mazatlán is a nahuatl word meaning "place of the deer." the city was started in 1531. by the mid-1800s a large group of immigrants had arrived from germany. these new citizens made mazatlán into a successful commercial seaport, importing equipment for the nearby gold and silver mines. it served as the capital of sinaloa from 1859 to 1873. they also influenced the music, banda, which is an form of bavarian folk music, and also started the pacifico brewery on march 14, 1900.