Batopilas, Chihuahua

Batopilas is a small town, and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, located along the Batopilas River at the bottom of one of the canyons that make up the Copper Canyon. It has a population of fewer than 2,000 people. Batopilas was established by Spanish conquistadores starting in 1632 as a center for silver mining. Over the centuries scores of hugely productive silver mines have been dug in the area; one estimate (Wilson and Panczner) is that mines in the area have produced seven times as much silver as come from the famous silver mine of Kongsberg, Norway. Little mining is now done. Large fortunes were made, most visibly reflected in a castle-like home that Alexander Robey Shepherd,...