdrawn into the mountains, the Mexican federal staff decided to undertake a major offensive against them. Operations would be directed by General Obregon, assisted by the General Manzo.
On October 5, 1927, 12,000 federal troops were sent to the state of Sonora, equipped with 8 mm machine guns, airplanes and poison gas. General Francisco R. Manzo, Commander of the federal forces in Sonora, informed President Calles that he expected the Yaqui chieftain, Luis Matius, would soon surrender after holding out in the Bacatete Mountains for more than a year. After that, some minor warfare continued into 1929, but the violence was quelled mainly by bombings by the Mexican Air Force. The Mexican Army also established posts at all of the Yaqui settlements and this action helped prevent future conflict.
The Medal of the Sonora 1885-1886 was created by decree of December 13, 1887 to reward the troops taking part in the suppression of the insurrection among the Mayas and the Yaquis. The 40 mm silver medal was awarded by the state of Sonora. The obverse depicts the national eagle encircled by the inscription, PREMIO A LA CONSTANCIA Y AL VALOR ESTADO DE SONORA. The reverse is inscribed, on five straight lines within an oak and laurel wreath, GUERRA DEL YAQUI Y DEL MAYO 1885 1886.
Medal of Sonora
The Yaqui Campaign Cross 1899-1910 was issued by the state of Sonora. It is a 36 x 36 mm, red-enameled Maltese cross, with silver borders. The white-enameled center medallion is inscribed, CAMPANA DEL YAQUI, and is encircled by a green-enamel band. The central white enamel reverse medallion bears the dates, 1899 A 1910. The cross is suspended from a green-enameled, silver-bordered bar inscribed in silver, SONORA.
Yaqui Campaign Cross
The cross below, in gilded bronze, is also labeled the Yaqui Campaign Cross, but although the dimensions are correct (36 x 36 mm), it reflects significant differences from the image above. Those differences are: (1) the lack of silver; (2) the absence of enamel and (3) the presence of the wreath design linking the arms of the double-pointed cross. Anyone who has information on this image, I would be pleased to add it here with appropriate attribution.
Yaqui Campaign Cross, 1899-1910
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