Editing Sonora (section)

==Etymology==
Several theories exist as to the origin of the name "Sonora". One theory states that the name was derived from ''Nuestra Señora'', the name given to the territory when Diego de Guzmán crossed the [[Yaqui River]] on October 7, the [[feast day]] of [[Our Lady of the Rosary]] (''Nuestra Señora del Rosario''), the pronunciation possibly changing because the indigenous languages of the area did not have the ''ñ'' sound. Another theory is  [[Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca]] and his companions, who had wrecked off the Florida coast and made their way across the continent, were forced to cross the arid state from north to south, carrying an image of ''Nuestra Señora de las Angustias'' (“Our Lady of Anguish”) on a cloth. They encountered the [[Opata people|Opata]], who could not pronounce ''Señora'', instead saying ''Senora'' or ''Sonora''. A third theory, written by [[Cristóbal de Cañas]] in 1730, states that the name comes from the word for a natural water well, ''sonot'', which the Spaniards eventually modified to ''Sonora.'' The first record of the name “Sonora” comes from explorer [[Francisco Vázquez de Coronado]], who passed through the state in 1540 and called part of the area  ''Valle de la Sonora.'' [[Francisco de Ibarra]] also traveled through the area in 1567 and referred to the ''Valles de Señora''.<ref name="nomenclatura">{{cite web |url=http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_sonora |title=Nomenclatura |year=2010 |work=Enciclopedia de Los Municipios y Delegaciones de México Estado de Sonora |publisher=Instituto para el Federalismo y el Desarrollo Municipal |location=Mexico |language=es |trans-title=Nomenclature |access-date=February 15, 2011 |archive-date=December 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201232501/http://www.e-local.gob.mx/wb2/ELOCAL/EMM_sonora }}</ref> Literally, the Spanish word ''sonora'' is the [[Grammatical gender|feminine form]] of the adjective ''sonoro'' (“sonorous”, “loud”).