When I wrote about the various cities of Durango a while back, that opened a thread of the Basque history of Mexico and the southwest United States that is ripe for further exploration. That history is reflected in so many place names of the region. Not only are cities like Durango named after their Basque counterparts, but just like we have states like New York and New Jersey that are named after “older” regions in the United Kingdom, there were provinces such as New Vizcaya and New Navarra in the Americas named after places in the Basque Country. I guess those explorers and conquistadors were not so creative…

• Nueva Vizcaya was originally founded by Francisco de Ibarra when he conquered that part of what would later become Mexico and the United States. It was the first province in the northern part of New Spain. What was once Nueva Vizcaya is now the Mexican states of Durango and Chihuahua, part of the Mexican state of Coahuila, and part of Texas. Ibarra established silver working and cattle ranches in the region. Residents of Durango had complete access to the local silver mine.
• The Spanish first arrived in 1531, under with Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán, but it wasn’t until silver was discovered that Ibarra moved further north and established the territory. In 1562, he was named Captain General of Nueva Vizcaya and undertook conquest of the region, founding the city of Durango amongst others.
• The city of Durango played a part in the Mexican War of Independence and the subsequent forming of the Mexican Empire, led by Augustín de Iturbide. In particular, Durango was subjected to a 3-weeks-long siege as Iturbide’s forces tried to take the city, which finally surrendered on September 3, 1821.
• Nueva Vizcaya lasted as a political entity until 1823, when the Supreme Congress of Mexico split it into the two modern provinces of Chihuahua and Durango. Yet a new state, comprising Chihuahua, Durango, and what eventually became New Mexico, was briefly considered, but the residents of Durango objected as the proposed capital of this new state would have been in Chihuahua. In the end, they were kept separate.
• Native Americans continuously attacked the city and the region since its founding until the 19th century, trying to reclaim the land. The area is home to numerous native groups, including the Nahuatl, Zacatecos and Tepehuán.
• There is also a province called Nueva Vizcaya in the Philippines. There was a province called Nueva Navarra in Mexico as well, to the west of Nueva Vizcaya.

A full list of all of Buber’s Basque Facts of the Week can be found in the Archive.

Primary sources: Estornés Lasa, Mariano [et al.]. NEW VIZCAYA. Auñamendi Encyclopedia, 2025. Available at: https://aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus/en/new-vizcaya/ar-98759/; Nueva Vizcaya, New Spain, Wikipedia