Tampico

“ And so, thanks to the Germans, the Americans in Tampico were rescued. But there were several hundred men, women, and children far up in the oil fields. From Tampico to the Pánuco field was forty-seven miles by the winding river, and ten miles away, in the opposite direction from Tampico, lay the American warships. A superintendent, accompanied by a young Texan, braved the streets in the early morning of the second day. ”

“ From the headreaches of the Pánuco they are sometimes months in making the round trip, and they are often trusted with thousands of pesos with which to make purchases in Tampico. From every foreigner in Mexico, comes the same testimony of the rock-ribbed integrity of the Indian. It is always the mixed breed who is unveracious, dishonest, and treacherous. It was the mixed breed who composed the mobs in Tampico that cried death to the gringos. ”

“ Everything in this respect being made easy for the tourist.
From the first moment I felt Tampico is a town for men.
Friday, August 12, 1921. Tampico.
We started off in the morning in our riding clothes for a two days’ trip across the oil fields. There is no railway, and one might almost say there are no roads to take one over the 80 kilometers to the little “boom oil town” of Zacamixtle where the oil wells are.
Happily it was dry and hot when we started off, passing first of all through the camps and tanks of the Huesteca Oil Company, which is Doheny’s. ”

“ Meanwhile, all is at a stand-still, morally speaking, for we are rolling so, that it is scarce possible to write comprehensibly. We see the sad-looking shores of Tampico, long, low and sandy, though to the south stretching out into gloomy, faintly-seen woods. We can distinguish the distant yellow sand and the white surf breaking furiously over the bar. The day is gloomy, but not cold. A slight rain accompanies the light north wind. Sea gulls are flying in circles round the ship and skimming the surface of the waves. ”

“ The approach to Tampico is very pretty, and about two miles from it, on the wooded shore, in a little verdant clearing, is a beautiful ranchito—a small farm-house, white and clean, with a pretty piazza. In this farm they keep cows and sell milk, and it looks the very picture of rural comfort, which always comes with double charm, when one has been accustomed to the sight of the foaming surges and the discomforts of a tempest-tossed ship. The sailors called it "El paso (the pass) de Doña Cecilia;" ”

“ He is a colossal old man, almost gigantic in height, and a Falstaff in breadth—gruff in his manners, yet with a certain clumsy good-nature about him. He performs the office of pilot with so much exclusiveness, charging such high prices, governing the men with so iron a sway, and arranging everything so entirely according to his own fancy, that he is a complete sovereign in his own small way—the tyrant of Tampico. ”

“ Its owner, Don Juan de la Lastra, Spanish vice-consul, is not here himself, but we were kindly received by Don Josd de Comez Mira, the consul. In the evening all the principal Spaniards in the place came to see C—-n; and having arrived here yesterday morning as perfect strangers, without the probability of finding any one whom we knew, we find ourselves surrounded by the most unexpected and gratifying attentions. As to what is called society, there is literally none in Tampico. Those who live here, have come in the hope of making their fortune ”

“ Yet, with it all, possibly because of it, the town is a very busy one, though it was this state of affairs, and the way things were run in Puebla, that brought about the revolution. The people had nothing to lose, and might gain by a change of government.
From Chihuahua I went first to Durango, where I only stayed a short time; and then to Tampico, where we had another large contract. Tampico is only a small town of possibly 35,000 people, but one of the busiest towns in the republic, with an American population of about 1000 people. ”

“ Mason, Tower, and three other officers are with me. Our ship now lies three miles outside the bar. Our passage up the river Tampico to this place (six miles above the bar) was a fairy scene. Beautiful views met our eyes, and the picturesque country about this place perfectly enchanted us. The atmosphere is delightful. We see few but Mexicans about us. Every one looks friendly. News has just reached Tampico that General Taylor has had a hard-fought battle with Santa Anna. All the accounts came through Mexican channels. Santa Anna claims a victory. He states that Taylor is shut up in Monterey. ”

“ A few American merchants have established themselves here. Soto la Marina is celebrated in history as the spot where the unfortunate Emperor Iturbide landed in 1824.
The main line will run almost due south from this port to Tampico, via Cruces, Realito, Bejarano, Sanapa, and Aldama; while a branch will be extended via Padilla [9] to Victoria, the capital of the State of Tamaulipas, where it will connect with the Mexican Southern Railroad. (Vide Section VII. ) The New York, Texas and Mexican Railroad will also cross the eastern branch of the Mexican Central Railway at Tampico. ”

“ The picturesque situation of Pueblo Viejo, and its old time-worn Spanish-built houses, lying at the foot of a steep but bushy hill; with the tranquillity reigning in the streets and environs, forms a pleasant contrast to the busy, half European, and more prosaic features of its more prosperous rival. The peninsular position of Tampico, rendered it of necessity subject to a certain degree of monotony. ”

“ The Tampico specimen may have developed from a quill-flattener, which implement was probably of common and characteristic use among Indian mothers, not only of the Plains but also as far west as Tampico. If the result of such a development, it had probably lost its domestic use and become entirely symbolic.
Mr. Teit has heard the Thompson Indians speak of figures carved by some men in their spare time, and valued highly as curiosities and works of art. They had no practical value, and were generally used as ornaments inside the house. ”

“ This river, appears to penetrate the great barrier between Tampico and Monterey, and takes its rise in the table land, between San Luis, and Zacatecas. It is possible, that the army of Santa Anna may, by this route, keep open a communication with the valley of the Rio Grande, and even send large reinforcements of cavalry and infantry through this pass, so as to threaten our lines on the Rio Grande and Tampico. According to the last accounts, our troops were marching towards Victoria. ”

“ Much open land, fine pasture—great deal of cattle. Reached Alamitos at about 9 A. M.—fine hacienda [farm] —good water, in a stream. Had a bottle of champagne for lunch—thanks to General Smith. From this place to Tampico, the principal labor consisted in making a practicable wagon road across the numerous arroyos—most of them dry at the time we passed: the banks [50] very steep. Altamira is a pretty little town, one march from Tampico. The road between them passes through a very magnificent forest of live oaks. ”

“ Only a very scanty statement was given by Vespucci concerning the voyage from some port on the west coast of the Gulf of Mexico, probably that of Tampico, at the mouth of the Panuco river, to “a harbour the best in the world,” which appears to have been on Pamlico Sound or river, whence, after repairing their vessels, the expedition returned to Spain. ”

“ The other lateral expedition moved against the city of Tampico. This place, the principal town in the state of Tamaulipas, and after Vera Cruz the chief port of Mexico on the Gulf coast, was physically remarkable. Land and water are perhaps nowhere more freakishly intermingled. But for practical purposes one may describe it adequately as on a low ridge—with the immense lagoon of Carpintero on the one hand and the deep, wide, heavy, greenish-brown Pánuco on the other—a little more than five miles from the Gulf, as the river flows. ”

“ Panuco, an old town of the Huestecos, which is subject to occasional inundation during the rainy season, is the only important settlement above Tampico, on the Panuco river, and contains about four thousand inhabitants. It is beautifully seated on the banks of the stream, in the State of Vera Cruz, about thirty leagues from Tampico by water and fifteen by land. In its vicinity, scattered over an area of many miles, are ancient ruins, whose history is not only entirely unknown to the inhabitants, but seems not to excite their interest or curiosity. ”

“ There are many comfortable-looking large houses, generally built according to the customs of the country whereof the proprietor is a native. Were it not for the bar, which is a terrible obstacle, not only from the danger of crossing it, but from the detention that it causes, vessels having been stopped outside for months, Tampico would become a most flourishing port. ”

“ Received an order from Major McCall [12] this morning to go back to Matamoros, as we are to march to Tampico, via Victoria, with the column under General Patterson. [13] Smith is away at [22] Brazos and if the order had been one day and a half later we would have been off to Tampico by sea. Have fine sea bathing here. It is blowing very hard from the south east, so much so as to raise the sand too much for comfort entirely. Bee and Ward at the Brazos—coming over this morning—will at least have an opportunity of giving Georgie that letter of Madame Scott’s! ”

“ Road improved very decidedly, but still a good deal to do. We managed, by getting a little ahead with our repairs after the army encamped for the night, to get along without seriously delaying the column."
We arrived at Tampico on the 23rd. The distance from Victoria to Tampico is 120 miles; whole distance from Matamoros to Tampico, by way of Victoria, is 354 miles.
Although the service was arduous, the men came through it in good health, and were all the better soldiers for the practical schooling acquired in that 350 miles of road making. ”

“ Another chief, whose activities are patently diplomatic, is instructed to attempt to persuade the rebel leaders to use the repair shops at Tampico. It is decided, since the Ebano oil must be moved because of lack of further storage, to get the rebels to move it over the captured Mexican Central. "If they won't or can't," the superintendent concludes, "then propose that they let us move it over their lines. We can furnish our own trains, crews, and everything." ”

“ The banks of the river are described as being very beautiful, which we can easily believe from what we have already seen; but for its beauties after passing Tampico; its wooded shores dotted with white ranches, its large cattle-farms, and its picturesque, old Indian town of Panuco, we must trust to hearsay. The country in the vicinity is described as being a wilderness of rare trees, matted together with graceful and flowering creepers, the wild haunts of birds of bright and beautiful plumage ”

“ But in Tampico as elsewhere, the people had much less to suffer, in all probability, than from the Mexican troops who formerly had garrisoned the town, and the big United States flag set up in the plaza near the Pánuco represented substantial benefits. Many new kinds of manufactured articles made their appearance, and all such things were sold at low prices. Business became active. According to tradition the paving of the city dates from this time. A theatre was built. Preparations were made and presumably carried out for the extension of the mole. An American newspaper appeared. ”

“ The capital of this State is Victoria, formerly Santander, a town of 12,000 inhabitants. Tampico de Tamaulipas, on the northern bank of the Panuco, which enters the Mexican Gulf five miles below the town, is the principal commercial port of the State. Its bar is dangerous and its harbor considered unsafe. Large vessels cannot approach the town, which is situated among extensive marshes. It is visited almost every year by the yellow fever; yet its foreign commerce is extensive and appears to be increasing. ”

“ I sat on Admiral Fletcher’s left, with Maass next to me. The conversation was in Spanish, and I worked hard; I told the admiral that I deserved a trip to Panama as a recompense. The norte which had been announced from Tampico began creakingly and ominously to make itself felt and heard about half after nine. The admiral gave us an amusing picture of the life at Tampico with a hundred refugees, mostly women and children, on board. ”

“ Tampico, and predicted that when the railway had formed its connection with the National and Central lines Vera Cruz would be "out in the cold," as he expressed it. "Tampico has," said he, "a harbor that can be greatly improved by dredging away a part of the bar, which is now dangerous; the town is five miles up a river, and affords the shelter which a ship cannot find at Vera Cruz. With the dredging I mentioned, the port can be used by the same class of vessels that now go to Vera Cruz. Tampico will get all the business when the railway is completed and the line opened to the capital." ”

“ No means are employed, and no desire manifested, on the part of their superiors, to improve their character or condition. Politically, the Mexican regards them as his equals, while he treats them far worse than even the English do their slaves, either at home or abroad.
The Market Place of Tampico is a rude open square, without embellishment, natural or artificial, one corner of which is occupied with stalls or tables, for meats and vegetables, which are guarded and dealt out by as motley a set of beggars as I had ever seen, as uninviting group of caterers as can well be imagined. ”