Zacatecas

“ Zacatecas is one of the oldest mining towns in Mexico. It received the title of city in 1585 from Philip II. The streets are well paved and somewhat tortuous, although not as much so as in Guanajuato. The city is not behind the age, even though 140 miles from a railway terminus, and a much greater distance from any seaport. The electric light shines on the plaza, and a number of telephones are in use. Zacatecas lies in an arid and mountainous region, with an inclement climate. ”

“ The city of Zacatecas, as my readers are doubtless aware, is celebrated for its mining interests. Like all other Mexican towns of the same class, it originated in small, insignificant settlements on the hillsides, in the immediate vicinity of the mines, until it gradually grew up to be a large and wealthy city, with a population of some 30,000 inhabitants. Its locale is a deep ravine formed among rugged mountain ridges; and as the houses are mostly built in rows, overtopping one another, along the hillsides, some portions of the city present all the appearance of a vast amphitheatre. ”

“ The country is very barren, scarcely a particle of vegetation being visible. The broad plain below has an elevation of about 7,000 feet, and there are nine small lakes of salt and carbonate of soda in this plain, a few miles from Zacatecas. This salt is transported to Guadalupe for use in the silver-mills. The geological formation of this district has been compared by Humboldt to that of Switzerland.
The mines next demand attention. In mineral wealth Zacatecas is the richest State in Mexico. The district, however, which includes the city, does not rank first. ”

“ It is bounded on the north by the intendancy of New Biscay or Durango, on the east by San Luis Potosi, on the west by Guadalaxara, and on the south by Guanaxuato. It is 85 leagues long, and 51 broad in its greatest dimensions.
The population of this province is 153,300.
Zacatecas consists almost entirely of mountain country; so much so, as to have been said greatly to resemble Swisserland. The climate is very variable and inclement, and the soil far from fertile; but all this is compensated by the riches of the mines, which are only inferior to those of Guanaxuato. ”

“ The industries comprise carriage building, weaving and the manufacture of coarse pottery. The town is an important commercial centre.
Zacatecas was founded in 1546 and was built over a rich vein of silver discovered by Juan de Tolosa in the same year. This and other mines in the vicinity attracted a large population, and it soon became one of the chief mining centres of Mexico. ”

“ Manufactures there are none, except in the Capital, where there are a few cotton-spinners, and at Aguas Calientes: mining and agriculture furnish occupation for all the rest of the population. A little Maguey brandy, (Vino Mescal,) is distilled at Pinos; but every thing else requisite for the consumption of the inhabitants is imported from other States.
The Constitution of Zacatecas was completed as early as January 1825. The Legislature consists of one chamber. ”

“ City of Zacatecas. The three or four persons in charge of the treasury, and the corregidor, appointed directly by the king, were the only officials who were paid a salary at Zacatecas, and the salable offices brought at auction from six to eight thousand pesos. [23] The province had also a lieutenant captain-general, and a force of troops for protection in case of outbreaks among the natives. [24] In wealth and probably in population the city was superior to the capital of Nueva Galicia. ”

“ 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 Zacatecas mines.—In spite of the check caused by the Mixton War, northward expansion in Mexico was soon stimulated by the discovery of rich mines, and by the ambitions of the new viceroy. Mines developed in southern Nueva Galicia were soon eclipsed by those of Zacatecas, which were opened in 1548 by Juan de Tolosa, Cristóbal de Oñate, Diego de Ibarra, and Baltasar Treviño. These men soon became the richest in America, and Zacatecas the first mining town in New Spain. ”

“ One of the principal advantages of Zacatecas, as a mining district, consists in the superiority of the mint, (Casa de la Moneda,) to those of the surrounding States. Three hundred people are employed in it daily. The machinery is ponderous, and a great deal of labour is wasted in filing down and weighing each dollar separately ”

“ Puebla, Jalisco, Oaxaca, parts of Mexico, Zacatecas and Texas revolted against this assumption of the centralists, though they were finally not able to maintain absolutely their free stand against the dictator. Zacatecas and Texas, alone, presented a formidable aspect to Santa Anna, who was, nevertheless, too strong and skilful for the ill regulated forces of the former state. The victorious troops entered the rebellious capital with savage fury ”

“ In justice to the inhabitants of Zacatecas, I must add, that the inhospitable treatment of which we had so much cause to complain, is confined exclusively to the Capital, and, even there, does not extend beyond the working-classes; an ignorant and brutal race, sunk in low debauchery, and guilty of excesses amongst themselves, which the Government has too little energy to repress. The agricultural population is kind and hospitable; and from the landed proprietors, the authorities, and the more respectable citizens, we received every proof of the most friendly disposition. ”

“ While not choosing to engage in the severer occupation of farming, the Spaniards could always raise cattle and sheep, and their broad grants were rapidly stocked with animals, which offered material for manufacture. [43]
Information is meagre concerning the early history of that singularly ill-peopled province of Zacatecas, as it is denominated by Humboldt, and yet its capital is even to-day, next to Guanajuato, the most celebrated mining-place in that country. ”

“ FRESNILLO, a town of the state of Zacatecas, Mexico, 37 m. N.W. of the city of Zacatecas on a branch of the Santiago river. Pop. (1900) 6309. It stands on a fertile plain between the Santa Cruz and Zacatecas ranges, about 7700 ft. above sea-level, has a temperate climate, and is surrounded by an agricultural district producing Indian corn and wheat. It is a clean, well-built town, whose chief distinction is its school of mines founded in 1853. Fresnillo has large amalgam works for the reduction of silver ores. ”

“ As a mining district, Zacatecas differs materially from Guănăjūātŏ, for in lieu of one great mother vein, it contains three lodes nearly equal in importance, (those of La Qŭĕbrădīllă, San Bĕrnăbē, or Mălănōchĕ, and Veta Grande,) with a number of inferior Vetas and Vetillas, which may be considered as ramifications of the principal lodes. Upon these nearly 3000 pits or shafts have been opened: (mostly "catas" of very inconsiderable depth.) The course of the veins is distinctly designated upon the surface, by the elevation of the crests, and may be traced even by the most unpractised eye. ”

“ On the day of his entrance into Zacatecas, Calleja proclaimed the usual pardon, adding the customary threats in case of non-compliance. All stragglers and strangers were ordered to return to their homes within twenty-four hours, under pain of being treated as insurgents. [1] Then, having purged the city by an appropriate slaughter of patriots, the royalist leader once more remodelled the government. ”

“ The State of Zacatécas contains some remarkable remains of Indian architecture on the Cerro de los Edificios, situated two leagues northerly from the village of Villanueva, twelve leagues south-west from Zacatécas, and about one league north of La Quemada, at an elevation of 7,406 feet above the sea. ”

“ The population are remarkably ignorant, and the place literally swarms with priests and soldiers.
Guanajuato is famous for its silver-mines, the working of which was formerly profitable in the extreme; but the better part of the ore has been obtained, and the city is now comparatively deserted in consequence.
Zacatecas is a still more celebrated northern mining town, situated among silver-producing mountains. Its streets are narrow, crooked, and precipitous; churches and religious shows are very numerous, although the lower class of residents are very dishonest and barbarous. ”

“ Zacatecas is perhaps the greatest mining camp in the world, about fifteen thousand men being now employed. A thousand millions of dollars is said to have been the value of the output here in the last three centuries. Most of the mines are now owned and worked by large companies.
The Spaniards commenced working the mines about 1540; but they had then been operated for an unknown period by the Indians. When the conquerors learned of their incredible richness, they dispatched five thousand Mexican colonists, with a strong military force, to take possession of the region. ”

“ As their sting is sometimes fatal, travelers should be careful to avoid these insects.
Owing to the formation of the table-land, the grade of the Mexican Central Railway will be slightly downward north of Durango.
A railroad is in course of construction from Zacatecas to San Luis Potosí. The concession is granted to the Mexican National Railway Company. The intervening region is arid and very barren for the most part. A few cattle and sheep are raised along the proposed route, and the country is gently rolling. Ojo Caliente, about 25 miles from Zacatecas, is a town of some importance. ”

“ The new government made its triumphal entry into the capital January 3, 1833, and was received with homage. But a fatality seemed to accompany the republic in every effort to consolidate its peace and political institutions. Envy and discord were ever alive, and now showed their unhappy tendencies in the interior. Zacatecas, Jalisco, and San Luis Potosí made objections to some articles in the plan of Zavaleta, grounded on their alleged inefficacy to save the country from a reaction. ”

“ In Zacatecas, the capital, you can be trained as a lawyer, a doctor, or an engineer; and if you show any special ability or, indeed, give the State the least excuse for doing so, it will pack you off to Mexico city with a scholarship in your pocket. Such a community is worthy the respect of all men. Some very hard things have of late been said about Mexican education in American newspapers, and it has even been stated that the governor of a certain Mexican State put the money voted for education within the bounds of that State to his own purposes. ”

“ Many of the towns, as Sombrerete, Fresnillo, Jerez, Pinos, and Nŏchĭstlān, have a population varying from fourteen to eighteen thousand souls; and in the highly cultivated district of Aguas Calientes alone, (South of the Capital,) 35,000 inhabitants are registered. But North and East of Zacatecas, the country is divided into vast breeding estates, like Sierra Hermosa, the Mezquite, and others, which we visited on the road to Sombrerete. There, the population is thinly scattered over an immense tract of country, and a few spots of cultivation are lost amidst the deserts that surround them. ”

“ Zacatecas, so far from obeying this despotic mandate, publicly called on the Cívicos to defend their rights, and Santa Anna was now descending upon them with an army double that which the city could raise, to enforce their obedience. The Zacatecanos, however, were not idle. The militia was pouring in from the surrounding villages, and a degree of enthusiasm prevailed throughout the city, which seemed to be the presage of a successful defence. In fact, the city itself, besides being from its location almost impregnable, was completely protected by artificial fortifications. ”

“ These are created just as water-spouts are formed on the ocean, and to encounter one is almost equally serious. One must visit either Egypt or Mexico to [Pg 63] witness this singular phenomenon. As Zacatecas is approached, large flocks of sheep and herds of mules and horses are grouped in the fields, overlooked by picturesquely draped horsemen. The cultivation of the land and its apparent fertility improve, and many one-handled ploughs, consisting of a crooked stick, sometimes shod with iron, are being used. ”

“ Iriarte, who was at this time in possession of Zacatecas, and had been apprised of the successful coup d'armes at San Luis, despatched a courier to Herrera, proposing to recruit his forces at San Luis on his march to Guanajuato to join Allende. No objection to the reception of a brother-in-arms could be made, and Iriarte, with a disorderly rabble of several thousand Indians, armed, as usual, with clubs, slings, and bows and arrows, entered San Luis. ”

“ The state is situated on the great plateau in the centre of the Republic, at an average elevation above sea-level of 7,700 feet, but embodying a diversified topographical character and climate. Cattle, cereals, and agricultural products generally, are raised to a certain extent. With an area of 25,300 square miles it has a population of about 500,000. The famous capital city of Zacatecas, as described elsewhere, is served by the Mexican Central Railway, which traverses the state ”