The early Figueroas were from Chilipas, Chihuahua, where the elder of the family, Francisco, lived in a center of mining development. By a tragic feat of nature, a bolt of lightening killed four of his sons. Stricken by sorrow, he took his two remaining sons and one daughter to Sonora, to a ranch near Sabinito. One of the two sons, Nemesio, married in 1876; he then had a son, Francisco, who married in 1914 and named his son Nemesio. In the Figueroa family the pattern has been set in naming sons Francisco and Nemesio!

The present-day Nemesio Figueroa was born in 1942, and he lives in the barrio La Campana in Álamos and works as a cabinet maker. He has three sons, and he is very active in the local Catholic church. Apart from his work and church activities, he has been researching the tunnels that lie under the streets and houses in Álamos since 2004. In a January 27, 2011, meeting of the Álamos History Association, Sr. Figueroa said that the tunnels were constructed as many as 200 years ago and had two purposes: protection against attacks by the Yaqui Indians, and transporting items of value (silver and coins and people) under Álamos.

Surprisingly, Nemesio found no tunnels under the church. He did encounter several tombs. Similar to a catacomb, this area was used as a burial place for parishioners for many years. The tomb of Bishop María Antonio Reyes is under the front steps of the church. The practice of burying people under (or close to) churches was prohibited in the middle of the 19th Century for fear that it might cause the spread of infectious diseases. When the current church floor is removed as part of its planned restoration, Sr. Figueroa is eager to see what is revealed about the Álamos tombs.

Since 2004 Sr. Figueroa has plotted the Álamos tunnels using metal rods. The width of most of the tunnels are approximately 1.5 – 1.2 meters, while the tunnel from escuela Bartolomé to Rip Torn’s house is approximately two meters wide. This tunnel is also the most superficial; its ceiling being about one meter deep under the ground. Typically the tunnels are around six meters below ground level.

Álamos resident Katherine Callingham has assisted in mapping these tunnels, and it is hoped that in the very near future one of the tunnels can be excavated. According to Sr. Figueroa, the longest tunnel begins at the Paulita Verdán School (the old mint), runs under a part of the Hotel Colonial and the museum to the old Las Palmeras restaurant, where it turns and runs

the length of the block to the Robles house (just before the “kissing Alley”). There it turns again to run under the street toward the city hall, parallel to the plaza, until it again runs under some of the old Alcorn residences.

A tunnel also runs along our current Madero Street, which was where military officers lived at one time. This tunnel starts in the middle of the Navarro patio (house on the corner of the Plaza de Armas and Madero) and runs underground to the house just up the street from the hostel where it exits back to the patio surface very near the tunnel entrance into the cliffside at the back of the hostel patio. This entrance is visible today as a "bricked in" entryway. This tunnel runs up to the corner planter of the Casa de la Cultura.

These tunnels were built by skillful mine workers; many of them had roofs made of amapa wood, and others had roofs of bricks. In addition to being able to move from one location to another underground, the tunnels were used to store valuables, hide from robbers, and escape during Indian attacks. Most of these tunnels were closed up after the big flood of 1868,

when much of the town was covered in water. Animals had been swept into the tunnels and died there during the flood, and it was easier to close the tunnels than clean them out.

An effort is underway to uncover a portion of the tunnel network, and the History Association is grateful to Sr. Figueroa and others devoting their effort to reveal the mysteries of Álamos.