Whenever presented with an example of mineral discovery in Mexico, we immediately inquire about the equine connection. In Taxco it was the steed of Don Jose de la Borda that, dislodging a stone with its clever foot, revealed a vein of what became the richest mine in Mexico. And in Catorce it was the mare of Ventura Ruiz who went missing, to be discovered standing over an outcrop of silver ore. At least so we are told. And in Mexico, everything is in the telling.
Facts are superficial inconveniences that only get in the way of a good story.
In one version the name recalls 14 bandits who found the location commodious. That there were 14 bandits in these sierra we are generously prepared to accept. No, it doesn't work. Another version tells of 14 soldiers of the Crown, killed here before the town was founded. A more vivid telling has them hanged by the Indians they were sent to pacify.