Chihuahua City

“ Now the degenerate descendants of these once formidable Redskins seek a living in desultory cultivation of the soil, although bands of them and of other tribes still cause trouble to soldiery of the Mexican Republic at times. But the capital city of Chihuahua is an example of man rising superior to savagery and Nature, and this splendid centre of modern life and industry is far removed from the condition of its natural surroundings. ”

“ Of Zacatecas, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Aguascalientes, and others of the numerous important cities and towns, linked together by the great trunk lines of railway along the vast reaches of the mesa central, we cannot speak save by name. Each has its peculiar circumstance and interest, and the different States of which they form the political and industrial centres are described in the chapter devoted thereto. We will, however, take a momentary flight to the fine city of Chihuahua, far to the north, situated among its great plains and mineral-bearing mountain ranges. ”

“ Although the little plain in which Guajuaqualla stands is more favorable as a site than the narrow gorge where Chihuahua is situated, the city itself is inferior to the latter. Built irregularly, not only as chance or caprice directed, but sharing in all the vicissitudes of speculation which the mines afforded, great palaces stand by the side of mean hovels, and gorgeous churches are flanked by abodes of squalid poverty. ”

“ Chihuahua, the first city on the Mexican Central, has become a prominent point for mining operations, and probably a larger number of Americans are congregated there than at any place outside the capital. It has a fine climate, is situated in a beautiful and fertile valley, with all the accessories of a healthful and thrifty population. One hundred years ago, however, Chihuahua was larger than New York; to-day the population does not exceed thirty
THE STREET OF GUADALUPE, CHIHUAHUA.
thousand. ”

“ Some time previous to this day a large body of her representative citizens, amongst whom were more than a thousand progressive women, had called upon the Governor en masse, and secured his consent to lecture upon, “Liquid from the Sun’s Rays.”
Chihuahua is a magnificently built city of over more than one-half a million inhabitants. It is a large mining center, railroad center, and educational center. Recently its fame had spread abroad. The eyes of the entire civilized world are riveted upon it. It is the home and abiding-place of the greatest scientists the world had ever known. ”

“ Chihuahua is a province and city in Old Mexico, the trail that leads to it one of the oldest lines of tribal migration on the continent.
To be given to the Sun meant to have your heart cut out on a sacrificial stone, usually on the top of a hill, or other high place. The Aztecs were an ancient Mexican people who practiced this kind of sacrifice as a part of their religion. If it was from them the Corn Woman obtained the seed, it must have been before they moved south to Mexico City, where the Spaniards found them in the sixteenth century. ”

“ The manufacture of cotton and woollen goods are old industries in Chihuahua, but the introduction of American skill and capital toward the end of the 19th century placed them on an entirely new footing. The manufacture of gunpowder for mining operations is another old industry.
Chihuahua was founded between 1703 and 1705 as a mining town, and was made a villa in 1715 with the title San Felipe el Real de Chihuahua. Because of the rich mines in its vicinity it soon became one of the most prosperous towns in northern Mexico, although the state was constantly raided by hostile Indians. ”

“ Janvier, the author of 'The Mexican Guide,' says there is not much to be seen in the city, and advises travellers not to stop there. According to his account, it is so overrun by Americans that it cannot be called a typical Mexican town. It has about 20,000 inhabitants, and no public buildings of importance, with the exception of the Church of San Francisco, which was built by a tax of one real on each pound of silver taken from the Santa Eulalia mines, which are in the vicinity. [Pg 80] Chihuahua was once the centre of a large trade with the United States ”

“ Here, at a point mainly above the roofs of the city, is a vacant lot, the only eligible site for an American hotel, and which, I was told, the owner offered to give outright to any one who would erect there a structure costing not less than $60,000. There is certainly a need for a good public house in Chihuahua, as those at present existing are not altogether satisfactory. ”

“ He has the knack of absolutely expressing the strong feeling of the great mass of the people. In February, exactly one year after Abram Gonzales was murdered by the Federals at Bachimba Cañon, Villa ordered a great funeral ceremony to be held in the City of Chihuahua. Two trains, carrying the officers of the army, the consuls and representatives of the foreign colony, left Chihuahua early in the morning to take up the body of the dead Governor from its resting-place under a rude wooden cross in the desert. ”

“ After the battle the Mexicans represented their forces as small; but, as Trias himself wrote on February 20 that he would set out the next day from Chihuahua City with 2000 troops (it is not probable that he looked upon the rancheros as troops) , and García Conde was then north of the Sacramento with about 800 cavalry, it seems impossible to reduce the total given in the text.
13. Mexican preparations to defend Chihuahua; the ground and the fortifications. Sen. Misc. 26 ”

“ These exclusive laws are the more severely felt in Chihuahua, because in that city there are no cafés, [p192] nor reading rooms, nor in short any favorite public resorts, except of a gambling character, at which gentlemen can meet to lounge or amuse themselves.
Besides the cock-pit, the gaming-table, and the Alameda, which is the popular promenade for the wealthy and the indolent, one of the most favorite pastimes of the females generally is shopping ”

“ But then Chihuahua is near the American border, and most of the boys and girls are placed in American schools, so that it is almost an American city with American customs. The architecture of the new part of the city is American, and the houses of the rich are built on large plots surrounded by gardens and trees. As the Mexican 271law does not recognise a religious marriage, it is always necessary to have two ceremonies—one before the judge and one before the priest, but the only binding one is that performed by the judge. ”

“ At nine o’clock the jail in which the two offenders of law were held was almost surrounded by what looked to be the rabble of the entire country.
The great and progressive city of Chihuahua had never had such a large crowd of ungainly and suspicious looking creatures assemble since it became a part of the great Republic of the United States of America. ”

“ The police-force of the Mexican cities is generally very efficient. In Chihuahua watchmen walk the city all day with revolvers ready for action; at night they don a great serape, shoulder a gun and patrol the streets with huge square lanterns, calling out to each other with ostentatious regularity ”

“ After having come to an understanding with him, you will be able to proceed to the city of Chihuahua, or any other place in Mexico in which President Juarez may be; or, at your choice, you may go to any place in Mexico which, at the time of your arrival, is not occupied by the enemies of the Mexican republic. You might also stay at some point in the United States close to the frontier or coast of Mexico, to wait for the time when you might enter that portion of the country which may be subsequently occupied by the republican government. ”

“ Mining is the principal occupation of the surrounding district, the famous Santa Eulalia or Chihuahua el Viejo mines being about 12 m. from the city. Next in importance is agriculture, especially fruit-growing. Manufacturing is making good progress, especially the weaving of cotton fabrics by modern methods. ”

“ Chico, F. A., procurador-gen. of Vera Cruz, 1519, i. 136.
Chico, J. M., Hidalgo's minister of justice, iv. 233; execution of, 1811, iv. 279-80.
Chico, R. A., accompanies Montejo, i. 132; messenger to Narvaez, i. 387; capture of Narvaez, i. 390.
Chicomacatl, cacique, intercourse with Cortés, etc., i. 145-8, 157-64.
Chicontla, plan of, 1834, v. . 136.
Chihuahua, city, court-martial at, 1811, 277-81; executions at, 27983.
Chihuahua, state, revolutionary plot in, 1814, iv. 656; Wool's exped. to, 1846, v. 405-6; Doniphan's incursion, 406-8; maps, v. 407; vi. 201; mining in, vi. 514. ”

“ Localities within any one state are arranged from north to south. Chihuahua: Sierra Almagre, 6000 ft., 12 mi. S Jaco, 1. Coahuila: 17 mi. N and 8 mi. W Saltillo, 5200 ft., 2; 3 mi. SE Torreón, 3800 ft., 7. Durango: 1 mi. SSE Mapimí, 4100 ft., 1; 4 mi. WSW Lerdo, 3800 ft., [Pg 624] 1; 5 mi. SE Lerdo, 3800 ft., 1. Zacatecas: Conception del Oro, 7680 ft., 1. San Luis Potosí: 10 mi. NE San Luis Potosí, 6000 ft., 1.
Other records.—Coahuila: Jaral; Saltillo (Goldman, 1910:82) . San Luis Potosí: Cerro Peñon Blanco; Ventura; Santa Teresa; city of San Luis Potosí (Dalquest, loc. cit.) . ”

“ Morning and evening, with tall earthen jars poised on their heads, the swarthy Mexican women come to get their supply of water in this public square. The massive stone arches of the aqueduct which brings the stream are quite a feature in the suburban landscape of Chihuahua. Continuous house-fronts are quite as common here as in other cities. ”

“ Nature has endowed Chihuahua with a pleasant and temperate climate and a fertile soil, which is said by those who are best acquainted with the State to be capable of producing abundantly, if the county is ever freed from savage inroads and filled with an industrious population of agriculturists. The forests, the streams, the valleys and the plains, all yield their tributes of valuable articles of trade. Vast herds of cattle are fed upon the large haciendas de ganado; and the mountains are veined with the precious deposits which form the wealth of so many other Mexican States. ”

“ Though Chihuahua is two hundred and twenty-five miles south of the Rio Grande, still it shows many signs of its proximity to this country. Such buildings as we have just referred to would not be thought of in middle or southern Mexico. American fashions in many things are obvious; a large portion of the population speak English; the faces of the common people evince more intelligence; and the masses are better clothed than they are a little further south. We found that free schools were established and other matters of higher civilization were in progress. ”

“ A recent Mexican author, in describing the condition of Chihuahua, declares that at "present every hacienda must be converted into a castle of the middle ages, every shepherd into a soldier:—proprietors of estates enjoy no security of their possessions, and the common people gather themselves into villages to escape from the exposed country in which they must become the victims of the blood-thirsty savages and robbers from the wilderness." ”

“ Like Chihuahua, it carries on its commerce chiefly with the United States, and since the completion of the railroad this has grown rapidly; the population has nearly doubled in the past decade, and now numbers forty two thousand. ”

“ San Pablo, the town which we had reached in our first excursion from Chihuahua, lies about eight miles below Santa Cruz, on the San Pedro, and seems to be a flourishing place, with about 4,000 inhabitants. There is rich cultivated land along the stream, upon which they raise a good deal of maize and some cotton. Near our camp stand a flour mill and a cotton-gin. ”

“ Six American residents of Chihuahua, mostly merchants, who were principally exposed, applied therefore to the government of Chihuahua, which either could not or would not afford sufficient protection for passports to retire to Sonora. After some negotiations they received passports for Cosihuiriachi, an out-of-the-way place about 90 miles west of Chihuahua, under the condition that they had to stay there under the control of the prefect, and that they were not allowed to leave the place without special permission from the governor of Chihuahua. ”

“ There are many other cities situated on these vast plateaus, for the tierra fria has always maintained the bulk of the population in spite of the extraordinary richness of the lowlands. They are growing in size as manufacturing establishments become more numerous. A number of them like Chihuahua, Aguas Calientes, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Durango, and Leon are interesting cities of from thirty to forty thousand inhabitants and all of them are old. ”

“ Above the town is a small kiosk, perched on a spur of the hills, whence is obtained a delightful view, at the feet of the observer, over the town and down the Rio Grande valley; where the river runs is green, while all else is brown and bare, as far as the eye can reach, even to the distant mountains of Chihuahua. The banks of the Rio Grande—the Rio Bravo del Norte—here are low and easily approached, while at Eagle Pass and Laredo they are high; though the volume of water is not appreciably less and the current is rapid ”

“ The elevation of Chihuahua above the sea is, according to my numerous observations, 4,640 feet. Its geographical latitude I determined to be in 28° 38′ N.; its longitude, according to lunar observations made by Dr. Gregg, is in 106° 30′ west of Greenwich. The climate is delightful. Of diseases I have seen there dysenteries in summer, typhoidal fevers and rheumatic affections in the winter. Intermittent fevers and scurvy, which prevailed then among the American troops, are not common to the Mexicans.
Part of the population are very wealthy, but the majority are quite poor. ”