[8] Las Quebradas is found in the far west of the state, including parts of Mezquital, Pueblo Nuevo, San Dimas, Otáez, Santiago Papasquiaro, Tamazula, Topia, Canelas and Tepehuanes.

[15] The mountains over 3,000 meters above sea level are dominated by dramatic landscapes, including waterfalls, old-growth pine forests and ravines, such as the Basís Quebrada on the Presidio River.

[8] Fruits such as apples and pears are grown in Canatlán, Nuevo Ideal and Guatimapé; nuts in Nazas and San Juan del Rio; and membrillo, apricots and peaches in Nombre de Dios.

[17] While some cotton and other crops such as alfalfa, wheat, grapes, sorghum and corn are grown, it is limited to areas along the Nazas and Aguanaval rivers that provide irrigation.

[8] In 1936, Mexican president Lázaro Cárdenas expropriated 225 profitable haciendas in the La Laguna region to create agricultural collectives called "ejidos."

However, this effort failed to significantly improve life for poor farmers in the region, often due to a lack of knowledge and technology, especially in the redistribution of water.

The failure of this effort exacerbated the effects of droughts leading to crises in the 1950s and 1960s, only overcome with massive federal investment in hydraulic infrastructure, public works and industrialization.

The project produced six films, each fifty feet long and included bullfights, women washing clothes, road repair and the arrival of the train in the city of Durango.

[15] In 1954, 20th century Fox filmed the movie White Feather (La Ley del Bravo) with Robert Wagner and Debra Paget.

The state is still called La Tierra del Cine (Land of the Cinema) although movie production here has waned with the decline of westerns starting in the 1980s.

[18] Images of the animal appear drawn or etched into a variety of objects, but since the 1980s, the city of Durango has promoted souvenirs which have real dead scorpions encased in plastic.

[18] The state likes to promote itself as the "Tierra del Cine" (Land of the Movies) due to its history of the making of Hollywood western.

[15] There are a number of notable artisans who produced glazed pieces, including José Trinidad (Trino) Núñez and Rafael del Campo.

At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, the Montoya family, headed by brothers Jesús and Matías, then Benigno and Francisco, come from Troncoso, Zacatecas to work with the local stone.

Gorditas are a particularly popular and important food historically, as they were a mainstay for field hands who found the pockets of corn or wheat convenient for carrying and eating meats and sauce outside of the home.

[15][21] Concentrated sweet paste made from quince is often called cajeta (used for a milk product in other parts of Mexico) as well as the more common name of ate.

The Tepehuans continue the tradition of the mitote, a kind of ceremonial dance, three times per year: in February to ask for health, in May to call the rains and in October to celebrate the first harvests of corn.

The eastern edge of the state was dominated by Chichimecas (particularly the Zacatecos and Caxcanes) and various tribes of the Laguna region, which were distinguished by their informal social structure and nudity.

Holding the land proved difficult, with Ibarra needing to reconquer areas especially in the outer periphery of Nuevo Vizcaya both because of indigenous attacks as well as the rugged terrain.

After, missions were established in Peñol (Peñón Blanco), San Juan Bautista del Río, Analco, Indé, Topia, La Sauceda, Cuencamé and El Mezquital.

It almost caused the abandonment of the capital city, with the government moving to Parral for a time, but in the end, the Tepehuan were forced to flee into the mountains, dividing the ethnicity into north and south.

Despite these difficulties, Durango was a base for the conquest and settlement of points north including Saltillo, Chihuahua and Parral into what is now Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, along with numerous other communities on the Pacific coast from Nayarit into California.

The first major mine owner of the era was José del Campo Soberrón y Larrea, who built a palatial residence for himself in the city of Durango in 1776 and received the title of Count of the Valley of Suchil.

However, Zambrano's activities were curtailed by the problems caused by the American Revolution and other wars disrupting commerce with England, leading to shortages of mercury, essential for the extraction of silver.

[17] Other textile mills were established in areas such as Tunal, Santiago Papasquiaro, Poanas and Peñon Blanco, but the lack of coal meant that power had to be provided by nearby rivers, which was not efficient enough.

Agriculture and livestock production increased with the end of Comanche insurgencies and the arrival of a train line in 1892 gave the city a new connection with the rest of Mexico.

It directly connected the city with Piedras Negras, Coahuila allowing the export of iron ore to foundries in Monclova, where coal was abundant.

Mayors of the city at this time concentrated on improving infrastructure, such as government buildings, hospitals, water supply lines and public streets.

[15] While the state received high amounts of investment leading to economic development in the late 19th and very early 20th centuries, the benefits were mostly to foreign enterprises, often given permission to operate on indigenous lands and other rural communities.

Various revolutionary leaders were from here and/or used the state as a base of operations including Francisco Villa, Calixto Contreras, Severingo Cenceros, J. Agustín Castro and Oreste Pereyra, especially in the La Lagunera region.