The lands located between the existing town of
San Francisco de Conchos and the confluence of the Río Concho and Río Florido rivers were explored by Francisco Escárcega on June 12, 1687, at the direction of the Governor of
Nueva Vizcaya, Don José de Neyra y Quiroga. In 1740, the site at the confluence of the Río Concho and Río Parral rivers was established as a town with the name of Santa Rosalía for the Catholic missionaries who were assigned to administer in the area. In 1745, Apache raiders from further north began looting and terrorizing Spanish settlements through the entire Allende Valley. They attacked the town of
San Francisco de Conchos on March 25, when they killed the Franciscan missionary friars Tomás de Zigarán and Francisco de Labado who served the mission. They also burned the church and the friars' house. The Apaches then immediately attacked the town of
San Pedro de Conchos; there, the missionary left before befalling any harm and took refuge with the Jesuits in
Satevó. From
Valle de Allende, the friars and Spanish residents were evacuated to
Villa López before the raiders arrived; but they were unable to prevent the Apache from burning the convent and the sanctuary. General Francisco Montaño de la Cueva led the campaign against the insurgents, rounding them up and immediately imposing the peace. But he hanged thirteen of the native leaders determined to be responsible for the uprising and the death of the missionaries in the Allende Valley. The attacks of the Apache raiders caused an abandonment of the town, but it was re-established and repopulated on November 25, 1792, with the same name of Santa Rosalía by the Captain Jose Manuel Ochoa, taking orders from General Pedro de Nava, General Commander of the Internal Provinces. The town was re-established with 28 neighbors brought from the Presidio of Conchos, which continued to impose oversight and control over the town until 1820, when the town was given the category of Municipality under the restored
Spanish Constitution of Cádiz. In 1826, the community was made part of the political district of Rosales; in 1837, it was included in the sub-prefecture of Jiménez; in 1847, included in the Cantón Jiménez; in 1859, separated to create the Canton Camargo; and from 1887 to 1911, it was included in the Camargo District. In 1897, after 100 years of life, at the request of the Camargan deputy Pedro Carbajal, the local Congress granted the community the title of City with the name of
Camargo in honor of the Caudillo insurgent
Ignacio Camargo who was shot in Chihuahua during the War of Independence on May 10, 1811. On August 31, 1860, in Santa Rosalía, Captain Jesus Duarte, with a section of Liberal troops, defeated the Conservative leader Jose Macias, who was left lying on the field with 32 dead and several wounded. On September 1, 1876, Mayor José Perfecto Lomelín, declared the local government to be in favor of the
Tuxtepec Plan and occupied the Plaza de Camargo, which had previously been under the control of Governor Manuel de Herrera and the Chihuahua National Guard. On April 23, 1913, Constitutionalist Generals Manuel Chao, Rosalío Hernández and Maclovio Herrera attacked the Plaza de Camargo that had become occupied by Huerta troops under the command of General Manuel García Pueblita. The Constitutionalist troops were defeated, leaving the Plaza and the City in the hands of the assailants. On December 12, 1916, General Francisco Villa attacked and captured the Plaza de Camargo, defended by General Rosalío Hernández with government troops from where they were evicted. All the captured prisoners were shot on Villa's orders. On January 5, 2017, at the Camargo toll booth on State Highway 45, about a thousand citizens demonstrated against the "
gasolinazo" (gasoline tax rise). The State Police were dispatched to end the demonstration; when they arrived, rather than confronting the officers, the demonstrators raised their hands in mass to show that they did not carry weapons, then sat down and sang the National Anthem with one voice. The act was unprecedented in national history. ==Geography==