Ciudad Victoria is the capital of the state of Tamaulipas, one of Mexico's most industrialized states, which extends in a narrow strip along the Rio Grande and then follows the Gulf of Mexico south as far as the coastal town of Tampico.
The city's name comes from that of the man known as Guadalupe Victoria (born Felix Fernandez), whose ardent faith in Mexican independence eventually brought him the distinction of being Mexico's first president. His assumed name had popular appeal: Guadalupe for Mexico's patron saint; Victoria for victory. Together with other patriots like Miguel Hidalgo, Jose Maria Morelos, and Vicente Guerrero, Victoria fought against Spanish rule.
Perhaps they most bitterly resented the Spanish haciendados who owned vast tracts of land together with those who worked it, in a relationship resembling the feudal system of medieval Europe. When the war ended in 1821, the insurgents' attempts to split up these haciendas failed; "land" was again a battle cry of the Revolution of 1910.
Natural fibers are an important crop in this region, and are used both for industrial purposes and to make the colorful hammocks and other decorative objects sold on the streets and in the markets.
Highway 85 is joined at Ciudad Victoria by Highway 101 from the Texas towns of McAllen and
Brownsville. An extension of Highway 101 is open from Ciudad Victoria to the southwest over the Sierra Madre, offering some sppctacular scenery before straightening out on the high mesa.
