Coahuila

“ Coahuila, to the south-east of Chihuahua, is another large State, fertile agriculturally, wealthy minerally, and healthy climatically. It is not too much to state that the future of this State is assured because of its great natural resources. There is but one thing that it is not rich in, and that is human population; but it is getting over this difficulty by attracting suitable immigrants from the United Coahuila. States and elsewhere. The pity of it is that revolutionary disturbances have put a temporary period to its mineral development. ”

“ Bad news soon followed, to upset the good. Santa Anna had determined to draw a new constitution; Coahuila, like Texas, stood firm for the republic’s constitution of 1824, which granted so much liberty. Santa Anna sent troops into Coahuila, under his brother-in-law, General Martin Perfecto de Cos, who from Saltillo ordered the militia at Monclova, where the legislature met, to disband. Governor Viesca opposed this, and with the state papers, the militia and Ben Milam and Dr. John Cameron and several other Texans, tried to change the capital to San Antonio de Bejar. ”

“ It has long been an object of strong desire among the people of Texas, to be disjoined from Coahuila, and formed into a separate State. To accomplish this desirable object, Col. Austin was appointed an agent to the Congress at Mexico, near the close of 1833. After spending some months at the seat of government, and making various efforts to have Texas formed into an integral State, separate from Coahuila, despairing of being able to accomplish it, in the then distracted state of affairs, he started to return home. ”

“ Horses, mules, wine and corn form the home commerce of the State; while in the neighborhood of Santa Rosa, and of two or three other villages, a small number of persons are engaged in the exploration of mines.
The principal town of Coahuila is Saltillo, or, as it is sometimes called, Léona-Vicario, situated in the south near the boundary of Nuevo Leon, twenty-five leagues westward of Monterey, at the foot of a hill in the midst of a fruitful region. ”

“ But Texas is settled up by Americans, used to different laws and different habits, and perfectly capable of governing themselves if only given the chance. Now when we’re tacked onto Coahuila, and the state officers are mainly located in Coahuila, and they’re most of ’em Mexicans, to boot, a small show does Texas stand of putting through the kind of laws that Americans can live and do business under. Santa Anna, though, will help us as soon as he’s president, now that the revolution ag’in Bustamante has won out. ”

“ The two intendancies New Biscay and Sonora, then part of San Luis Potosi, belonged to the provinces of Coahuila and Texas. The interior provinces of the viceroyalty were the intendancy of San Luis Potosi, including the provinces of New Leon and New Santander. The actual kingdom of New Spain was composed of the intendancies of Mexico, Puebla, Vera Cruz, Guadalajara, Valladolid, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Oajaca, Merida, and San Luis, proper, and the two Californias. ”

“ Most of the mountains of Coahuila do not exceed 6000 feet in elevation. A few peaks such as in the Sierra del Carmen, Sierra del Pino, Sierra de la Madera, Sierra Encarnación, and Sierra de Guadalupe, are more than 9000 feet high, and some more than 10,000 feet in elevation occur near the southeastern border of the State in the Sierra Madre Oriental. The Gulf Coastal Plain of northeastern Coahuila ranges from 700 feet to 1800 feet. ”

“ A few miles farther is the hamlet of La Encantada, having an elevation of 6,171 feet. General Taylor with his army encamped here before the battle of Buena Vista.
A wagon-road goes from this place to Parras, [5] and the "laguna" country of Coahuila. The altitude of Parras is 4,986 feet, according to Wislizenus. Cotton, fruit, and the cereals grow in considerable quantities in the vicinity of Parras. The annual crop of the former staple amounts to 650,000 pounds. The yucca-tree is common in Coahuila. It grows to a height of thirty feet. ”

“ Austin again counselled that his people “go slow,” and that the petition would be acted upon favorably, he was sure. In October he was called to a meeting with the president, and made a long talk, explaining what Texas desired, and why the Texas half and the Coahuila half never could agree. They were different races and had different countries and different ideas—and look at the confusion in Coahuila!
Santa Anna replied very nicely. He said that he would [75] agree to letting American colonists come in; he would send troops to protect the settlers against Indians and smugglers ”

“ Father Zalduende then returned and continued his missionary labors in the interior of Coahuila.
Governor Carabajal died about 1595, [48] and Pedro Rodriguez, who may have been an alcalde, was left in charge of the government when the colony was struggling for existence. In 1596 Diego de Montemayor was made lieutenant-governor and captain-general of New Leon, and by special commission from Viceroy Monterey he proceeded to reorganize the government and settle the province. ”

“ After proclaiming independence in all the towns of the province, and establishing the national government, Don Pelagio led on Coahuila the forces at his disposal, which, as we said, had been largely augmented by the contingents constantly supplied by the liberals, and now rose to the really formidable number of 25,000 men. ”

“ The Mexican government had pledged the colonists liberty of action under a republic and a constitution, and now had submitted it to a military despotism under General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. It had refused to grant an appeal, according to the constitution, for statehood separate from unfriendly Coahuila. It had imprisoned Stephen Austin. It had refused to provide trial by jury. It had provided no schools or other means of public education. It had allowed the soldiers to oppress the citizens. It had forced the state congress of Texas and Coahuila to dissolve. ”

“ The power of the Governor of Coahuila and Texas to make the grant was derived from the Mexican colonization law of August 18th, 1824, and the legislation of the State, which that law authorized. The object of that law was to induce the settlement of the vacant lands of the Republic. To this end the several States were empowered, under certain restrictions, to provide for the colonization of the lands within their limits. ”

“ The delay in promulgating the constitution, and the bickerings in the liberal party, filled the minds of its best men with fear that the reactionists might regain the ascendancy, renew past horrors, and even dismember the country. The chief points at issue in the party were: the organization of Coahuila and Nuevo Leon as one state; [1] the reinstallation of the government council decreed by the president ”

“ Why, turn back and reach Coahuila again as quickly as possible; if the Mexicans wished to lay a trap for you, they will be caught in it themselves, as they leave their guns and ammunition in your hands. ”

“ This line commences at Piedras Negras on the Rio Grande, and will pass through the state of Coahuila to the city of Zacatecas, thence to Celaya and Mexico. The concession grants the company the privilege of constructing a cross-line from a point between Tampico and Matamoros, on the gulf coast to another between Mazatlan and Zihuataneco on the Pacific. ”

“ The title emanated from the State of Coahuila and Texas, a quarter of a century ago, when Texas was a wilderness. Colonists from abroad were invited, and a league of land was offered to the colonist having a family, for thirty dollars. Mexicans were allowed to purchase eleven leagues of ordinary grazing land for one hundred dollars the league ”

“ Like most of the savage tribes of North America, the Apaches are passionately fond of spirituous liquors, and may frequently be seen, in times [p076] of peace, lounging about the Mexican villages, in a state of helpless inebriety.
The range of this marauding tribe extends over some portions of California, most of Sonora, the frontiers of Durango, and at certain seasons it even reaches Coahuila: Chihuahua, however, has been the mournful theatre of their most constant depredations. Every nook and corner of this once flourishing state has been subjected to their inroads. ”

“ In Yucatan the reactionists possessed only Mérida; Tabasco was beset by the liberals; Chiapas was entirely under the control of the latter; and so were Oajaca, Guerrero, nearly the whole of Michoacan, Sonora, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Chihuahua, Tehuantepec, Colima, and even Tlascala; and among the states where Zuloaga's authority was recognized, such as Vera Cruz, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Jalisco, and Mexico, there were some now in most important points occupied by the constitutionalists. ”

“ Stronge presided; Hohler was there, the Hugo Scherers, Mr. Carlos de Landa, Mr. Hewitt, the Von Hillers, and we played bridge till late. Conditions are going from bad to worse here, and I feel an increasing sadness at leaving all this touching, appealing beauty of Mexico to the powers of darkness, or if not of darkness, of such uncertainty that evil only can come.
The "Apostle" has become the mono de Coahuila. The favor of republics is more short-lived than that of princes. ”

“ Coahuila probably contains more silver ore than any other tract of similar extent in the world, but for the benefit of prospecting amateurs it will be as well to state that practically all claims are already "pegged out" and strongly held. Cattle-raising flourishes here also, especially as regards the Swiss breed, which seem to thrive in the high altitude; and pure agriculture is by no means neglected, the universal Mexican bean being raised in large quantities, as well as maize, wheat, and cotton. ”

“ Coahuila had been so completely invested by the Mexican army that, from the day the siege began, no one had been able to enter or leave the town. The general, consequently, was as much deprived of news as if he were five hundred leagues away from Mexico. The soldiers, accustomed since the beginning of the insurrection to live at the expense of the country people, plunder, and ill-treat them, did not like the confined diet to which they were constrained. ”

“ Remarks.--Cratogeomys castanops consitus is a small pocket gopher (see tables 1 and 2) ; the largest adult available to us is much smaller than the smallest adult of any adjacent subspecies. Specimens from Coahuila assigned to consitus compare favorably with topotypes although those from the vicinity of Jaco are smaller, paler and have a narrower rostrum and smaller maxillary teeth. An immature male trapped three miles northeast of Sierra Mojada is tentatively assigned to consitus. This subspecies seems to be rare in northwestern Coahuila and small colonies are widely scattered. ”

“ While the publication of the mineral statistics of the nation not only brings the idea of manifesting the present condition of this branch of industry among us, but also that of propagating its exercise as one of the principal elements of riches among the Mexicans, it is necessary to speak of the state in which the Mineria is in Coahuila, and of hopes which it makes to spring up for the future. ”

“ The integral parts of the Federation are: the States of Aguascalientes, Colima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, Oajaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlascala, Valle de Mexico, Veracruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas, and the Territory of Lower California. Article 44. The States of Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guerrero, Mexico, Puebla, Queretaro, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, and the Territory of Lower California shall preserve the limits which they now have. ”

“ AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Cliff-dwellers. See AMERICA: PREHISTORIC. AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Coahuiltecan Family. "Derivation: From the name of the Mexican State Coahuila. This family appears to have included numerous tribes in southwestern Texas and in Mexico. ... A few Indians still survive who speak one of the dialects of this family, and in 1886 Mr. Gatschet collected vocabularies of two tribes, the Comecrudo and Cotoname, who live on the Rio Grande, at Las Prietas, State of Tamaulipas." J. W. Powell, Seventh Annual Report, Bureau of Ethnology, page 68. AMERICAN ABORIGINES: Coajiro, or Guajira. ”

“ Nearly parallel with the Pacific seaboard, and dividing the states of Sonora and Sinaloa from Chihuahua and Durango, runs the great central Cordillera; further to the eastward, passing through Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and San Luis Potosí, and following the shore line of the Mexican Gulf, the Sierra Madre continues in a southerly direction, until it unites with the first-named range at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. All of these mountains abound in mineral wealth. ”

“ Let us suppose, for instance, that from the mouth of the Rio Grande a boundary line should be drawn up to Laredo, the headpoint of steam navigation on the Rio Grande, and in the latitude of Laredo a line from thence west to the gulf of California, that territory would embrace, besides the old province of Texas, a small portion of the States of Tamaulipas and Coahuila, the greatest part of the State of Chihuahua, the State of Sonora, New Mexico, and both Californias. ”