Teresa Urrea

Teresa Urrea, often referred to as Teresita and also known as Santa Teresa or La Santa de Cábora (the "Saint of Cabora") among the Mayo (October 15, 1873 – January 11, 1906), was a Mexican mystic, folk healer, and revolutionary insurgent.

Early life Urrea was born in 1873 in Ocoroni, Sinaloa. Her father, Tomás Urrea, was from Álamos, Sonora and owned a "rancho" in Cábora, to the northeast of Álamos. Her mother, Cayetana Chávez, was an indigenous 14-year-old ranch hand from Tehueco. Throughout her early life, which was spent in Cábora and nearby Aquihuiquichi, her father largely ignored her, and she was raised by her bitter aunt and quiet mother.

Folk icon In the fall of 1889 Urrea had a serious illness and began to experience religious visions. When she recovered she believed she had been given healing powers by the Virgin Mary, and she soon gained a following when 1200 people camped nearby to seek healing and observe miracles. The Mexican press began to cover her activities in December 1889, notably the newspaper El Monitor Republicano of Mexico City.

Urrea was venerated as a folk saint among the Yaqui and Mayo peoples, who are indigenous to the Sonoran Desert near the United States border.

Expulsion from Mexico Although the resistance fighters invoked Urrea's popular nickname, "Santa de Cabora", and sought her help, there is no direct evidence that she took part in their activities. Her extradition was undertaken as a military action by the Eleventh Regiment and the Twelfth Battalion of the Mexican army under General Abraham Bandala.

Urrea's arrival in Nogales received a hero's welcome.