Kino Bay Chronicle

"New Kino" is Born

For a long time, there was no road between Old Kino and what is now called "New" Kino. Mireya Walker recalled that even after a poor road was cut through the dunes, it was often impassable after a windstorm.

After the road from Hermosillo was improved in 1953, and a weekly bus began to run, land along the beach north of Old Kino began to be developed and came to be known as "Kino Nuevo". Although all this area was originally federal land, it eventually came under control of the State of Sonora and then was placed under jurisdiction of the municipality of Hermosillo.

Until 1991, an unpaid governing body in Hermosillo called the Patronato, appointed by the governor of Sonora, was in charge of development and management in New Kino. A paid maintenance man, in residence here, handled day-by-day problems. All governmental functions in New Kino are still directed by the municipality of Hermosillo but business leaders here are trying to get the Patronato re-established as a means of obtaining more attention to local concerns.

Government land passed into private ownership in several ways. Some outright grants were made to Mexico citizens for services rendered to the government. Some was obtained under the "right of possession" policy. This meant that if a person lived on the land for a period of time and made improvements, he could apply for its purchase (something like the early-day homestead program in the USA.) Some was sold to Mexican citizens at "reasonable cost" to hasten development.

No foreigners were allowed to own land (and still cannot) within 50 kilometers of the coast but could gain possession by entering into a trust arrangement with a Mexican bank. No one, neither citizens nor foreigners, may own or build on land within 20 meters of the hide-tide mark, thus insuring continued public access to the beaches.

Leonard de Lozanne and his wife, both now deceased now, were among those able to obtain land on the beach in New Kino at an early date. About 1955, Leonard, a graduate of Purdue University (his wife Helen was also a student there) invited an American acquaintance to park a trailer on their land. This marked the beginning of the Saguaro RV Park, the first of its kind on the shores of Kino Bay.

Scott Llewelyn and his wife Val were among the earlier tenants at the Saguaro Court and then bought a home on the beach nearby in 1972. At that time, Scott says, there were no other homes to be seen on the beach side of the street looking east. Scott was a member of the Club's first Board of Directors. He was one of many fishermen, in those days, who kept a boat at the estuary where there was a dock to which boats could be tied. Storms later destroyed that dock and brought in so much sand that larger boats could no longer come in there. When we asked Scott how the fishing was, he replied: "It wasn't great; it was fantastic!"

Fausto Garcia, one of several Mexican citizens who were instrumental in the organizing of Club Deportivo, says that his father, Adolfo, and two of Adolfo's brothers, bought that hotel and adjoining land in 1961. When visitors began camping helter-skelter on their property, the Garcias decided to install a proper trailer part. They began with 15 concrete slabs and supplied water, sewer and electricity, gradually enlarging the park to 190 spaces.

As more and more visitors came, the Felix family, owning the strategically-located land at the west end of the beach, decided to build a restaurant and cantina at the site of the Caverna del Seri, a natural formation of overhanging rock which had once offered shelter to the Seris.

In January 1968, Juan Pedro Felix, son of Fernando and Estella, was lost at sea. Tom Crutchfield, later a Club Board member, coordinated a massive search by sea, land and air but no trace of Juan, his boat, or two American passengers, was ever found. The family erected an illuminated concrete cross 12 feet tall, at the top of Cerro Prieto (dark mountain) overlooking the Cavern RV Park. It purpose was "to guide Johnnie home" and has become a familiar landmark for homebound boaters. It is also a challenge to mountain climbers who are rewarded by a breathtaking view of the Sea of Cortez when they have reached its base.

A few yards offshore, near the south ramp, is the protruding skeleton of what was once a shrimp boat. The Yolanda was one of the fleet of boats which comes from Guaymas and Puerto Penasco each winter harvest shrimp in Kino Bay waters.

In October, 1978, the Yolanda ran aground at this point and all attempts to re-float her were futile. The boat's load of shrimp was transferred to another vessel and the small ship was abandoned. What is left is watched and consulted daily to determine the height of the time at any given time, thus making the Yolanda a useful as well as an historically interesting landmark.