Sonora

“ The small mountain-islands lay at all distances, blue in a dozen ways, amid the dead calm of this sand archipelago. They rose singly from it, sheer and sudden, toothed and triangled like icebergs, hot as stoves. The channels to the north, Santa Rosa way, opened broad and yellow, and ended without shore upon the clean horizon, and to the south narrowed with lagoons into Sonora. Genesmere could just see one top of the Sierra de la Quitabac jutting up from below the earth-line, splitting the main channel, the faintest blue of all. ”

“ The city was flooded with sunshine, and crowded with a pack-train going to Sonora; the animals restlessly protesting against the heat and flies; their Mexican drivers in the pulqueria, spending their last peso with their compadres, or with the escort of soldiers which was to accompany them—a little squad of small, lithe men, with round, yellow, beardless faces, bearing in a singular degree the stamp of being native to the soil. ”

“ Sonora, which is the richest country in the world, is in the last throes, under the brutalising and unintelligent system of the Mexican government. Well, let us restore life to this country; let us galvanise it, summon to our aid the French emigrants in California, and come here to give liberty to a people whose energetic character will comprehend us. What do we risk in the event of non-success? Death! Why, that is exactly what we desire. At any rate, when we have fallen, we shall sleep in a shroud of glory as martyrs, bearing with us the regrets and sympathies of all. ”

“ That night Don Padraic and Benicia sat in [102] the candlelight of the big salon or living room which filled the space of one quadrangle off the patio. In all Sonora there was no counterpart of this chamber of mellowed antiquities, the collection of generations of the O’Donoju. Low ceiled and with crossing beams of oak, whereon the marks of the hewer’s adze showed like waves; walls hung with tapestries between the heavy frames of portraits of grandees and their ladies of forgotten days; a great fireplace wherein a man could stand upright, with its hand-wrought andirons and heavy crane shank ”

“ The full, round moon was in the heavens, throwing her mellow light o'er all that fairy landscape, as we descended from the mountain height, and in fancy we were once more wandering in the mountains of Sonora, or in the savage deserts of Arizona, masters only of the good steeds beneath us, and trusting only to the mercy of God and the good weapons in our hands and at our saddle-bows for the safety of our lives. ”

“ We stand on Mexican soil. We are on the seaward skirt of its westernmost State of Sonora, in the wild lands almost washed by the Californian Gulf, which will be the formidable last ditch of the unconquerable red men flying before the Star of the Empire. ”

“ Out of these kid treasures and symbols, Cal and Slim had come to life, Heaslep’s, Nacimiento, San Pasquali; Bob Leadley, Bismo on the Rio Brava, Red Ante, the Dry Cache mine; Sonora, the cells, the corner of the wall, flight from the rurales, El Relicario. He could shut his eyes and think way back to the very beginning—hear the swish of motor cars from his bedroom window, the sound of the piano below, the sounds of his phonograph, and that last swung him swiftly [Pg 205] across the continent to the Plaza at Los Angeles—‘Cuando sali—’ and the leather-store. ”

“ Speaking in general terms, Northern Sonora and Southern Arizona (at this point) are much more fertile than Northern Arizona and Southern Sonora.
The frontier town of Sonora, where the railroad enters, is Nogales, simply a double row of slab shanties and mud huts, the former being American, the latter Mexican. The customs officials of both republics may be found here, who make a pretence of examining one's luggage. As soon as the Border is crossed, you are impressed with the difference between American energy and Mexican thriftlessness. ”

“ A little patch of Indian corn which they cultivate,—a few head of cattle, which, fed upon the perfumed pastures of the plains, produce beef of an exquisite flavour,—a sky always clear,—and, above all, a wonderful sobriety of living,—enable these dwellers of the desert steppes of Sonora to live, if not in a state of luxury, at least free from all fear of want. What desires need trouble a man who sees a blue sky always over his head, and who finds in the smoke of a cigarette of his own making, a resource against all the cravings of hunger? ”

“ The moon lighted up a country mainly sterile, and daylight did not reveal one more attractive; but at six we reached the Sonora River, and the scenery underwent a most magical change. At seven we ran into the station at Hermosillo, the "beautiful town," and I took refuge and breakfast at the Hotel Cosmopolita, a one-story adobe, hard by the cemetery. This city, situated on the Sonora River, ninety miles from the Gulf of California, contains about 12,000 inhabitants. ”

“ It seemed as if this little band of adventurers, who were only passing through the town, brought to Sonora peace, tranquillity, and liberty; in a word, all those things the Mexicans want, and for which they sigh in vain. The cries of, Viva los Franceses! Viva el conde! rose on all sides with a deafening sound.
So soon as the company landed, by Don Louis' orders, the ranks were speedily formed; and the count, having Colonel Florés on his right hand, Don Antonio on his left, led his men to the barrack prepared for them, clearing his way with difficulty through the dense masses of spectators. ”

“ The trade of Sonora consists in the exchange of its natural productions with Mexico, both by land and by means of the gulf of California, as also with New Mexico and New Biscay. Sonora will in all probability become in time a very valuable province, its natural advantages being great. ”

“ Sonora is an inland town, situated in the midst of one of the richest mineral regions in the southern part of the State. A stage-coach affords the most convenient and expeditious means of reaching this place, which lies about fifty miles to the south-east. ”

“ We will march then to Tucson. We came not to make war on Sonora, and less still to destroy an important outpost of defense against Indians. But we will take the straight road before us and overcome all resistance, but shall I remind you that the American soldier ever shows justice and kindness to the unarmed and unresisting? The property of individuals you will hold sacred; the people of Sonora are not our enemies. ”

“ If a Californian sees a little white cloud about as big as a toy balloon down in the southeast corner he gets morose as a badger. If it starts to drizzle what you'd call a light fog he holes up. When it rains he hibernates like a bear, and the streets look like one of these populous and thriving Aztec metropoli you see down Sonora way. ”

“ Sonora is dependent for existence on the surrounding mining population; it is a town with a{272} resident population of about three thousand souls, but with accommodation on the corral principle for about ten thousand more. Sonora is advantageously situated in one respect, inasmuch as it is irresponsible for the morals and conduct of its floating population; if Sunday is desecrated in Sonora by five thousand pleasure-seeking miners, Sonora washes its hands of that. ”

“ They have ascertained what the United States courts call a title, and have been providing themselves with the necessary parchments, [79] while American operators, in connection with them, have been equally busy.
Chihuahua and Sonora are the States or Departments to be affected by our Pacific Railroad. Sonora is the most valuable of the two, not only on account of its inexhaustible supply of silver, but also on account of its delightful climate and agricultural resources. It is like the land of the blessed in Oriental story. California does not surpass it in fertility or in climate. ”

“ There was a gray wooden horse in the leather-store, fragile but full height, on which Elbert was accustomed to show bridles, saddles, blankets, and pack-gear, talking to customers a lot wiser than he felt, for he still resented life’s conspiracy which had kept him from sitting a live horse where he belonged.
In the evening he would go out and lounge in the Plaza under the dusty palms and sycamores. It was better than Heaslep’s in a way—the Mexicans had a friendly feel, and sometimes when the band played, he could imagine himself down in the City of Mexico, or in the heart of Sonora at least. ”

“ GODS OF SONORA AND DURANGO.
In Sonora—the great central heart of Mexico making its beatings more and more clearly felt as we approach it nearer—the vague feelings of awe and reverence with which the savage regards the unseen, unknown, and unknowable powers, begin at last to somewhat lose their 179 vagueness and to crystallize into the recognition of a power to be represented and symbolized by a god made with hands. ”

“ He founded his first Sonora mission in 1687, and explored and mapped the Upper Pima Indian country, now southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico. Wherever he went, he spread the Christian doctrine, gained friends among the Indians, and established missions. He initiated ranching on this frontier by introducing cattle and other livestock. To such beginnings some of our thriving modern towns owe their existence. ”

“ We happened in the right house. The old don told me the other morning, he had hoped [Pg 201] to see Monte Vallejo in Cordano’s place here in Sonora.’
Long talks concerning all that led to Elbert’s coming to Sonora. Bart’s deep laugh once sounded in the little room.
‘I’m used to Mexicans,’ he said. ‘I don’t know much about the States. I s’pose there are a lot of people up there you can trust offhand, like Dad trusted you.’
‘You see, he had to have somebody interested in Sonora, and willing to do a lot of riding,’ Elbert answered. ”

“ A large portion of Sonora is occupied by Indian tribes, some of which are partially agricultural where they have been brought into contact with the whites; but the greater portion may be regarded as belonging to the wild nomadic bands which have hitherto harassed the northern settlements of Mexico. In the eastern part of the State, on the banks of the Sonora and Oposura, and in the vicinity of the town of Arispe and the mineral region of Nocasari, we find large numbers of the Opátas. ”

“ Avarice stimulated by their wonderful stories, and often too by the sight of real treasure brought in from the desert—for the expeditions of the gambusinos do not always prove failures—avarice thus tempted, is ready to listen to the voice of some adventurous leader, who preaches a crusade of conquest and exploration. In Sonora, as elsewhere, there are always an abundance of idle men to form the material of an expedition—the sons of ruined families—men who dislike hard work, or indeed any work—and others who have somehow got outside the pale of justice. ”

“ But the disaster is soon forgotten; fresh stories of the gambusinos produce new dreams of wealth; and another band of adventurers is easily collected.
At the time of which I am writing—that is, in 1830—just twenty-two years after the tragedy of Elanchovi, one of these expeditions was being organised at Arispe—then the capital of the State of Sonora. The man who was to be the leader of the expedition was not a native of Mexico, but a stranger. He was a Spaniard who had arrived in Sonora but two months before, and who was known by the name, Don Estevan de Arechiza. ”

“ Briefly, the history of the pueblo began with the establishment of a presidio or military post in 1741 in the natural gateway and watering-place leading into the settled valleys of the Opodepe and upper Sonora, for the sole purpose of protecting the settlements against the wandering Seri, who used this typical Sonora watergap as a way-station on forays but never as a place of residence. ”

“ The only town of importance beyond Hermosillo is Guaymas, chief port of Sonora, ninety miles distant, on the Gulf of California. The railroad running thither is a splendid piece of work, but wasted on such an ungrateful region as lies between these two points, for in the dry season there is hardly a green thing in sight. ”

“ This country is famed for an excellent breed of horses, for its fine cheeses, and for its cattle, which are superior and numerous. The animals of Sonora are chiefly the deer, the bear, the goat, [89] and an extraordinary species of large lizard, which the natives domesticate, and teach to hunt mice and vermin.
The capital is Arispe, situated near the head of the Hiaqui River, 108° 53ʹ 15ʺ west longitude, and 30° 36ʹ north latitude. This town is celebrated for its hospitality, and for the great quantity of gold used in the table services of the chief families, with a population of 7600 souls. ”

“ Three days' travel over a prairie sometimes covered with chaparral, and sometimes with grass brought us here. We are greatly disappointed; Ures, the capital of Sonora, with its Governor and military, Alcalde and court, is an adobe village of about four thousand Indians, and still they have power, and the Alcalde proved himself a man of considerable ability. ”

“ By allowing it to remain attached to New Mexico, or by attaching it to Sonora when acquired, the American influence will be swallowed up in the great preponderance of the Mexican vote. The Apache Indian is preparing Sonora for the rule of a higher civilization than the Mexican. In the past half century, the Mexican element has disappeared from what is now called Arizona, before the devastating career of the Apache. It is every day retreating further South, leaving to us, when it is ripe for our possession, the territory without the population. ”