Entitled No. 10: Durango, this 1922 map by the Mexico Dirección de Estudios Geográficos y Climatológicos forms part of a thirty-two-sheet national atlas issued in its second edition by the Secretaría de Agricultura y Fomento. Orchestrated under the direction of Ing. Sotero Prieto, it brings together political and physical geography in a composite design that overlays shaded relief on geologic understanding, making the mountains, basins, and borders of Durango immediately legible. The cartography balances administrative clarity—firm state lines, clearly drawn boundaries, named settlements—with a tactile sense of terrain rendered through isolines and careful hill shading. Railroads, roads, rivers, and lakes are woven into this framework, inviting the eye to follow arterial routes from city to sierra. The result is a lucid, authoritative portrait of a state pivotal to Mexico’s interior during the early twentieth century.

Anchored in the southwestern reaches of North America, Durango emerges here as a land of high plateaus broken by the ramparts of the Sierra Madre Occidental and scored by river valleys that collect seasonal waters. Shaded relief gathers densely along the western escarpments, where closely spaced contours announce steep gradients and deep barrancas, then relaxes eastward into broader plains and intermontane basins. Rivers and lakes are plotted with hydrologic care, their courses threading through settlements and agricultural districts; isolines allow the viewer to read watersheds, passes, and divides at a glance. The map’s symbology, consistent across the atlas, even echoes hydrographic practices—soundings appear where relevant elsewhere in the series—underscoring a scientific ethos that treats elevation and depth with equal precision. Natural landforms and human corridors are thus seen in productive dialogue.

Urban and rural life are mapped with equal candor. Durango City anchors the central plateau, its prominence corroborated by the convergence of roads radiating toward mining towns and valley farms. In the northeast, Gómez Palacio and Lerdo appear as paired urban nodes flanking vital river courses and rail lines, their gridded footprints hinting at industrial and commercial vigor. Canatlán is set amid orchards and cool uplands, while Tlahualilo, farther toward the desert margins, stands as a testament to frontier agriculture and transport. The map traces railroads with crisp regularity—each siding, junction, and long traverse across the flats—while the arterial roads negotiate passes and river fords, hugging valley floors before lifting to highland shelves. Taken together, these networks reveal how Durango’s rugged physiography shaped, and was shaped by, the flows of people, goods, and capital.

Behind this clarity lies a disciplined enterprise. Ing. Sotero Prieto’s coordination brought together surveyors, engineers, and draftsmen within the Dirección de Estudios Geográficos y Climatológicos, with Ing. Luciano López Sorcini among the key contributors. Zincographers such as Antonio Hernández transformed field observations into precise linework, labels, and symbols—an early twentieth-century, photomechanical craft capable of rendering fine contour sequences, rail ticks, and boundary stipples without sacrificing legibility. The composite methodology—relief shading worked over geologic structure—yields a map that teaches as it enchants, letting readers intuit the relation between lithology, slope, and settlement. Even the atlas’s cover announces this ambition: a full-color regional tableau adorned with a decorative Mayan motif and a map attributed to a Maya Indian, a nod to deep cartographic traditions informing a modern, technocratic survey of the Republic.

As a document of its moment, No. 10: Durango distills Mexico’s early twentieth-century project of renewal—administrative consolidation, infrastructural reach, and resource appraisal—into a single, navigable sheet. Political boundaries assert order; the road and rail lattices advertise mobility; the rivers and lakes register the environmental constraints that planners had to respect or reimagine. Mining uplands, timbered sierras, and irrigable basins each claim their cartographic space, hinting at the economic geographies that motivated such meticulous study. Issued by the Secretaría de Agricultura y Fomento, the series was designed to be used: by engineers plotting a new feeder line, by agronomists reading a watershed, by administrators understanding their districts. A century later, it remains a superb guide to Durango’s enduring structure—where the land folds, the waters run, and the cities take hold.

Cities and towns on this map

• Durango City: The capital with a significant population.
• Gomez Palacio: A notable urban area near Durango City.
• Lerdo: Another important settlement with a substantial population.
• Canatlán: Smaller town listed on the map.
• Tlahualilo: A town mentioned, less populous than the above.

Notable Features & Landmarks

• Political Boundaries: Clearly defined borders outlining Durango.
• Roads and Railroads: Extensive network depicted, indicating major thoroughfares and transport routes.
• Settlements: Labelled towns and cities providing context to populated areas.
• Geological Features: Representation of elevation through shadings and isolines.
• Water Bodies: Major rivers and lakes marked, contributing to hydrological understanding.
• Natural Landforms: Mountains and valleys illustrated in a way that complements the mapping of infrastructure.

Historical and design context

• Map Name: No. 10: Durango
• Creation Date: 1922
• Mapmaker/Publisher: Mexico Dirección de Estudios Geográficos y Climatológicos
• Map Overview: This is a detailed political and physical map of Durango, part of a series totaling thirty-two maps that also includes relief and geologic maps.
• Geographical Focus: Southwestern Coast of North America, emphasizing Durango.
• Design Elements: The map's aesthetic includes a composite design with overlays of relief maps on geologic maps, enhancing visual understanding of terrain.
• Cover Design: The cover features a full-color representation of the region adorned with a decorative Mayan illustration and a map attributed to a Maya Indian.
• Project Leadership: Coordinated by Ing. Sotero Prieto, with contributions from Ing. Luciano Lopez Sorcini and several zincographers, including Antonio Hernandez.
• Edition Details: Part of the second edition published by the Secretaria de Agricultura y Fomento, under the direction of the geographical studies division.
• Significance of Series: The atlas aims to provide a comprehensive view of geographic and infrastructural developments in Mexico during the early 20th century, reflecting historical cartography practices.

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