The actual territory that occupies the municipality of Navojoa was inhabited since Prehispanic times by Mayo natives, whose history is intimately tied to the valley and the river of the same name. Navojoa’s name comes from the Mayo language roots “navo” that means prickly pear, and “jova” that means house; thus the city it means “house or place of prickly pears.”

In 1533 the expedition lead by Don Diego de Guzman visited for first time this region. In 1593, Captain Diego Martinez de Hurdaide conquered and pacified Mayos, joining them to the Spanish colonial regime.

Since 1610, evangelization started by Jesuit missionaries, who were then expulsed in 1767.

The Mayo Indian land in the southernmost tip of the state was part of the original state of Occident back in 1925. The original settlement on the left bank of the Mayo River was given the title of city on July 6, 1923.