Sra. Sánchez was born in 1906, and she came to Álamos with her family in 1929 from la Laborcita.

"Laborcita is situated near Guirocoba and Aguas Calientes, and we traveled through Cajondel Sabino and Cuchujaqui. We came to Álamos because of the revolution, because my mother was afraid and wanted help. At the ranches there was much danger, but in Álamos we believed we would be safe. We were only women, six sisters, and my mother was afraid. In the revolution the men used to take the women by force.

“I was 22 years old when I came to Álamos. We traveled all the way by horseback. After the revolution my mother had two sons, and I went to work with Lupe Santini.

"My mother’s name was María de los Angeles. She died at age 84. General Anselo Macías was my uncle, and all of the family was involved in the revolution. My Uncle Ramón was also a general, and Pablo Macías, too. Uncle Anselmo used to visit us often, and my Uncle Pablo was living in El Fuerte, Sinaloa.”

María Francesca Macías married Severiano Sánchez in 1931. He was a policeman who took care of the street in front of Lupe Santini’s house (where María worked).

“I stayed with Lupita because she was a single women and had room for me. That is where I met my husband. I came to Álamos escaping from the soldiers and I married a policeman! We had 11 children, but two died. There were four girls and five boys. The boys were Manuel, Jose, Severiano Francisco, Ramón, and Jesús, and their nicknames were Butch, Fatty, and Frankie. The girls were María los Angeles (who married Rafael Palomares and lives in La Capilla), Antonia (who did not marry and lives with me at the ranchito on Volantín), Marta, and Inocente. Marta married Porfirio Bustillo Borquez and works for Elizabeth Nuzum in the Artisanías shop and also at the Terra Cota shops. Marta was the only one who studied and speaks English quite well and is good with figures. All my daughters live in Álamos. When they were young they were all very good dancers; now my granddaughters are good dancers, following a family tradition.

“My son, Ramón, worked for Mr. Taylor for 15 years. He now works for David and Carmen Diaz. The Diaz’ are very good people. They have given much help to the town. Álamos looks very pretty and has good houses, and it is because of the American people. If they had not built and repaired houses, the Álamos houses would have fallen down. When I arrived here as a girl there weren’t any American people living here. Then Mr. Levant Alcorn came and started to repair and sell old houses.

“Mr. Alcorn used to lend houses to my father because we didn’t have a house then. My father was working for him. Mr. Levant Alcorn is a good man. We love him very much because he helped us a great deal. He gave me some of the land where I am living now. Whenever he sees me, he says, ‘Oh, Mary, you will never be an old woman--you look like a young woman’! My father was the first man here who worked for Mr. Alcorn. I have a picture where my father is taking water with a palanca (a yoke with two pails on the shoulders) in the Hotel Portales, because in Álamos there was not drinking water. My father died in 1950.”

Sra. Sánchez has lived at the ranchito on Volantín for more than 60 years. She recalled the difficult times when her children were growing up. There was no money to buy school supplies, and notebooks were cut in half so all the children could have one. It was a sacrifice to have children in school because “we were very poor people.” Sra. Sánchez also praised Mr. Valencia and Mr. Delgado. Her husband worked for Mr. Delgado at Las Delicias for many years.

Also part of this family unit is María Sánchez Macías. She lived with the family after she was orphaned in 1941. She married in 1952 and had two children named Dora and Marco, and her first husband was drunk one Christmas night and was killed in Navojoa. She later married Armando.

One of María’s daughters worked at the Macías Hotel, which is now the monastery of the Missionaries of Fátima.

“Uncle Anselmo (Macías) was a nice man, a very popular person, and he helped the family a great deal. Maria and her sisters, Rumulda and Gerarda, continue to live in Álamos.”