Chihuahua

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Chihuahua, an important center of population, is distant a thousand miles or more from the city of Mexico; and between the two places, in addition, a somewhat formidable desert intervenes, of about a hundred miles in width, and over which the "Mexican Central Railroad" trains are obliged to carry a water-supply for their locomotives. Previous to 1883, if a revolution broke out in Chihuahua, the most ready method of communicating intelligence of the same to the central Government would have been to send a man on foot, probably an Indian runner. ”

“ The chief towns in the State are the capital, Chihuahua, situated 4,640 feet above the level of the sea, in 28° 38 ́ north latitude and 106° 30 ́ west longitude from Greenwich, containing a population of from 12,000 to 15,000. It lies in a beautiful valley opening towards the north, and hemmed in, on the other sides, by the arms of the Sierra Madre. The city is regularly built, on wide, clean streets, with many handsome and convenient houses, plentifully supplied with water, which is brought to the town by an aqueduct extending 6,533 varas. The plaza, or public square, is quite imposing. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The fine agricultural districts of Chihuahua, New Leon, New Mexico and even in parts of Texas, had attracted large numbers of adventurous pioneers into that remote region; yet no sooner did their fields begin to flourish and their flocks or herds to increase, than these savages descended upon the scattered settlers and carried off their produce and their families. Whenever the arms of New Spain obtained a signal victory over one of these marauding bands, the Indians would talk of peace and even consent to bind themselves by treaties. ”

“ Outside, down the long cottonwood-fringed street, three horsemen, one all in white, one draped in deep red, and a third with flying parti-colored sashes, shone like blotches of color against the pale sky.
On the route between Chihuahua and the Plains of Zacatecas, the beautiful mountains continue, now nearing and now departing from the table-like valley between. An entire tract of country at one place is covered thickly with pale purple blossoms exhaling a faint, sweet odor. The great haciendas, lying near the route, have portions of their ranches near the line. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”

“ Many of the present towns of western Chihuahua bear the old Indian names and are inhabited by people descended from the ancient inhabitants. With a little foreign mixture, the pure bloods greatly predominate. ”

“ William knows every one in the State of Chihuahua, and he is constantly telling us of the standing and glittering position of the inhabitants of the mud huts which we pass, until it sounds like that ghastly array of intelligence with which a society reporter quickens the social dead in a Sunday newspaper. ”

“ A part of the Mexican population, whose conscience was not quite clear from self-reproach, fearing revenge, fled even to the mountains, while we in the meanwhile prepared in all haste or baggage and animals, for our return to Chihuahua. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The exterior is very imposing. The church cost $800,000. It was erected from a fund raised by levying a tax of one real on every mark [6] of silver obtained from the mines of Santa Eulalia, fifteen miles distant.
Fruit, vegetables, and the cereals grow in the environs of the city. There is fine grazing-land in Chihuahua. In 1871 the American consul reported that there were 800,000 sheep and 250,000 cattle in the State. ”

“ The grass was fresh as ever; the mountains, too, heretofore naked, cover themselves with a green coat of grass. This whole valley, or rather plain, from Paso to Chihuahua, seems fertile enough to raise many millions of stock, and in former times they raised large numbers; but at present the wild Indians are the lords of the country, and the Mexicans are becoming impoverished more and more.
Our noon camp is the highest point, according to my barometrical observations, on the road between Paso and Chihuahua; its elevation above the sea is 5,317 feet. ”

“ We found six Mexican captives,—five women and one child,—taken in Chihuahua early in May. They are now with the command. These women say they were captured near the Mexican Central Railroad, at a place called Carmen. They further state that when the Chiricahuas discovered that the Apache scouts were in the country they became greatly alarmed, and abandoned on the trail the three hundred head of cattle they were driving away from points in Western Chihuahua. The cattle were afterward picked up and driven off by a body of Mexicans. ”

“ Here we were met by an express, sent from Americans below, and reporting that a large Mexican force was approaching from the south to reconquer Chihuahua, that the Mexican government had fled at the first news of our march, and that General Taylor had left Saitillo, etc. Upon these reports Colonel Doniphan resolved to return to Chihuahua, and defend that place at all hazards. With some reluctance the troops returned; the chivalric sons of Missouri relied so much upon their own bravery and good fortune, that they disliked every retrograde movement, although policy might command it. ”

“ Most of them have already paid a heavy tribute to the rebel commanders for the privilege of leaving Chihuahua, and they have just been shouting bravos because the General assured them all would soon be well."
"He's a smart, wide-awake man, all right," asserted Tubby, who of course felt drawn toward the rebel chieftain. Had not General Villa called [Pg 263] them "amigos," and was he not already pledged to purchase the herds of Uncle Mark's abandoned cattle ranch in Chihuahua State at the fairest possible price? ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ We arrived at Chihuahua on the first of October, after a trip of forty days, with wagons much more heavily laden than when we started from the United States. The whole distance from Santa Fé to Chihuahua is about 550 miles,—being reckoned 320 to Paso del Norte, and 230 from thence to Chihuahua. The road from El Paso south is mostly firm and beautiful, with the exception of the sand-hills before spoken of; and is only rendered disagreeable by the scarcity and occasional ill-savor of the water. ”

“ 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. ”

“ And when he evacuated Chihuahua and ran away with my man to Ojinaga, I just stayed right in Chihuahua and got a man in the Maderista army when it came in. A nice handsome young fellow, too,—much better than Juan. I'm not a woman to stand being put upon. ”

“ Chihuahua does not now demand its goods in great bulk; its wants are supplied, and of the great number of traders and speculators who flocked there at the opening of the railroad, the majority have been badly bitten and bitterly disappointed. The Mexican can only move at a certain pace; in an age of steam he lives with all the simplicity of his ancestors, when the patriarchal system was in vogue. You cannot hurry him, except you charge upon him with an engine, and then he retorts by putting conductor and engineer in jail and confiscating your property. He does not take kindly to innovations ”

“ Mexico has never been a densely-populated country. On an all-day journey by rail through the State of Chihuahua the vast, grassy plain over which the road passes, bounded on either side by fantastic mountain-peaks, has scarcely a sign of human habitation except the station-buildings along the track. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Leaving Chihuahua, we pass through a grazing country for about 50 miles, when the valley of the San Pedro River is reached. Maize, wheat, and cotton are grown here. Proceeding southward, we enter the valley of the Conchos [7] River, near the station of Santa Rosalia.
Much wheat and Indian corn are produced in this vicinity, the chief part of which is consumed in the State of Chihuahua among the various mining towns. Fifty miles south of Santa Rosalia we reach the valley of the ”