Navojoa Honors One of Its Own
One of the most impressive monuments in Navojoa is a large white obelisk sitting atop a chamber whose center point is a bust of one of Sonora’s greatest native sons – General and President Alvaro Obregon Salido (February 19, 1880 – July 17, 1928).
President Obregon was a chickpea farmer from the municipality of Navojoa whose agricultural work was interrupted by the Mexican Revolution of 1910 – 1920. He became president of Mexico in 1920, and his presidency provided much-needed stability in a country that had been torn apart by war.
After returning to battle in 1923 to prevent another civil war, Obregon left office in 1924 when his hand-picked successor and fellow Sonoran general, Interior Minister Plutarco Elias Calles, was elected to the presidency.
But although Don Alvaro Obregon retired to Sonora after he left office, he still held political sway, and he was again elected to the presidency of the republic in 1928.
However, before he was to take office Alvaro Obregon was assassinated in July of 1928 by José de León Toral, who shot Obregon in the back of the head while showing him a caricature he had drawn.
Obregon is entombed in the city cemetery of nearby Huatabampo, Sonora. Huatabampo also has a museum dedicated to President Obregon, located in a house where he once lived.
The monument to this great Sonoran was built in 1930 by his “friends and admirers” in Navojoa. It represents not only the admiration for President Obregon in the state of Sonora, but in all of Mexico.
The monument to Don Alvaro Obregon Sacido is located at the intersection of Boulevard Obregon and Boulevard Cuauhtémoc Sur in Navojoa. The easiest way to find it is to take Boulevard Obregon six blocks west from the Plaza Cinco de Mayo. Read more about President Obregon.
