MINERAL RESOURCES

Northern Mexico,

O. CHIPMAN,

MINERO lUATRICULADO DK MKXIOO,

A. J. HENNION, Jr.,
COUNSELLOR AT LAW,
NEW YORK.

Mexico
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NEW YORK:
BAKER & GODWIN, PRINTERS.
PRINTIPiG-HOIMB SQUARE.
1868.

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for the founding ef a CoiUgi bi:'thl$,C6lorfy\

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MINERAL RESOURCES

Northern Mexico,

C. O EC I -P M A. N9
MINERO MATRICULABO UK MEXICO.

A. J. HENNION, Jr.,
COUNSELLOR AT LAW,
NEW YORK.

NEW YORK:
BAKER & GODWIN, PRINTERS,
PRINTING-HOUSE SQUARE.
1867.

MexicoUwS4 id He-

MINERAL RESOURCES OF MEXICO.

Any one who has traveled over Mexico and visited
the various mineral districts which there abound, with
a view of learning something of the resources of that
country, is continually reminded Of the fruitful past,
when he sees the ruins of vast works constructed by
the people who occupied and controlled Mexico one
hundred years ago. As the searcher after mineral
knowledge wanders from place to place through this
vast country, he is struck with wonder at the sight of
the number of lodes bearing silver, gold, iron, lead, cop
per, tin, cinnabar, and various metals known to science
and used in the arts. The whole length and breadth
of this wonderful territory is traversed by veins bearing
in abundance all of the aforementioned minerals. If
one-half of the known silver lodes of Mexico were
worked as they should be by modern machinery and
the skill that science and practice imparts, the product
of silver and gold alone would reach $1,000,000,000
annually, and employ, in various ways, 10,000,000 of
people. What is known of the mineral resources of the
different States and Territories of the United States
at the present time, bears no comparison to the same
resources that are known to exist in the Republic of
Mexico. Whatever we may have read in history in rela
tion to the mineral riches of Mexico, gives us but a very
faint idea as to the vast richness of that country. It is

only by taking time, and visiting every part of the
country, that anything like a true estimate can be formed
of its immense value. The Mexicans, like the Spaniards,
have endeavored in times past to keep the vast riches of
their country a secret from the greedy gaze of the English
and American people ; and it is only a few years ago that
they deemed it proper to reveal that which had been
kept so profound a secret for so many years. The few
English companies that engaged in silver mining in
Mexico some years ago, had to prosecute their operations
in the name of some Mexican ; for at that time foreign
ers could not own mines, nor work them except as a
mine supplier. This excluding foreigners has ceased,
and they can now hold and own mines and real estate
the same as a native. This concession has opened wide
the doors to the mineral riches of their country, and
they never can close them even if they desire to.
If the imagination is allowed to revel in the future,
and amidst the mineral richness of Mexico, what visions
of immense, almost boundless and incomprehensible,
wealth can it picture ! And is it at all unreasonable to
suppose that ignorance, apathy, and exclusiveness are to
keep from the busy mart of commerce and refinements
of a civilized world the boundless riches of such a coun
try as Mexico ? The whole civilized world wants and
must have silver and gold, and every year we live these
wants grow more imperative and active. The gold and
silver is to be had, and men engaged in seeking for it
with capital and labor are sure to go where those metals
can be procured most readily and in abundance, and at
the least expense. This last expression is only the rep
etition of a law which has governed men for ages. It
is a law engraved upon, the statute books of this age of

progress. At the present time silver and gold can be
more cheaply obtained in Mexico than in any part of
the American continent. In these pages no attempt
has been made to give any detailed account of its
mineral resources, for such a statement would require
volumes that, for romantic interest, the tales of the "Ara
bian Nights Entertainment " would be entirely eclipsed.
Some master hand at detailed relation will some day
search among the dusty archives of Old Spain and Mex
ico, and unearth a thousand curious and interesting facts
connected with the mining of silver in the latter coun
try, and give them to the world in our own language.
Enough is known at the present time of men who have
lived within this century, showing that they have
amassed fortunes of such magnitude by silver mining
in Mexico, that few if any engaged in any other busi
ness' have ever equaled them.
Having lived in Mexico for twelve years, Mr. Chip-
man has traveled very extensively and over a great part
of that country ; therefore much of the information im
parted in these few pages has been derived from a per
sonal knowledge of the different localities mentioned.
To write in regard to the celebrated mineral district
of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Real-del-Monte, Pachuca, San
Luis Potosi, Pabillon, and others, would be but repeat
ing what has been so well said by Ward and other
.writers who have published works mentioning these
localities, and whose descriptions are read and quoted
by almost everybody at the present day, whenever they
write in regard to silver mines. Nothing is contained
in these pages in reference to the above-named places,
as the writer can say nothing new. Nor is it possible
to give a detailed history of every vein north of the

said places which has been opened and worked to a
greater or less extent.
The object of this volume is to call the attention of the
" public to that part of Mexico which is but little known
to the American people, and embraced within the States
of Durango, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Sonora and Lower
California. Twelve years ago it was a rare thing to see
an American in any of these latter-named States and
Territories engaged in business of any sort, much less
that of mining. The first American mining enterprise
located in any of these States was entered into by Mr.
Chipman. His attempt to introduce such an enterprise
to capitalists was received with distrust and sneers;
nevertheless he succeeded in the formation of a com
pany, and now, twelve years after, there are over thirty
companies organized and working in these States, hav
ing invested over $12,000,000 of American capital in
silver mines. To say that there are no good silver mines
but in Mexico would be nonsense ; but it is certain that
there is no part of the world where there has been so
many rich silver mines discovered as in Mexico ; and
the States before mentioned certainly contain the richest ,
and most numerous of any part of that country. If the
American people owned these four States and the Terri
tory of Baja California, the product of the precious metals
would be enormous.. California, in its best days, would
bear no comparison to Sinaloa and parts of Chihuahua
and Sonora, where rich placer gold diggings exist ; yet
so lazy and indifferent are the people of those places
that they choose rather to beg or live on pure corn,
and not enough at that, than to wash out gold found
rflear their places of abode, It has been demonstrated
that, by the use of a simple wooden bowl, the laziest

man can easily wash out gold to the amount of
one dollar per day. Near the town of Chois,, in the
upper part of the State of Sinaloa, notwithstanding this
knowledge, the people are living in poverty and rags.
This state of things has lasted for ages, and would last
for ages longer, if no progressive race existed as neigh
bors to these people. Progress is the watchword, and
nothing can long withstand the advance of that race
which has peopled California, and whose persevering
industry has filled the world's coffers with more gold
and silver than the Mexicans had ever dreamed existed
in their territory. The time will come, and is not far
distant, when these indolent people will find themselves
within the territory over which the stars and stripes
will wave as a beacon and an emblem of freedom and
progress; leaving them the aforementioned mining
districts of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi,
Real-del-Monte, Pabillon, and Pachuca, whose historical
notoriety is so well known through Ward, Humboldt,
and many other eminent writers. We will travel in va
rious directions, principally in a northerly one, among
the foot-hills, or in the great Sierra Madre, where, at
almost every step, we encounter explored or unexplored
lodes of silver, copper, gold, iron, cinnabar, lead, zinc,
etc. The first district to which attention is called is
Panuco, situated in the southern portion of the State of
Sinaloa. In this locality there are several mines ; these
before the Independence of Mexico belonged to the
Marquis of Panuco. The Marquis obtained from them
many millions of dollars in silver. The ores of the
richest class are argentiferous, and yield from five hun
dred to six hundred dollars per ton. The ores that are
treated by amalgamation (which forms the greater por-

8
tion of the ores found), by the Mexican mode of treat
ing them yield two hundred dollars per ton. After the
death of the Marquis, the mines fell into the hands of
a merchant of Mazatlan, by the name of Machado. He
worked the mines very successfully for many years, and
until his death some fifteen years ago, since which time
his family have alternately worked them, squandered
the products and run them in debt, and finally aban
doned them.
A few miles north-west from Panuco, in the State of
Sinaloa, and distant from the Pacific coast some thirty
miles, lies the famous mine of Tajo, situate in a town
called Rosario. This mine owes its discovery to a
herdsman of cattle.
One day, while chasing- some wild cattle through
the woods, a twig of a tree caught the rosary he had
suspended to his neck and jerked it from him. Not
wishing to lose it nor the animal he was in pursuit of,
he threw off his hat to designate the spot. Upon his
return night overtook him before he could find his
amulet; thereupon he concluded to spend the night.
He built a fire, and waited until morning to look for his
rosary by daylight. In lighting his cigarette by the
coals of his fire, he noticed something which glistened
in the ashes. Upon an examination of the substance
by his employer or master, it proved to be pure silver.
Excavations were made, and a splendidly-formed vein
was found rich in silver and gold. The mine was
worked and regularly opened, and for sixty years yielded
immense treasures to the owners. Upon the expulsion
of the Spaniards from the country, the mine was left
unworked for many years. The town of Rosario was
built entirely from the product of this mine. The

9
church of San Domingo stands immediately over some
of the principal workings of the mine, and is now one
hundred and ten years old. The ores of this mine yield
an average of one hundred and twenty dollars per ton.
The mine is now owned and worked by an American
company, whose headquarters are in San Francisco, Cal
ifornia. A few miles east from Rosario, in the State of
Sinaloa, is located a mine called Plomoso. This mine
was opened and worked many years ago to a depth of
two hundred and fifty feet by the Mexicans, producing,
while it was worked, large amounts of silver. The ores
gave two hundred and fifty dollars per ton. A large
influx of water suddenly put a stop to operations, since
which time nothing has been done to place the mine in
working condition. It is a well-attested fact that the
mine was yielding largely at the time of its abandon
ment. Nearly two years ago the mine was denounced,
and possession given to some Americans, who now own
it. Northwest from Plomoso but a few miles, and in
the same State, we find the minerals of Copala. There
are a great number of silver-bearing veins found in this
locality, upon which many mines of good reputation are
now being worked. Several American companies have
erected reduction works here, and but for the advent of
the French intervention in Mexico, would have been
successfully prosecuting their operations. The ores are
abundant, and give about one hundred and seventy-five
dollars per ton.
Distant from the coast of the Pacific about one hun
dred and fifty miles we find the district of Ventanas.
At this place some six or seven American companies are
working, some with success, and all with good prospects,
according to their respective means and skillful or un-

10
skillful management. The lodes are very numerous, and
all of the mines that have been worked gave good re
sults. The average yield of the ores may be safely cal
culated to be one hundred dollars per ton.
One of the most important groups of silver mines in
the State of Durango are the celebrated mines of San
Dimas and Guarisamey, formerly owned and worked by
Don Jose Maria Zambrano. These mines (a more de
tailed description of which is here given) are now owned
and worked by a company of New York capitalists, of
which Mr. Van Auken is President, and Wm. R. Gar
rison Secretary and Treasurer.
ZAMBRANo's FORTUNE AND WORKS.
It is upon record at Durango that Zambrano, who
was the proprietor of all the principal mines of Guar-'
isamey and San Dimas, paid as the King's fifth upon the
silver raised from the mines, between the period of their
discovery in 1783 and 1807, when he died, eleven mil
lions of dollars. These immense riches were derived
principally from five great mines —
La Candelaria (at San Dimas),
San Juan Nepomuceno,
Cinco Senores,
La Abra, and
Tapia ;
Of one of which, La Candelaria, the regular returns for five
years proves the annual profits never to have been less
than $124,000, while in some years they amounted to
$223,082. The ores of the mine during the whole of
this period appear to have produced from 5 to 6 marcs
per carga of 300 lbs., and often to have yielded 20 and
even 30 marcs. The proportion of gold (Ley de

11
Oro) in Guarisamey is sometimes 2,100 grains to the
marc* Of the amount of the silver drawn from the Sierra
Madre by Zambrano during the twenty-five years that
he continued his labors, nothing certain is known ; but
Mr. Glennie, from whose notes have been borrowed the
whole of the details given above, states that he himself
saw in the books of the Custom House of Durango
eleven millions of dollars registered as the sum paid by
Zambrano as the King's fifth ; and this fact was con
firmed to me by the Governor, who examined the regis
ter himself in order to ascertain it.
It is likewise corroborated by the number of mines
opened at Guarisamey and the surrounding districts in
an incredibly short space of time ; by the peculiar rich
ness of their ores ; and by the immense wealth of Zam
brano (diminished as his profits must have been by the
expenses of working), of which so many splendid mon
uments remain, nor can one witness without regret the
decline of a district capable of communicating so bene
ficial an impulse to the country around, but which, with
its treasures still unexplored, is now almost entirely
abandoned. DURANGO.
The following description of the State of Durango,
its inhabitants and mines, as furnished by Mr. Ward in
1827, will be found of special interest:
Durango may be regarded as the key to the whole
of the north, which is peopled by the descendants of a
* A marc weighs 8oz., and as a silver coin is valued at $8.50, its value
increasing according to the proportion of gold contained in the bullion.

12
race of settlers from the most industrious provinces of
Spain — Biscay, Navarre and Catalonia — who have pre
served their blood, uncontaminated by any cross with
the aborigines, and who with this purity of descent (of
which they are justly proud) retain most of the primi
tive habits and feelings of their forefathers. They have
much of the loyalty and generous frankness for which
the old Spanish character was formerly celebrated, great
natural politeness and considerable activity both of mind
and body, with a spirit of enterprise which, now that
the bonds are removed by which it has hitherto been
confined, will, in a very few years, give to the north of
Mexico a great and preponderating influence.
The capital of the State of Durango is situated 65
leagues to the northwest of Zacatecas. The population
of the town is 22,000 ; that of the State 175,000. Both
the city of Victoria [now called Durango] and most of
the other towns of Durango (Tamasula, Sianori, Mahimi,
San Dimas, Canelas, Cuencame, &c), take their origin
from the mines. Before the discovery of those of Guar
isamey, Victoria was a mere. village (Pueblo Hancherd),
which, as late as 1783, contained only 8,000 inhabitants.
The great streets, the Plaza Mayor, the theater, and all
the principal public edifices, were built by Zambrano,
who is supposed to have drawn from his mines at San'
Dimas and Guarisamey upwards of thirty millions of
dollars. The State is rich in mineral deposits, none of which
excepting Guarisamey and San Dimas, have been at all
extensively worked. There is hardly a single, mine ex
ceeding 100 varas in depth, for in general the use of
even the simplest machinery was unknown in the north.

13

MINES OF GUARISAMEY.

Guarisamey, the head of the surrounding districts,
owes its discovery to the lode of Tecolota, which crosses
the high road from Durango to the coast by Cosala.
The abundance and richness of its ores soon brought
settlers into the vicinity of the mines ; the neighboring
mountains were explored, and the veins of Arana, Cinco
Senores, Bolanos, Piramide, Candelaria, Dolores and
Tapia discovered, with numberless others which have
not been yet worked ; the miners of Guarisamey having
never attacked a vein that did not leave a clear profit
from the very surface of the earth. ,
Almost all the lodes mentioned above were de
nounced by Zambrano; and all produced Bonanzas,*
some of which were very considerable.
The lode of Cinco Sefiores is five varas in width, and
the quality of the ores fully equal to their abundance ;
the mine is three hundred varas in depth, which even
at Guarisamey is an extraordinary circumstance.
Near the summit of the mountains that separate San
Dimas from Guarisamey ; lie the ruins of Bolanos and
Piramide with others, all of inconsiderable depth. The
Bonanza of Bolanos, upon its first discovery, was cele
brated, but the mine was abandoned in consequence of
the failure of an adit commenced with great magnifi
cence, but so badly conducted, that after wandering in
Various directions in search of the lode, at a very con
siderable expense, it came out again on the hill at a very
little distance from the point where it had entered the
mountains. On the north side of the same ridge lies the famous
* Bonanza — the richest kernel of a mine — yearly a pure ore. A Spanish
nautical term, indicating fair wind and fine sailing.

14
mine of La Candelaria, from which a very large portion
of Zambrano's fortune proceeded. It. is situated near
the summit of the mountain, immediately opposite to
the mines of Cinco Senores and Bolanos, there being
about three hours of difficult ascent from Guarisamey
to these mines, and nearly the same from San Dimas to
the Candelaria. On the San Dimas side the mountains
are very precipitous, and thus the mine of Candelaria
has been worked at the depth of nearly six hundred
varas, by adits driven one below the other upon the lode,
the whole expense being defrayed by the value of the
ores produced.
The last, a most magnificent work, is driven nearly
five hundred varas into the mountain, with such ampli
tude that a stage coach might pass through it into the
very heart of the mine, which may be worked six hun
dred varas lower by pursuing a similar plan.
The rich ores of the lode have been found from the
surface to the present depth, in separate beds perpen
dicular to the horizon, commonly called (cla/vos a pique),
and divided by intermediate masses of rock. The beds
of ore have been constant from the surface downwards,
and in that part of the lode hitherto examined (which
comprises a horizontal distance of near five hundred
varas), there are four deposits of ore, with an equal
number of intermediate " cavallos " or layers of rock.
The lowest levels of the Candelaria are now one
hundred varas below the last adit, and the owners who
do not possess the means of either draining them by
machinery, or of driving another adit, cannot work the
mine as it requires, and yet have insisted on such oner
ous terms, that they have hitherto deterred foreigners
from undertaking to assist them.

15
After the death of Zambrano, in 1807, his estate,
including the mines of San Dimas and Guarisamey, be
came involved in law suits, which continued up to the
breaking out of the Mexican Revolution. Afterwards,
these, in common with other Mexican mines, were
worked only at intervals.
Still north of the mines of Guarisamey comes the
mines of Guanasivi.
There are eight mines in this mineral district, which
are known as Serrano, Copalaja, Encinnillas, Cabras, La
Gallera, Baragon, and several others belonging to Mr.
Frank MacManus, an American merchant of Chihua
hua. These mines yield ore the average of which gives
one hundred and forty dollars per ton. The last per
son who worked them regularly, Mr. Sanchez, extracted
yearly a profit of seventy-eight thousand dollars in sil
ver. His mode of working was in the old Mexican
patio amalgamation manner, grinding his ores with the
arastra ; still, with all the disadvantages attending the
want of proper machinery, he was, as can be seen from
the figures above, enabled to realize a handsome yearly
profit. Upon the advent of Maximilian he sided with
the Imperialists, and took flight to save his life, having
sold his mines for a mere pittance.
The mineral districts of Ignacio and Cosala, in the
State of Sinaloa, have in times past given millions of
dollars yearly in silver and gold. The mines of Cosala
more particularly have, and otill are, yielding large
quantities of the precious metal. The ores are very rich,
and the veins very wide. These, as a general thing,
will yield five hundred dollars per ton ; the cost of
working is about twenty-five dollars per ton. The
Guadaloupe de los Reyes is surprisingly rich in gold

16
and silver. For years this mine has been the source of
many quarrels and numberless bloody fights between
two families who claimed its ownership. The mine has
been held possession of by the Vega family, whose
wealth and political power . enable them to control not
only this very rich mine, but the whole State of Sinaloa.
The liberal party at length caused the political down
fall of this family ; they did not yield possession of this
mine, however, to its rightful owners. An English
company once offered Vega for this mine one million dol
lars, which he refused, saying that he did not want any
money at that time, and if he did he had only to work
his mine and that would yield him any number of mil
lions — which was true.
Eight thousand five hundred feet above the level of
the sea, in the southern part of the State of Chihuahua,
we come to the mines of Guadaloupe Y Calvo. The mines
of this place were owned by two brothers Ochoas of
the city of Chihuahua. Some years ago they rented or
leased for a term of years their mines to an English
company, who built reduction works and made Other
necessary improvements which cost five million dollars.
This company's agent indulged in great extravagance •
but, notwithstanding, paid back to the company all
their expenditures, and an annual dividend of nine and
one-fourth per cent, upon the whole sum employed.
At this stage of proceedings the lease expired, and
could not be renewed upon anything like favorable
terms. The Mexican owners, with short-sighted policy,
vainly calculated that the English company would pay
any price for another lease rather than abandon their
property. The company, therefore, retired from the en
terprise, leaving all of their improvements to the mine

17
owners. Since that time the ^ mines have been worked,
and always with profit ; the ores are very abundant, and
yield over two hundred dollars per ton.
North of Gaudaloupe Calvo, in the same State, we
find the mineral districts of Babourigame. The veins
in this locality are very numerous and very rich. The
Dolores carries a vein six feet wide in ore which yields
one hundred and fifty dollars per ton by working pro^
cess. The Santa Anna has a vein three feet wide in ore,
yielding three hundred dollars per ton. Trinidad has a
vein eight feet wide in ore, yielding eight hundred dol
lars per ton. Yedra has a vein six feet wide, and the
ores give two hundred dollars per ton. Refugio has a
vein twenty feet wide, rich in silver, , but owing to the
presence of large quantities of antimony and arsenic,
the yield by any working process adopted by the Mex
icans is unknown. Assays show that the ores contain
six hundred dollars per ton. This vein was originally
opened for over two hundred yards upon the surface of
the ground, and sunk to the depth of thirty feet, the
ores then yielding silver freely by amalgamation. After
reaching this depth "the ores changed entirely, obstin
ately refusing to give up the silver by the process
adopted. Scientific management proves that there is no
serious obstacle existing to their being successfully
worked. Concepcion carries a vein of argentiferous
ores two feet wide, and yielding five hundred dollars
per ton. La Prieta has a vein four feet wide, argentif
erous ores, giving three hundred dollars per ton. Du-
razno is another mine of the same character as Refugio ;
the vein is two and one-half feet wide. No work of any
importance has been done upon this vein, owing to the
rebellious character of the ores.

18
The district of Morelos, eight leagues south of Bat-
opilas, occupies a prominent pl!ace among the rich min
ing districts of Mexico.
Its mines, though few in number, are of remarkable
richness, and appear to possess, in many respects, the
characteristics by which the lodes of the Batopilas dis
trict are distinguished.
This district was visited by Ward, who says : " It
was discovered in the spring of 1826 by two brothers
(Indians), by name Arauco, to one of whom a little
corn for tortillas had been refused upon credit the night
before. In two months they extracted from their mine
two hundred and seventy thousand dollars ; yet in De
cember, 1826 (the same year), they were still living in
a wretched hovel, close to the source of their wealth,
bareheaded and barelegged, with upwards of forty
thousand pounds sterling locked up in their hut. I pos
sess two large specimens of the ores, which are almost
pure silver, and there is consequently no difficulty in
reducing them by fire, however rude and defective the
process. But never was the utter worthlessness of the
metal, as such, so clearly demonstrated as it has been in
the case of the Araucos, whose only pleasure consists in
contemplating their hoards, and in occasionally throwing
away a portion of their rich ores to be scrambled for
by their former companions — the workmen."
The most valuable and famous mine in the district,
at the present time, is the "San Pedro," owned and
worked by Don Mariano Sines, a resident of the city of
Chihuahua. The produce of this mine is native silver,
which is frequently found in so pure a state that it is
sent to the mint to be coined, without undergoing any
previous process of smelting or beneficiating. This

19-
mine is only worked at intervals. Its yield is so enor
mous that the owner contents himself by taking out
only what from time to time he requires for immediate
or special use. This is his bank, which has never failed
to respond to his calls. The entrance to the mine is
closed by a massive iron door, which protects the treas
ures within. The system of working pursued by Don
Mariano is to remove the wall rock from. the vein, leav
ing ample room for knocking down the silver when
occasion requires. The depth of this mine is about two
hundred and seventy-five feet. It is believed that under
energetic management it could be made to pay from five
to ten millions per year. Don Mariano has refused
many tempting offers for his property, knowing, as he
says, that he has always at command more money than
he knows how to spend.
Contiguous to the San Pedro property are the cele
brated mines of "San Juan" and "San Geil," owned
and worked by Don Francisco Ochoa. These mines —
being also native silver — are of recent date, and among
the most productive in Chihuahua. The product is
reckoned by hundreds of thousands annually. They
have been worked to the depth of about one hundred
and seventy-five feet from the surface. Don Francisco
has become immensely wealthy, and lives in princely
style, being the owner of several ranches, with thous
ands of heads of cattle, horses, mules, sheep, &c.
The Rosario mine, also in this district, belonging to
Don Serbando Rambo, is being worked with great suc
cess. This mine has been worked down about two
hundred and twenty feet, showing a vein of about five
to six feet in width, its ores being argentiferous galena,
averaging about five hundred dollars per ton. Latterly

20
— at the bottom' of the shaft — the vein has developed
itself into rich petanque ores, of the average value of
two thousand to three thousand dollars per ton, with
indications leading to the belief that the vein will soon
open into native silver.
Among the most prominent and celebrated mineral
districts of Mexico is that of Batopilas, in the south
western part of Chihuahua, on the western slope of the
Sierra Madre Mountains. Batopilas was settled by the
Spaniards about two hundred years ago, and became a
flourishing town of twelve thousand' inhabitants under
their auspices. It is referred to by Humboldt, Ward,
and other historians, as one of the richest and most re
nowned silver-producing districts in the world. From
the year 1750 to about 1820 this small district,' of about
six by two miles in territorial extent, was the wonder
and envy of all Mexico. ' It is impossible to state with
accuracy what amount of treasure the Batopilas mines
have yielded, inasmuch as the official records, kept at
the capital of the State, were mostly destroyed in the
great conflagration of 1827. Many well-informed per
sons have estimated the amount as high as three hun
dred millions of dollars.
Don J. A. de Escudero — a Mexican statistician of
note — in his interesting work entitled " JVbticias Esta-
disticas del Estado de Chihuahua," says, " Batopilas paid
the- sum of 922,000 marcs of silver ($7,376,000) into
the king's treasury at Chihuahua, from the years 1785
to 1789, this sum being the derecho del rey (king's
dues) of twenty per cent, levied on the amount taken
out of the mines, which must have yielded, in those
five years, $36,880,000, besides what may have been
secreted or stolen by workmen and others."

21
It is deeply to be regretted that the archives relating
to this district were destroyed by the conflagration
(mentioned), inasmuch as by that misfortune we are
deprived of authentic facts, referring to the yield of each
mine, by itself. Some few old documents, however, yet
remain scattered over the country in private hands.
Ward, the historian, who was British Charge de Af
faires to Mexico from 1825 to 1827, visited Batopilas,
and has given some interesting facts in relation to its
mineral wealth. In illustration of the richness of its
mines, he. says :
" On the western declivity of the Sierra Madre, and
in nearly the same latitude as Parral, are the famous
mines of Batopilas. To enter into a minute description
of this extraordinary district would exceed the limits of
this work; therefore, only a few remarks are subjoined,
upon its situation and produce. Its distance from Par-
rol is about eighty leagues, nearly due west, and it is
situated in a very deep ravine, similar to that of Guar-
risamey. The' climate is very warm, yet healthy. The
metallic lodes, visible by their elevated crests, are almost
innumerable, and by far the greater number of these
have never yet been examined. The principal mines
are El Carmen, San Antonio, Pastrana, Arbitrios, Dolo
res, Martinez, Candelaria, Buen Suceso, or Nevada, with
many others, which it is not necessary to enumerate.
" The Carmen is the mine that produced the enor
mous wealth of the Marquis of Bartamente, and from
which a mass of solid silver was extracted weighing
seventeen arrobas (or four hundred and twenty-five
pounds). The ores of Pastrana were so rich that the
lode was worked by bars, with a point at one end and
a chisel at the other, for cutting out the silver. The

22
owner of Pastrana used to bring the ores from the mine
with flags flying and the mules adorned with cloths of
all colors. The Buen Suceso, or Nevada, was discovered
by an Indian, who swam across the river after a great
flood. On arriving at the other side he found the crest
of an immense lode, laid bare by the force of the water.
The greater part of this crest was pure and massive
silver, and sparkling in the sun. The whole town of
Batopilas went to witness this extraordinary sight as
soon as the river became fordable. The Indian extracted
great wealth from his mine, but on arriving at ,the depth
of three varas the abundance of the water obliged him
to abandon it, and no attempt has since been made to
resume the working.
" In this district the silver is generally pure, and un
accompanied by any extraneous substance. The reduc
tion of the ores is consequently simple and easy. When
the silver is not found in solid masses, which require to
be cut with a chisel, it is generally finely sprinkled
through the lode, and often seems to nail the particles
of stone together, through which it is disseminated.
The lodes are of considerable width, but the large masses
of silver are met at intervals."
A very interesting report upon the mines of Bato
pilas, by a German geologist and mining engineer, has
also recently been published, showing the geological
characteristics of the district, with its past history — so
far as known — and present condition of more than thirty
of its principal mines, with notices of as many more of
less note. He shows the causes of the decline of the
district, and offers some suggestions in regard to the re
habilitation of its mines, which are worthy of notice.
The assigned limits of this article will not permit of
more than a passing notice of the report referred to.

23
It is remarked that the decline of the district arose
from the Revolution of 1821, by which the Spaniards
were expelled from the country, which placed it in " a
chaos of misery." This one blow stopped all the works,
and put an end to the long period of prosperity, gradu
ally reducing Batopilas to a state of perfect stagnation.
Not less than one hundred rich mines are known to
exist in a very limited circuit, most of which haye
yielded great riches. Some of these mines — in fact most
of them — are in a state of decay from the falling in of
the upper works. This by no means indicates that they
are exhausted. On the contrary, it is well known that
when abandoned they were becoming more and more
productive. It is a well known geological law, that formal, regu
lar veins, increase in size and in richness as they are
worked down from the surface, and this rule holds good
in respect to all these old mines.
The Spanish and Mexican mode of working mines
has always been by shafts from the surface, and conse
quently, with the facilities which they possessed, it was
impossible to open them to any great depth. All the
ores, with all the water flowing into the mines, were
brought to the surface by whims, or buckets, and thus,
if it were possible to keep down the flow of water, none
but the richest mines could be made to pay, when
worked below a depth of two hundred or three hundred
feet. The mines of Batopilas are situated upon the slope
of the mountain, which very abruptly rise on each side
of the Batopilas River, to the height of fifteen hundred
to two thousand feet. No place could be more favored

24
by nature for extensive tunneling operations, and the
time is not distant when all its principal mines will be
opened by tunnels from five hundred to fifteen hundred
feet below the old works, and with results which cannot
fail to be highly successful.
Among the most promising of the old bonanza mines
are the Pastrana, which is said to have yielded fifty
millions of dollars, now owned by an English company,
of which George Le Boun is the president, which is
now being re-opened by a tunnel; the Arbitrios, a
mine which has yielded several millions, now being re
opened by a San Francisco company ; the Nevada, men
tioned by Ward ; the Cata, Dolores, Roncesvalles, Des-
crubidora, and others, each of .which have yielded very
large amounts ; the San Antonio- and Carmen, each of
which are said to have yielded fully fifteen millions, and
which, with the Geral, Cansio, and several other very
promising veins, will be cut by the San Miguel
tunnel, now in progress, at a depth of six hundred to
eight hundred feet below the old workings, by the
owners, Messrs. Barneys, Fargo, and others, of New
York ; the Martinez, San Pedro, Vallinas, Vaca, and
other mines now being reopened by Jerome and others
of New York by tunnels, and which in former times
have produced many millions, and are now yielding
ores of exceeding beauty and richness.
Also the Geral tunnel property, comprising about
twenty contiguous veins, embracing the same, and a
counterpart of the property worked by Messrs. Barneys,
Fargo, and others, now being organized into a company
by New York capitalists. There are also many other
mines in the district which are known to have yielded
large amounts, the most noted being the Santa Teresa,

25
now paying about ten thousand dollars per day. to its
owner, Don Jesus Valenzuela ; the Aurora and San Nes
tor also yielding large sums daily to the same owner ;
the Camuchin, San Antonio de los Tachos, Candelaria,
Animos, Baltazar, Trinidad, Tajos, Valencia, Fierro,
Santa Domingo, El Santo Nino, Guadalupe, Rosario, etc.
Many of these mines are unworked, for the reasons
before stated, the supporting pillars having been taken
out by gambusinos,. or mine robbers, for the sake of
their rich metal, causing them to cave in entirely, or
partly blocking them up by rubbish and rain, which
for a great length of time entered freely through their
unprotected openings.
As before remarked, the abandonment of these mines
is not to be attributed to their exhaustion. Any such
conclusion would be against all practical experience
and scientific observation. The frequent discoveries
of rich silver in them within the last few years, con
clusively proves the contrary. None of these mines,
have ever been worked to any considerable depth
from the surface; the greatest depth reported being
those of the Carmen and Pastrana, of about four hun
dred feet.
The greatest and most promising enterprise of the
district, is that projected by a company of New York
capitalists, who have secured the right to open a tunnel
of about a mile in length under the Aninas mountain,
which in its course will cut not less than fifty of its
largest and richest veins, at a depth of fifteen hundred
to two thousand feet below the old workings. In - the
San Miguel tunnel, half a mile distant, a large number
of small, rich veins, which do not appear at the surface,
have been cut, which may be taken as an indication of

26
what may be expected as this propose^ tunnel pro
gresses. This mountain is literally a mass of silver,
and when opened by the proposed tunnel, can hardly
fail to produce results which have never been equalled
in the history of mining.
Nearly every mining enterprise in the district has
been carried on by parties who had little or no capital
at the start. A district that has supplied two hundred
to three hundred millions of silver, under such circum
stances, is destined, under American auspices, to acquire
a world-wide fame.
It is a remarkable feature of the Batopilas mines,
that its ores are chiefly of native silver. Nature, indeed,
seems to have favored this district with a most lavish
and particular outfit of silver metal, in a virgin .or
almost pure state, which is sometimes found as white as
snow, yellow as gold, black as iron, or green as grass.
Its ores exist in various combinations, one of which
forms the beautiful ruby silver ore, which frequently
exhibits itself in regular cut , crystals, of a brilliant
luster and purple color. All the different classes furnish
the most beautiful specimens, which serve to adorn cab
inets, and which are frequently purchased for sums far
above their intrinsic value.
First-class ores in Batopilas range from $10,000 to
$20,000 per ton, and sometimes as high as $32,000,
which is the intrinsic value of pure silver. Second-class
ores yield from $1,000 to $10,000; third-class, from
$300 to $1,000 ; fourth-class embraces all under $300,
No other district in Mexico or in the world can compete
with Batopilas in the beauty and exceeding richness of
its ores. An adequate description of this district, with refer-

27
ence to its mineral wealth, in connection with its most
interesting geological features, would require ten times
the space allotted to this article.
This locality is readily accessible from various points
on the Gulf of California, over good natural roads.
Regular lines of steamers from San Francisco touch at
all the Gulf ports. A regular express right between
Batopilas" and the coast connecting, with the California
steamers, has been established by Wells, Fargo & Com
pany, which affords excellent facilities for communica
tion with that part of Mexico.
Twenty leagues west of Batopilas, State of Chihua
hua, embraced within a few miles square, lies imbedded
in the mountains a very valuable copper deposit. The
present mines were first opened and brought into gen
eral notice some fifteen years ago by two Frenchmen.
They erected two rude smelting furnaces, and thus re
duced the ores upon a small scale. Subsequently the
mines were bought by J. B. Jecker & Co., bankers, in
the city of Mexico and Mazatlan. Smelting furnaces
were erected by them upon a large scale, and a business
carried on vigorously for several years. Extravagance,
as a matter of course, was the order of the day ; yet,
notwithstanding, the business proved highly remunera
tive. The house of Jecker, owing to their advances to
Miramon, failed, and thus stopped all the operations at
the mines.
The ores are remarkably abundant and easy of pro
duction. The yield did not go below twenty-five per
cent, of copper, and many were found to contain eighty-
five per cent. It was demonstrated that owing to the
cheapness of labor, abundance of fuel, and transporta
tion to the coast, the whole cost of pig copper did not

28
exceed twenty-eight dollars per ton. The surrounding
country for many miles is traversed by numerous copper
veins, silver and gold lodes, and in one locality a splen
did deposit of iron is found of the hematite class, of a
very rich quality.
Twenty leagues north from Batopilas, in the same
State and same range of mountains, we find the minerals
of Urique, situate upon a river of that name. This river
is a tributary of the Rio-del-Fuerte, which empties into
the Gulf of California nearly two hundred miles distant.
The ores of this district ' are generally argentiferous,
and therefore are treated by fire. At the present time
there are only two mines which are worked to any great
extent ; one, the Patrona, owned by a Mexican and
Frenchman, is regarded and has proved to be -very rich
and productive — the ores will average five hundred
dollars per ton. The other mine is being worked by a
company of Californians, whose office is at San Fran
cisco. Nine years ago this company commenced run
ning a tunnel to cut the vein of the Rosario mine some
three hundred feet or more below the old works which
were filled with water. The mine was old and aban- -
doned, and represented by the residents as being very
rich when worked, and was deserted in consequence of
its having become filled with water. This company pros
ecuted these works with unflagging zeal for six years
before they reached the mother vein, and when they did
cut the vein it was found entirely barren of ore. The
water ran out of the upper or old workings, and they,
too, were found destitute of ore. This state of affairs,
after a vast expenditure of time, money, and energy,
was far from encouraging ; nay more, it was calculated
to make the heart faint ; but California capitalists and

29
miners are not composed of hopeless material, but real
determination and genuine pluck. They worked down,
up, and laterally, upon the principal vein as well as a
hidden vein which they encountered in cutting the tun
nel. They had proceeded but a short distance before
the ore of a very rich quality presented itself — and from
that day to this they have never had cause to regret
their perseverance or outlay of money. For over three
years they have been taking out large quantities of sil
ver. The mine has repaid them all the money expended
in running the tunnel, building furnaces, houses, etc., and
over $200,000 surplus. Their net proceeds amount
at the present time to over $30,000 per month, and
increasing as new and better means are created for
extracting the silver. The management of this com
pany, and the manner in which they conducted their
operations, is very creditable, and serves as an example
to other mining companies. From the commencement
they never failed to sustain their agent with money ;
hence no embarrassment paralyzed his energy or dis
couraged his movements. Success of a very encoura
ging nature has been their reward.
Fourteen leagues northwest from Urique we come
to a well-defined cluster of silver and gold-bearing
lodes embraced within the district of Cerrocahua.
These are only a portion of the many veins in that lo
cality, and the only ones which have been explored,
known as " The Sangre Cristo," and has been excavated
to a depth of seventy-three yards, and a drift of fifty
feet upon the vein. The ores from this vein yield both
gold and silver, though the latter predominates. While
this mine was worked by Don Ignacio Arriola, some
years ago, the yield of silver was really abundant. In-

30
asmuch as no regular account was kept, no reliable data
exists of the product of this mine. Some estimate
it at one million dollars. In the midst of success
the mine was suddenly flooded with water, which put
a stop to all operations. A tunnel has since been com
menced to cut the vein to a considerable depth below
the workings in the shaft, of which more than one
hundred yards has been run. About sixty yards more
will have to be worked in order to reach the vein.
While this work has been in progress the mine has been
freed from water, and ore of a rich quality is being ex
tracted. This work has been prosecuted by a number
of capitalists of San Francisco, California. The ores
yield from five hundred to three thousand five hundred
dollars per ton ; the average, however, may be set down
as about eight hundred dollars per ton. Connected with
this mining property is a never-failing water-power, and
an abundance of splendid timber suitable for all kinds
of constructions that pine and oak may be used for.
This fine property and claim is now held by Mr. H. A.
Stearns, of New York, who is desirous of raising addi
tional capital to impel the work of mining at this place
with renewed vigor and upon a large scale.
Distant from Cerrocahua eight leagues to the west,
in the State \of Chihuahua, we find the well-known
mines of Setentrion. The immense deposit of silver
ore found here has but few equals. The mines of
Santa Eulalia, near the city of Chihuahua, are the
only exceptions known to the authors. The mines
of Setentrion were opened some forty years ago, and
worked upon a large scale by their . former owner, Don
Ignacio Arriola. In 1858 he sold these mines, together
with his reduction and amalgamation works, and one

31 V
hundred and fifty thousand acres of land, to a New
York company. This company commenced operations
upon a small scale, and after floundering about for sev
eral years finally ceased to exist. They formed a stock
company with a nominal capital of two million dol
lars, and subsequently increased it to four million, and
finally to five million dollars. All this time no work
was being done at the mines, but the officers were spec
ulating with the stock ; and when it was all speculated
away, they issued bonds which were in turn disposed of
in the same manner. They employed a superintendent
with several clerks, and a machinist, which they never
paid, and who never did anything for the reason that
they had no money furnished them wherewith to facili
tate their work. These men were left at the mines to
live in idleness, and were compelled to sell the tools of
the company to keep them provided with the common
necessaries of life and prevent their starving. Finally,
as soon as they were able they quitted the mines, going
in various directions according to their respective
desires. The conduct of this American and Mexican
mining company is a disgrace and a shame to any body
of men endowed with ordinary intellect or common
sense. The ores of these mines will yield sixty dollars
per ton by the ordinary method of amalgamation. The
cost of mining the ores, grinding and extracting the sil
ver, does not exceed fifteen and one-half dollars per ton,
leaving a net profit of forty-four dollars per ton.
The situation of this deposit of silver ore is such
that one thousand tons of ore can be daily extracted, if
required, and ages of continuous work would be
required to extract all of the ore. The mines are situ
ated upon either side of a fine river, which affords all

32
the water that may be required for moving machinery
or other purposes, and for treating the ores.
Nearly northeast, eight leagues distant from Sentent-
rion, in latitude 28, lie two of the best mineral districts
of the whole range of the Sierra Madre. These dis
tricts are known as Batosegachic and Guazapares.
Through these two mineral places, running parallel, are
eight large well-defined silver-bearing lodes, averaging
ten feet in width, with an inclination both east and
west ; the course of the veins is north and south. The
distance which these veins have been worked, more or
less, is not over six miles ; although one of these veins,
upon which is situated a mine called San Miguel, can
easily be traced over thirty miles from north to south.
There are three American companies at work here, sev
erally known as the Santa Clara Mining Company,
Matamoras Company, and the Patrocino and Dolores
Company. The first-named company is in possession of
eleven mines, situated upon five of the eight aforemen
tioned veins. It has twenty-six thousand four hundred
feet upon the course of the veins, which will average
twelve feet in, width. This company has large reduc
tion works capable of reducing and amalgamating one
hundred tons in twenty-four hours, together with dwell
ing houses, store-rooms, retort and refining houses,
blacksmith's shop, saw-mill, furnaces, stables, gardens,
and a large tract of land under cultivation, also twenty-
five thousand acres of splendid woodland, which affords
all the pine and oak timber which maybe required. The
Matamoras company has two mines, the San Jose and La
Union. These reduction works consist of twelve stamp
mills. Their amalgamation is performed by means of
twelve revolving barrels and a Mexican patio for treat-

33
mg poor ore; they have also a saw-mill, workshop,
storerooms, refining and assay house, dwellings, &c.
The Patrocino and Dolores company has twelve aras-
tras moved by steam power, and a patio for amalga
mating the ores; also, but one mine. The first-named
company was organized in the city of New York, and
numbers among its stockholders Marshall O. Roberts, of
New York; Messrs. Clymer, of Reading, Pennsylvania;
Colonel J. W. Forney, of Washington; Hon. Robert
Dale Owen, of Indiana. The Matamoras company has
its headquarters at San Francisco, California ; both the
Matamoras and Santa Clara companies are doing well,
and will soon commence paying dividends to the stock
holders. The ores of both of these districts yield silver
by the amalgamating process. There has never been a
mine opened in either of these mineral districts which
has not yielded paying ore from the commencement of
the excavations, and at the present time there is not one
of the mines which has failed in giving ore as far down
as any work has been prosecuted. Taking the average
yield of all of the ores that are found so abundantly
dispersed through the several veins in this locality, two
hundred dollars per ton may be safely calculated upon
as the net profit, owing to cheap labor, cheap fuel, and
other necessary elements so essential to prosperous min
ing. The cost of prpducing the silver does not exceed
twenty dollars per ton. The Santa Clara company
has run a tunnel to cut the vein of San Miguel
some two hundred feet below the old working of the
mine. In mining this tunnel they cut another vein,
which runs parallel with the principal lode for which
the tunnel was being made. This vein was found to
contain ore, and was twenty-six feet in thickness, thus
5

34
making thirty-eight feet in connection with the San
Miguel vein, and which yields by working process two
hundred and twenty-six dollars per ton.
The names of the mines now Worked by Americans
and Mexicans in Guazapares are as follows : San Miguel,
San Juan, San Gregario, Santa Teresa, Guadaloupe,
Santa Clara, La Sociedad, Esperiencia, Refugio, San
Jose, La Union, San Luis, San Antonio, Carmen, Sangre
Cristo, Cinco Sen,ores, Santa Rita, and Providencia.
Six leagues distant from Guazapares, in a westerly
direction, is located a mining property, the working of
,which is conducted at present by Martin Salido. His
reduction works consist at present of twenty-nine Mex
ican tahonas, or arastras, driven by an overshot water-
wheel. The amalgamation is conducted in the patio.
He has two mines from which he extracts the ore —
namely, the Animus and Guadaloupe. These two mines
at Huapa, together with the Hacienda, the Sanzae Creto
mine in Botosegachic, and thirty leagues of woodland,
has lately been sold to an English company for $100,-
000 in gold. The ores of Guadaloupe and the Animus
are not rich, but yield a handsome net profit. Twenty
leagues west of Botosegachic, in the State of Chihua
hua, and near the line of Sonora, we find the district of
Palmeryo and the hacienda of Miguel Urea, a Mexican
gentleman and miner. A few years ago Don Miguel
purchased the mine he now works for $300, since which
time he has erected and completed his hacienda, built
wagon roads, and made other improvements of an im
posing character, which cost him $400,000 ; besides doing
this, paying a debt of $100,000 which he had incurred
in the enterprise, he has accumulated a fortune of over
$1,000,000. The ores from this mine yield on an average

35
about eighty dollars per ton. There are numerous other
silver-bearing veins in the same neighborhood, which if
worked would prove profitable, but owing to the want
of capital and energy they are left unworked. One of
these unworked veins has a width of about thirty feet
upon the surface. Ore of a fine quality- is found scat
tered through the whole vein, which yields, by working
process, one hundred and forty dollars per ton. Besides
the mines before mentioned, which are owned and
worked in the three districts of Batosegachic, Guaza
pares, and Palmeryo, and which are embraced within a
space or area of forty by twenty miles, there are veins
of silver which if worked would give constant employ
ment to twenty-five thousand miners. The whole sur
rounding country is thickly studded with oak and pine
of large and luxuriant growth. The mountains and
valley are all covered with grass, and therefore capable
of sustaining a vast number -of cattle and mules. The
valley and even the sides of the mountains are in many
places planted- with corn and wheat. Fruits of the
temperate zone — such as apples, peaches, pears, and
quinces — grow finely wherever cultivated. The climate
in this region is most delightful. No extremes of heat
or cold are ever felt ; hence there is no impediment to
constantly working the mines or engaging in outdoor
pursuits of any kind. Being situated five thousand five
hundred feet above the level of the sea, the air is pure
and healthful.
East of Batosegachic, fifteen leagues distant, is lo
cated the mineral town and district of Urachic. There
are more than two hundred silver-bearing veins in this
locality. They are generally narrow, and yield from
eighty to one hundred dollars per ton. In times past

36
considerable quantities of silver have been extracted
from the mines of this place, but there has never been
any of these numerous lodes worked upon a large scale.
The mining done here has been generally carried on by
poor men, and in a rude and primitive manner ; yet if
capital, science, and skill, combined with modern
machinery, were employed here, great results might be
achieved. East of the latter-named place, on the high
road to the city of Chihuahua from the Pacific coast,
situated in some high hills found upon the great plateau
of Chihuahua, we find the mines of Cusicusiachic, ten in
number. These hills and mountains have no connection
with the Cordilleras ; they seem to have arisen out of
the\great plain for the purpose of establishing a mining
locality halfway between the Sierra Madre and the city
of Chihuahua. Whatever the cause or motive of their
appearance in this particular point, certain it is that
they are not only very ornamental, but useful ; for within
the bowels of these hills there are found immense bodies
of rich silver ore that yields over three hundred dollars
per ton. Taking an average of all classes of ore, eight
of the mines that have been worked have produced a
great quantity of silver of a very fine quality, and are
now owned by a German gentleman residing in Chihua
hua city. These mines are now worked in a miserable
manner, in consequence of the want of capital and
machinery to free them from water. Mr. Muller, the
owner, has made some ineffectual attempts to interest
American capitalists in these mines, but as yet without
success, mainly from a lack of liberality. It should be
observed by all parties who solicit capital with which
to work mines in Mexico or elsewhere, the old Mexi
can principle of giving to capitalists a third or one half

37
of the mines or mine for money sufficient to success
fully work the whole, will not do in this age. In the
time of the Spaniards this was adopted as a good rule ;
but now capitalists exact more, and it is right that they
should. In the State of Chihuahua, near the Rio Grande,
there are numerous silver lodes which have been worked
more or less many years ago ; but latterly, owing to the
ravages of the Apache and Comanche Indians, no work
has been done. These lodes contain ore of a rich qual
ity, which may in the future become valuable. Jesus
Maria mines are situated in a lofty portion of the Sierra
Madre, distant from the city of Chihuahua some eighty
leagues, in a westerly direction. The lodes in this dis
trict are very numerous, wide, and rich, and the ores
will yield on an average eight hundred dollars per ton.
One of the principal mines which has been worked gave
twenty thousand dollars weekly for many years. The
ores of this mine yielded over one thousand dollars per
ton, a large per centage of which was gold. Suddenly,
after reaching a considerable depth, the water in great
quantities rushed in, putting a stop to all operations
upon this mine. Several attempts have been made with
rude machinery to free the mine from water, but with
out success. There is a San Francisco company work
ing the Refugio mine in this place. They have built a
fine twenty-four stamp mill, which has been at work for
nearly two years. Mismanagement has retarded in a
great measure their operations. Their mine is a good
one, and it would be in consequence of sheer negligence
on the part of the company should it fail to obtain a
handsome net profit from the mine. Some thirty leagues
north from Jesus Maria we find the mines and placers

38
known as the Mulatosi. Many years ago great excite
ment was created upon the discovery of rich gold and
silver lodes in this locality. Great success attended the
miners for a while, but the savages that have ravaged
this part of Mexico for so many years, put a stop to all
mining and depopulated the country entirely. At the
present time no man's life is safe in that part of Mexico,
except he has a large escort of well-armed men. Several
leagues of land, upon which many valuable mines are
located at this place, is owned by Dr. McGee, of San
Franciscq, California. In the district of Alamos, in the
State of Sonora, distant from the Gulf of California
sixty-five miles, we find a mineral of great extent and
very productive. The town of Alamos, containing four
thousand inhabitants, was built entirely from the suc
cessful working of the numerous mines in the vicinity.
There are several American companies here, who are oc
cupied in erecting mills, running tunnels, sinking shafts,
grinding and amalgamating ores. In fact this is the
case over a great portion of the State of Sonora. Owing
to the excitement incident to the discoveries of silver in
Nevada, many persons foolishly rushed into the State of
Sonora in search of silver mines. To the majority of
such persons it was a matter of but slight importance
whether the mines were good or otherwise, as their ob
ject was to get a title to the lodes, form a mining com
pany, issue stock, taking good care of the proceeds
arising from the sale thereof; purchasing machinery,
having a superintendent with several assistants ap
pointed, and finally sent off to commence operations.
Some of their agents were sent with too little money
and too little capacity ; some with too much money and
no capacity whatever. Hence failures, as a general thing,

39
were the order of the day ;. and strange as it may seem,
those companies who had an abundance of capital
always ready to ensure success — if success was possible
— were the ones who made the most disastrous failures
of any. It may be observed that few of these compa
nies made failures in consequence of the mines not being
good, but because generally there was either a want of
competent managers or a scarcity of means.
The State of Sonora is very prolific in veins of gold,
silver, and lead. Coal has been found upon the river
Zagui, but never worked. There are a large number of
very valuable silver mines in Sonora; but generally the
mineral resources of Sonora do not compare favorably
with the State of Chihuahua or Sinaloa. The lodes are
not so wide, nor are the ores as rich as in the afore
mentioned States. The popular belief is that Sonora, in
mineral resources as well as in agricultural advantages,
is the richest State in Mexico. This belief is not well
founded. THE MINES OF SANTA EULALIA, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO.
These mines are situated about twelve miles north
east of the city of Chihuahua, which is the capital of
the State of the same name. Their fame is wide-spread ;
and, from the fact that all writers give them a promi
nent position among the great mining districts of Mex
ico, they have a very enviable historic reputation. Nor
is this undeserved ; for at one period of their greatest
prosperity they were virtually the life of the State in
which they are situated, and the population which they
drew to their vicinity amounted to nearly eighty thous
and; the city of Chihuahua alone containing, in 1829,

40
seventy thousand people. Seventy-three haciendas, con
taining one hundred, and eighty-eight furnaces and
seventy-two tahonas, all in constant operation, denoted
the wealth of the district, and the inexhaustible abun
dance of its ores.
The district was first opened in 1705, although dis
covered two years previous. Its fame spread rapidly,
and attracted the attention of the people residing to the
southward, who flocked in large parties to enjoy a share
of the silver harvest. From 1705 to the Mexican war
of Independence, the yield of silver, which will be given
further on, was enormous ; but that war, followed in
1829 by the expulsion of the old Spaniards, was a
heavy blow to the prosperity of the mining interests of
Mexico, and Santa Eulalia suffered in common with the
rest. From a population of seventy thousand Chihuahua
was reduced to fifteen ; and the town of Santa Eulalia,
which, in its palmy days, contained six thousand souls,
was reduced to seven or eight hundred. The old Span
iards being the only capitalists, and taking their capital
with them when they left the country, business became
completely paralyzed, and a blow was struck at the in
dustry of the country from which it has never recovered.
Hence we see in many parts of Mexico magnificent
mines, formerly worked with fabulous profit by the old
Spaniards, now lying comparatively idle for want of
sufficient capital to put them in successful operation ;
or, in case they are worked by the Mexicans, it is in
such a feeble way that the effort is comparatively value
less when it is considered what organized capital, backed
by a little energy, might accomplish. This is essentially
the case with the Santa Eulalia mines. They are now
held and worked by small owners, who borrow money

41
at an enormous percentage of the product of the mines,
as an interest upon the loan ; and, in that way, manage
to make a feeble attempt to glean a part of the silver
harvest that would yield its fruits so prodigally under
a proper system. So they plod along, awaiting the
magic touch of Anglo-Saxon energy to stir them into
vigorous life. This it is probable they will soon have,
for the mines have lately fallen into American hands.
SITUATION OP THE MINES.
The mines are found in a low mountain range which,
east of the city of Chihuahua, rarely rises to an elevation
exceeding one thousand five hundred to two thousand feet
above the level of the great valley of the Chihuahua
River. The mountain range itself is about thirty miles
long, and is entirely distinct from any of the great Sierra
Madre Mountains to the west of Chihuahua. About
the center of this range is found, jammed in among
the gorges, the little Real de Santa Eulalia, containing,
now, a mining population of about eight hundred per
sons. Two and a half miles northwest of the town, in
a low mountain spur, are located the principal and most
productive mines of the district. This spur is but little
removed from the plain upon which stands Chihuahua.
It is composed of blue mountain limestone, and piercing
its several flanks are the mines which have given life to
Chihuahua and made the district historic. These mines
are the Parcionera, San Jose, San Matias, Santa Rita
Negrita, Aragon, Dolores, Mina Vieja, and two or three
others. They have mostly been run in on a level, and
iri no case have they penetrated far below the surface of
the ravines that bound them. In point of working

42
facilities they are superior to-day to what they would
be were the district virgin, and their great wealth is vir
tually untouched. There is not a drop of water in any
of them. When the mines were in all the glory of their
yield, the old Spaniards took nearly all the ore directly
across the plain to Chihuahua, and the great mountains
of silver-ore slag which linethe banks of the Chihua
hua River attests the activity and magnitude of their
operations. Many hundreds of thousands of cubic
yards of slag are also found in mountain heaps around
the village of Santa Eulalia. So poorly has the silver
been extracted by the rough process used, that,- as the
rains was^ through these slag heaps the little particles
of silver are earned to the river sands below, and many
of the working people get their living by washing in
these silver placers — frequently getting out in one day
five or six dollars.
In the mines above mentioned there are no veins ;
but, to use the words of an old Spanish writer, " Nature
appears to have agglomerated here all her riches." The
ore is held in vast pockets or deposits ; and so immense
are these, that some of them are three hundred feet long
by one hundred feet wide by fifty high. One pocket
exhausted, it is only necessary to break through the
limestone crust for a distance rarely exceeding fifteen
feet, when you strike another deposit, and so the work
progresses. The report of the Mining Deputation to the Gover
nor of Chihuahua, in 1825, states that "The rock is
generally soft ; its veins all run into great and spacious
mother centers, where are found enormous deposits of
ore ; and, to extract it, it is not necessary to expend
powder or steel ; for its softness permits the filling of

43
sacks and baskets with great ease ; its abundant ores
are easy to beneficiate, and a single furnace can easily
smelt one hundred and ten arrobas per day" (two thou
sand seven hundred and fifty pounds).
Most of the ore taken from the mines above-men
tioned require a flex of galena, which is obtained in
abundance from some galena mines near by. Much of
the silver ore, however, can be beneficiated by the
patio process, as is evident from the fact that the old
Spaniards worked large quantities of it in that way.
The San Jose mine is virtually an open rock-cut,
and the miners are now engaged in daylight in slashing
down the side of the mountain, the whole face of which
gives paying ore. This, mine, however, is located just
east of the great Parcionera mine, which is one of the
most famous in the district, and connects with it.
The Parcionera has been run in on a level from the
mouth, which is located in the side of a precipice, and
is one hundred feet above its base. Another mine of
equal magnitude and doubtless greater product can be
run in under it. The San Mateas is virgin, and very
productive. The Mina Vieja has a wide fame, and gives
some of the richest ores to be found in the district. It
has been worked to a considerable extent, but, in point
of what it is capable of producing, is scarcely touched.
The Negrita has been the foundation of more than one
immense fortune in Chihuahua, and its pockets have
given immense yields of soft ore, which required scarcely
any labor in the mine to extract it. The Santa Rita,
now suffocated, but which can be readily ventilated, is
the richest mine known here. " Its ores are abundant, and
yield about three hundred dollars per ton. The mine
has been but little worked.

44
All the above mines are situated in the same mount
ain spur, and penetrate towards its center, which must
contain immense quantities of ore as yet untouched.
The ores of all these mines will average fifty dollars
per ton ; but it is their abundance that renders the dis
trict so valuable. Thousands of men might work in
these great silver deposits for a hundred years without
exhausting them, The total cost of extracting the ore
from the mines a»d getting out the silver, is now twenty-
eight dollars per ton in the old and primitive method
used at the mines — the ore being smelted by the blast
of common bellows worked by hand. A steam-engine
working a number of furnaces would greatly reduce the
cost, while the amalgamating patio process would prob
ably reduce the total cost of taking out the silver to
twenty dollars per ton, including the mining. Labor is
very cheap-1— thirty-seven cents per day — and is abund
ant. There are now seven furnaces only actively working
at the mines, but they are very small, and managed with
but little energy and care. The average profit of each
furnace per week — the result of the rude effort of the
proprietors— is, to-day, one hundred and twenty-five
dollars. The British Minister — H. G. Ward, Esq. — who was
commissioned by his government to make an examina
tion and report upon the Mexican mines, says :
." Santa Eulalia, from its vicinity to the town of Chi
huahua, was worked as early as 1705. Its registered
produce from that time to 1737 was $55,959,750, or an
average of $1,748,742 per annum. From 1737 to 1791
it yielded something more than $44,000,000, making a

45
total of $100,000,000 during a period of eighty-six
years."— (Vol. 2, p. 28.)
"To the north of El Parral, and about five leagues
to the southeast of Chihuahua, is the ancient mining
district of Santa Eulalia. ' * * * The ores
were generally found in Ipose earth filling immense cav
erns (salones), of which some are stated to be sufficiently
large to contain the cathedral of Mexico. The correct
ness of this assertion may require confirmation ; but there
can be but little doubt of their magnitude, since the last
bonanza extracted from one of them continued for nine
years, and one rial being laid aside for each marc of
silver produced, a fund was formed out of which the
Cathedral of Chihuahua was built, and a fund of re
serve formed of $100,000."— (Vol. ii., p. 528.)
The product of the Santa Eulalia mines may thus
be estimated :
From 1705 to 1737  $55,959,750
" 1737 to 1791  44,040,250
" 1791 to 1825  .11,442,170
Total to 1825  ,  $111,442,170
These are figures from the mint of Chihuahua, and
are the registered coinage there' from Santa Eulalia.
Since 1825 there are no reliable statistics ; but this
product and the above, including the large amount that
must have escaped coinage and been smuggled out of
the country, cannot fail to swell the total product of
Santa Eulalia to $200,000,000.
There are few mining properties of Mexico that Offer
such sure and profitable returns for capital. English,
French, and German capitalists have vied with the en-

46
ergetic pioneers of the United States to obtain posses
sion of these mines for many years past, but not until
within a few months have any of their efforts been suc
cessful. Fortunately for the State of Chihuahua, the
great mother mountain, with all its noted mines, has
fallen into the hands of Col. George E. Church, of the
N. Y. Herald, and Gen. Lew Wallace, of Indiana.
IS SILVER-MINING A SPECULATION?
That silver mining has been and still is regarded as
a speculation by many person^, will be fully conceded.
Men who have trained themselves to think thus, often
invest money in mining companies with the same feel
ing that they would if they staked it upon the turn of
a card at a gaming table. However common this
opinion may be among what are termed business men,
none can be more erroneous. There is no branch of
human industry that will bear this reproach less deserv-
ingly. There is no industrial pursuit but what has its
attendant risks, mining not excepted. Compared with
farming, the risks are no greater, if as great. The agri
culturist is subject to. lose the fruits „of his labor by
frost, drought, too much rain, insects, &c, and the price
of his labor is equally as precarious. The mechanic,
artisan, and manufacturer are all subject to a decrease
in the price of labor and frequent stagnation of busi
ness, which causes many to become bankrupt, and others
to suffer from the lack of remunerative employment.
Mining for silver and gold, if entered into with the
same business precautions that are generally observed
by business men who engage in merchandising and me
chanical pursuits, would present less hazards and be

47
attended with less failures than any- of the aforesaid
employments. Herein lies the first great cause of fail
ures in mining enterprises by the Americans. They are
too apt to take as truth the representations of eveiy
ignoramus and unprincipled adventurer that presents
titles and specimens of ore from lodes that have or have
not any existence. This point reached, the company is
organized, machinery purchased, superintendents ap
pointed with a staff of assistants .without any regard to
capability or honesty. Then the putting up of machin
ery is commenced, and subsequently the explorations of
the grounds. In many instances the exploration reveals
neither lode nor ore ; and hence the whole outlay of
capital is worse than thrown away, and the trusting cap
italist is disgusted and pronounces all mining operations
a snare and a delusion. The fault in instances of this
kind lies first in the ignorance or dishonesty of the men
who first introduced the enterprise to the capitalist ;
secondly, if the capitalist neglects to have the supposed
lode properly examined by some person who is capable,
by long experience, of arriving at a proper understand
ing of the subject of his examination, such as a practi
cal miner or mineralogist and assayer, he cannot reason
ably expect to facilitate the business of mining so well
as he could with such information. If the vein is virgin
or unexplored to any inconsiderable depth, the practical
miner will require that quite a deep excavation be made
on the vein, in order that he may be enabled to give an
intelligent opinion relative to its permanency and value.
This being done, and the vein pronounced a true lode,
and found to contain ore in quantities and richness that
upon trial is found profitable to work, then, and only
then, will it be found justifiable to erect works where-

48
with to reduce and treat the ores. If this course should
be pursued invariably, mining would be shorn of the ,
stigma that has been heaped upon it by unprincipled
and careless men. The term speculation would lose its
significance when applied to this great and useful branch
of industry. The present depressed and unpopular state of mining
operations in the Atlantic States is by no means caused
by the mines of this continent not being rich and nu
merous, but solely from the rascality and mismanage
ment of those who have formed companies to work
mines that never existed, or the incapacity of those who
had the management of good mines, or insufficient funds
to prosecute successfully the necessary operations. The
reckless manner in which capitalists have of late years
entered into mining operations in Nevada, Idaho, Mon
tana, Colorado, and elsewhere, is not entirely confined
to the Americans or this century. We have but to go
back to that period in the history of Spain, after her
conquest of Mexico and the discovery of the mineral
riches of that country, for an example of recklessness
and extravagance in mining operations that bid fair to
impoverish many of the richest men of the Spanish
kingdom. So great was the excitement that the, king,
in forming the laws which governed that useful pursuit
known as mining, that a clause was introduced making
it obligatory upon the discoverer of a vein to sink a
shaft upon the vein of at least thirty feet before any title
could be obtained to the mine. The reason why the
king caused this clause to be inserted in the mining laws,
was for the purpose of preventing reckless men, after
discovering a silver-bearing lode, from erecting machinery
at great expense without ascertaining whether the vein

49"
would warrant any great expense for working machinery
or not. This law is still in force in Mexico, and has
been the means of saving a vast waste of money.
Going back to our subject relative to speculation,
our ingenuity is severely taxed to introduce any sound
argument in order to prove the affirmative, while to
prove the negative no labor is required. If farming,
merchandising, and many or all of the leading pursuits
of an enlightened age and country are not speculations,
then mining for silver and gold is still less so. It may
be said in favor of gold and silver mining what cannot
be claimed for any other branch of productive industry,
that is : the product of gold and silver mines has gen
erally a standard or fixed value, and does not change
with the seasons, nor is it affected by frost or rain. All
other values are regulated by the abundance or scarcity
of the article.
As mining for gold and silver is being carried on at
the present time, it may be regarded as a speculation in
many instances where those who are the master-spirits
in the enterprise have really good mines, so prone are
we as a people to make a speculation out of any em
ployment that can be manipulated by shrewd, unprin
cipled managers. The immense mineral resources of
this continent are becoming so well known, and the need
of the arts, sciences, and commercial and industrial pur
suits for the precious metals is so great, that labor and
capital are every day becoming more and more interested
in their production. The spirit of mining will daily in
crease, until one of tho greatest and most important
employments for capital will be that of mining. The
employment of money in such a business will lead capi
talists and scientific practical men to seek out the best

50
places and methods for the investment of money and
labor in mining. Then, and only then, will mining for
the precious metals assume the rank that belongs to it.
Then, and only then, will the opinion of an educated,
practical miner and mineralogist, be worth more and
have more influence than that of some verbose ad
vertiser, whose sole merit consists in his impudence and
assumption.
MEXICAN SYSTEM OF REDUCING AND AMALGAMATING SIL
VER ORES.
The reduction of silver ores in Mexico is conducted
in a manner peculiarly Spanish in its origin. After the
ores are properly cleaned and sorted according to quality
— which is done by experts of both sexes— they are
broken into pieces the size of a grain of corn, by either
a hammer or rudely-constructed stampers. They are
then ready for the grinding or pulverizing mill, called a
tahona (or, as the Americans -term it, an arastra). This
tahona or arastra, in all large well conducted haciendas
de beneficio, or reduction and amalgamation works, is
built of stone and lime, from six to twelve feet in diam
eter ; the sides of the circle rising three feet above the
bottom, which is laid or paved with flat rough stone.
The side walls of this structure are usually one and a
half feet in thickness, composed of masonry, and plas
tered upon the top and sides. An upright post of wood
is inserted in the foundation of the bottom, upon the
upper end of which is fixed a socket of steel. This
socket being exactly in the center of the bottom or floor
of the tahona and level with the surface, serves for the
pivot to rest upon, which is fixed intd the lower end of

51sr
the upright shaft. This upright shaft is held in its
position by a girder or cross-beam, the ends of which are
supported by pillars of stone. Through this shaft are
inserted, at right angles to each other, arms of wood,
which are intended to be used as levers to which the
mules are to be attached, when mules are used as the
moving power. To these arms are also fastened the
granite stones used as grinders. These are generally, for
a tahona, twelve feet in diameter, four in number, and
weigh from six hundred to fifteen hundred pounds each,
according to the power used. These stones, which must
always be exceedingly hard in quality, are generally
selected with one side of nearly uniform evenness, and
without much regard to the shape or smoothness. Two
holes, at proper distances apart, are drilled into what is
intended for the top of the stone when in position and
at work ; into these holes are driven two pegs or sticks,
upon the outer end of which are cut notches, to keep
the rope of rawhide from slipping which unites them
to the horizontal shaft before-mentioned. The broken
ore is thrown into the basin of the tahona, in quantities
sufficient to cover the bottom of it about two inches
deep with water sufficient to moisten the whole, when
the power is applied, and the stone-drags traverse the
circle or basin, and by their weight soon reduce the
broken ore to the condition of fine sand, at which time
more broken ore is introduced. This process is repeated
from time to time until the tahona has received the
proper quantity, which is ascertained either by the eye
of the experienced tahonero or by measurement in raw
hide sacks, used by the workmen in charging the mills.
In large reduction works one man is generally
employed known as captain of the tahona ; those who

52
attend are all subject to his control. It is the cap
tain's duty to ascertain when more water is required
and when the pulp is ground fine enough, and to order
the discharge of the, tahonas. The pulp or ground ore
in a thin state is conveyed to large tanks, built also of
masonry, capable of holding five hundred tons or more,
by a trough or wooden spout. When the hacienda is
located upon favorable ground the tahonas are built
higher than the top of the tanks, so that by pulling out
a plug the pulp runs into the tank freely. When the
ground will not permit of this elevation of the mill, the
pulp is dipped out by hand and carried tot the tank, or
poured into a trough connected with the depository for
ground ore. The powers used in the grinding process
are water, when it can be had in sufficient quantities,
and mules and horses where it cannot be obtained.
Where water power is abundant and a good fall can be
obtained, overshot water-wheels from twenty to fifty feet
in diameter are used. The tahonas in this case are clus
tered together as closely as possible, and wooden shaft
ing and other gearing of wood are used to connect the
tahonas and the water-wheel. When the fall of water
does not exceed eight or ten feet, the tahonas are each
provided with a wheel, which is held in position by
being suspended from six arms which pass through the
upright shaft already referred to. This wheel is supplied
with spoon- shaped paddles inserted in the rim, which, as
it revolves, carries with it the drags of stone which are
attached to the same arms that sustain the rim of the
water-wheel. The water to propel these wheels is
brought from the source of supply in canals built of
stone and lime, or, as is the case sometimes, a part of the
distance in ditches dug into the rock or earth. When

53
the water reaches the Vicinity of the mill or tahonas,
the canal at proper places is provided with shoots of
either wood or masonry to convey the water to the
wheel. The quantity of water that is desired to turn
the wheel is regulated by a small sliding gate. When
mule-power is used the mules traverse a circle similar to
the manner in which they do when working an old-
fashioned cider-mill. The number of mules used de
pends upon the size of the tahonas. From one to four
mules are occupied generally — four in twelve-feet taho
nas, and one mule in six-feet tahonas.
AMALGAMATION WORKS.
The process generally in use in Mexico for the treat
ment of ores that contain no lead, is termed the patio
process. This process was introduced in Mexico three
hundred years ago by a German. First in order comes
a description of the patio. The ground is excavated to
a depth of from three to four feet, and walled up on the
sides and bottom with stone and lime ; the whole is
then carefully plastered, and the plastering made smooth.
The whole is then filled up with earth to the proper
level, and the Walls of the patio are then built up with
stone and lime to a height of three feet above the in
tended floor. The space thus enclosed varies in differ
ent haciendas, but generally in a very large one each
patio is two hundred feet in length by one hundred in
breadth. The outer walls being built as before .de
scribed, the floor is then laid, consisting of large smooth
stones evenly jointed at the sides and ends ; these stones
are laid in cement made of lime and sand, and the joints
filled with cement composed of lime, sand, and bullock's
blood. The patio is now finished and ready for use.

54
Sometimes, in place of stode, the floor of the patio is
made of four-inch planks laid upon sleepers of wood
and firmly secured with wooden pins. The excavation
and walling up of the sides and plastering mentioned at
the beginning of this description, and the subsequent
filling up of the space so made, is for the purpose of
forming a receptacle for the quicksilver that frequently
penetrates the floor of even the best and most carefully
constructed patio. The careful plastering of this cellar,
as it might be called, affords no sure means of prevent
ing the quicksilver from oozing through. Sometimes
they are constructed in such a manner that the quick
silver can run to the lowest portion of the basin and
there be drawn off.
MANNER OF CONDUCTING THE AMALGAMATION.
The ground ore is found in the tanks before de
scribed, the Water having evaporated sufficiently to
enable the workmen to remove the mass by the use of
shovels. Then the ore, being of the consistency of mud,
is conveyed to the patio and thrown upon floors in a
circular form, the' diameter about twenty-five feet and
the depth about nine to twelve inches. A mass of ore
of this diameter and thickness will contain about
eighteen tons of unground ore. Having been placed in
this form, it is called a torta ; then this mass is mixed
with fine ground salt, in proportion according to the
richness of the ore, which has been previously deter
mined by brief assays, which is usually performed by
the person having charge of the amalgamation of the
ores. The salt is thoroughly diffused throughout the
whole of the mass by the use of oxen and bulls ; these
animals are placed side by side, having their heads se-

55
cured in close proximity to each other, and controlled
by a rope attached to one of them and held by the
driver, who stands in the midst of the torta urging the
animals round. This performance usually occupies
about six hours, after which the torta is allowed. to
remain undisturbed for two or three days. On the third
day, if the salt and sun have performed their allotted
share in the process, which is the chlorinization of the
silver, quicksilver in proper quantities is disseminated
in the same manner through the ore by the treading
process. From day to day the same work is repeated,
care being taken to have the mass daily overturned by
means of wooden shovels, so that all portions of it may be
exposed to the air and sun. Sulphate of copper is also
used in limited quantities, according to the character of
the ores. When' a large number of tortas are at one
and the same time on the patio under treatment, the
azaquero or metallurgist is very busily engaged in at
tending the tortas and watching to discover when the
silver has absorbed all of the mercury, and if necessary
to furnish an additional supply. If the^ tortas are too
cold, sulphate of copper or magistral is added ; if too
hot, then a little lime or ashes is used. At last the tor
tas, having yielded all their silver, are subjected to the
washing process. This is performed in a large vat or
lavedero, which consists of wood or stone. These lave-
deros are eight feet in diameter inside, and nine feet in
depth ; having a vertical shaft, through which passes
four arms horizontally, with wooden pins that stand
upright and reach to within half an inch of the bottom.
These pins are shod at the lower end with a
thimble of iron to keep them from wearing out. This
wheel is set in motion by mule power, and the pulpy

56
mass of ore thrown in while it is in motion ; a stream
of water is kept constantly running into the vat, and
when it reaches a certain height it is allowed to run
into a large tank, where the sulphurets settle and the
earthy matter escapes. This process is" continued until
the tortas are all worked that are prepared for washing ;
the silver combined with the quicksilver is found at the
bottom of the lavedero. This is taken out in wooden
bowls and thoroughly cleansed by„ washing several
times in water, and then conveyed to the quicksilver
room, where it is ' put into conical cembas or leather
bags and suspended over a proper vessel, in order to
permit as much of the quicksilver as possible to drain
off. From time to time the bags containing the amal
gam are pressed to cause the quicksilver to flow more
freely, leaving the silver in a condition to be handled
freely and quite compact. The silver in this form is
moulded into oblong bars of a triangular shape, for con
venience in retorting. The process of expelling the re
mainder of the quicksilver, after being pressed in the
m,anner before described, is executed as follows :
A large copper bell-like vessel, twenty inches in di
ameter, three feet high, and two inches in thickness,
known as a capellina, capable of containing one thousand
marcos of silver, or nominally to the value of eight
thousand dollars. The foundation or bottom upon which
rests this capellina terminates in a cone, the extreme
point of which is open and is always immersed in water,
which is held in a stone basin constructed for that pur
pose. Upon this copper foundation, which is set in
masonry, is piled the bars of amalgam, care being taken,
as one layer is placed upon another, to sprinkle a small
quantity of fine wood ashes, which prevents the bars, as

57
heat is applied, from sticking together ; the top or capel
lina is then lowered over the mass, and the joint at the
bottom carefully luted with a mixture of clay, ashes,
and horse manure ; fire is then built around and over
the bell, which is kept burning for eighteen hours, or
until the quicksilver has for some time ceased to run ;
the bell is then allowed to cool, and finally is removed,
when the pure silver, almost as white as the driven snow,
greets the eyes of the owner. The whole process of
Mexican amalgamation, as it is practiced in well-regu
lated haciendas, is one of romantic interest to a stranger
to this mode of operating. For a country like Mexico,
where labor is cheap, cattle and mules abundant, this
system has its merits. The loss of silver, to be sure,
was great, but little did they care when ores were so
abundant and the cost of obtaining them so trifling.
Sixty-five per ¦ cent, of the silver which the ores con
tained was as much as was usually obtained by this
method. Modern improvements in machinery for grind
ing, and new inventions for amalgamating, has demon
strated to the Americans that ores can be treated as
cheaply, even when labor of every kind is five times
greater, as they can be in Mexico ; and what is more, the
greater portion of the silver which the ores actually
contain can be extracted.
THE MEXICAN MINER AND HIS ASSISTANT.
Mining generally in Mexico is not carried on with
much regard as to the science of this branch of indus
try, as it is understood and practiced in England or
some parts of the United States.
The Mexican miner, however, has a system of his
own, and one which he deems equal to any other ; how-

58
ever that may be, it is quite certain that' if followed per
sistently for a few years, he will find himself without a
mine, however good the vein may be. Whenever they
commence operating upon a lode, it is invariably done
immediately upon the vein, without any regard to in
clination. Whenever the ore makes its appearance, they
sink their shaft and follow the dips and angles of the
lode, taking care not to excavate more in width and
height than contains ore, no matter how disadvanta
geous it may be to the working miner. Often they will
proceed great distances, working continually upon their
knees, and. crawling , in and out upon all fours ; their
workings, consequently, presenting the appearance of
gopher-holes or burrows more than the excavations of
miners. The baretero, or driller, is provided with very.
few tools with which to carry on his .operations ; they
consist of a double-pointed drill, a sharp-pointed bar,
hammer, tamping-rod, and a rawhide sack, used by his
assistant, who is known' as a tanetaro, to carry the ore
and debris to the surface. Provided with these imple
ments, and his assistant, his task is to drill a certain
number of holes wherever the chief miner directs eight
een inches in depth, insert the powder, and fire the blast ;
this done, he then, with the pointed bar, removes all
substances which the powder has loosened, sends the mass
to the surface, and clears the place for the following day's
operations. The number of holes the miner has to make,
is determined by the nature of the rock upon which he
works. If it should prove hard, it usually occupies the
whole of one day to drill two holes, which is paid for
at twenty-five cents each, or fifty cents per day, if the
rock is only moderately hard. If the rock is quite soft
four holes can be drilled in one day. It is understood

59
that all rock loosened by the blast shall be carried to
the surface as before described. When this is done, the
day's work ceases, no matter how late it may be. Often
the miner will have completed his work before noon,
and very frequently he cannot finish his labors until far
into the night. After the holes are drilled the chief
miner is notified, and he proceeds to measure the depth
of the holes, and a note is made of the fact to the credit
of the baretero.
The Meximn miners or bareteros are, as a class,
docile and easily managed, conform strictly to the
rules so long in vogue in their country, and firmly insist
upon their subordinates doing the same; pay them
promptly at the time their wages are due. They are
generally humble and polite to those in authority, and
seldom ask more than custom and the laws award them.
Strikes for higher wages are entirely unknown among
them ; they are generally even-tempered, and willing to
oblige. The amount of work which they can perform
in a day is nearly equal to that of an American or Eng
lish miner ; certainly they do more for the same com
pensation, the one being from fifty cents to one dollar
per day, while the American miner receives from three
to five dollars per day. They are usually paid on Sat
urday afternoon. Every baretero laborer and boy em
ployed in the mines and reduction works, with their
wives and children, often assemble .around the office of
the rayador or paymaster, where their accounts are
quickly adjusted, and the amount due paid in coin or
in provisions and dry goods, as may have been previ
ously agreed upon, or a part in coin and the balance in
anything that may be wanted. The moment all are
paid they disappear and assemble in their own houses,

60
where they spend Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights
in gambling ; games of various kinds are played, but
none for mere sport — all for sport and gain combined.
The whole amusement of a Mexican miner consists in
gambling away his hard earnings. Such is their love
for this vice, that it frequently invades the whole house
hold ; and it is no uncommon sight to see wife, children,
and all engaged from morning until night, and even all
night, in this ruinous amusement.
All Mexican miners are more or less superstitious.
Their belief in the fairies or fairy miner is very amusing ;
they believe that all mines are visited at times and
worked by the fairies. They say that these little people
are gentle and harmless, and they are careful never to
say or do anything that will insult or injure their feelings.
In all their mines will be found a cross, placed in some
niche, to keep away the bad spirits and bring success
to the miner. From the accounts given by the Mexican
miner of the fairies, it seems that these people are gifted
with a foreknowledge which we poor mortals are deficient
of, so far as the richness or poverty of a vein is con
cerned. The fairies never work in poor ore ; they never
work in a well-known poor mine, but always select the
richest mines and the richest spot, which shows their
good sense ; they never work during the day, but always
at night, and are said to commence operations after the
workmen have disappeared ; then in a short time they
erect scaffolds to reach some spot of ore, and if watched
or listened for, their little squeaking voices may be
heard, while the strokes upon the drill and detonations
made by their blasts are distinctly heard, but in
proportion to the size of the fairies ; it being observed
that the fairies never outrage the principles of propor-

61
tion. Besides, the fairies are very honorable and just ; al
though they may use the tools of the miner, they always
leave them in as good a condition as they find them.
In addition to this, after the night's work is over with
them, they clean up all traces of their work, and leave
the mine as clean as they found it. The wonderful
stories told of the doings of the fairies by' old gray-
haired miners would fill volumes; and what appears
strange, these miners believe all that is told them
respecting the fairies, and the young as they grow old
become in turn relators of fi^y tales, and thus from
generation to generation the legends of the fairy miners
are handed down.
AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF NORTHERN MEXICO.
It is generally believed and known that Mexico is
the richest country in the world so far as her minerals
are concerned, but little is known, however, of the agri
cultural resources of the Northern States of that coun
try. Sonora for many years back has been considered
by the Americans as the most fertile of any of the
Northern Mexican States. This impression is mainly
owing to the representations of title-hunters and inter
ested speculators of California origin. The proximity
of Sonora to Arizona and Upper California has called
the attention of adventurers and speculators more par
ticularly to this point, because Sonora could be more
easily reached by the way of the Gulf of California and
by Arizona. Notwithstanding the great amount of good land to
be found in Sonora, it is far from" being as productive a
State as Sinaloa or Chihuahua, the great difficulty being
the want of water. Thesouthern portion of Sonora is

62
watered by the Zaqui and Mayo Rivers, and contains the
greatest amount of rich, fertile land to be found in the
State. The area embraced within this department of
the State is about sixty miles by one hundred and fifty.
Although these lands are in what is called Tierra Cali-
ente, or hot country, they need no irrigation to enable
them to produce fine crops of corn, cotton, tobacco, &c.
The annual rains commence in the month of June and
continue until the last of September. Upon the first
appearance of rain the ground is plowed and the seed
planted. Although i\% sun is intensely hot, yet the
daily showers keeps the soil moist and nourishes the
crops. The system of farming adopted by the Mexicans
would cause an American farmer to become crazy. Their
plow consists of a crooked limb of a tree, the' lower fork
of which is used to stir up the ground ; a small piece of
iron, about four inches long, is fastened upon the point
of the fork that enters the ground, and this is all the iron
about the whole concern. With this rude and most
primitive instrument — called by the Mexicans a plow —
the ground, to a depth of about four inches, is dug up.
This plowing process is repeated three times during the
season of cultivation. If the weeds and grass make their
appearance they are cut down, but not uprooted ; there
fore, as it may be seen, it is a constant struggle which
shall obtain the mastery, the corn or the weeds. The
advantage is about equally balanced. Still, owing to the
great fertility of the soil, it seldom happens that the
farmer does not gather sufficient corn to recompense him
for the little labor he has bestowed upon his land ; nay,
more, it seems that nature is liberal in the extreme in
giving anything where so little is done by the land
owner to encourage nature's efforts. •

63
An ordinary good crop, which is almost sure to fol
low a reasonable amount of cultivation, is sixty bushels
of corn to the acre — this upon ground that has never
been manured, and yearly in cultivation for a great many
years in succession. The upper part of Sonora, in some
of the valleys where water can be had, wheat of a very
fine quality is raised in great abundance. Large flour mills
have been erected, and flour of a splendid quality is
made in times of peace. Sonora supplies the flour for
Sinaloa, Baja, California, and some parts of Durango
and the extreme western slope of the State of Chihua
hua. Sonora does not raise corn enough to supply the
State with the needful quantity of that grain. There is
land enough, if properly cultivated,. to raise all of the
corn the State needs and have some to export, but a
greater part of the best of the corn and cotton lands are
in the hands of those half-civilized Indians, the Zaquis
and Mayos, whose industry and ambition are confined
to raising just enough for themselves. Like the dog in
the manger, they will neither cultivate the soil them
selves to any great extent, nor will they let any one else
do so. If any attempt is made by the Mexicans to settle
upon and cultivate the waste lands claimed ' by these
Indians, forthwith they fly to arms, and a war is inau
gurated which always ends in favor of these savages —
that is, the Mexicans are worsted in the conflict. ¦_ The
Zaquis keep their land and territory, and thus for ages
one of the most fertile spots upon earth is left unculti
vated — a waste, a desert.
The State of Sinaloa lays south of Sonora, and is
one hundred miles wide by five hundred in length. This
State borders upon the Gulf of Cortez, or California, on
its western side, and its eastern reaches some thirty-five

64
miles into the Sierra Madre. From the Gulf coast- back
some sixty miles or more, extending the whole length of
the State, is one almost uninterrupted garden of ex
tremely fertile agricultural land. The main products
are cOrn, cotton, sugar -cane, and vegetables of every de
scription (except Irish potatoes). This State is watered
by the Fuerte, Ocorona, Sinaloa, Culican, Piastler, Ma-
zatlan, and Rosario Rivers. Besides these principal
rivers, there are numberless other small streams that
makes Sinaloa one of the finest watered of any of the
northwestern States of Mexico.
The Sinaloa and Culican river lands produce enor
mous quantities of corn, beans, and sugar-cane. In fact
this part of Sinaloa may be regarded as the granary of
the Gulf coast. Corn is generally so abundant that
contracts may be yearly made at ten cents per bushel at
the farm. The cheapness of corn in this locality is often
taken advantage of by traders to supply the miners in
the mountain districts with this indispensable grain.
Although the mountains which are embraced in the
four northern States of Mexico are in many parts capa
ble of producing respectable crops of corn and beans,
yet the arable fertile lands which are to be found is not
sufficient to maintain with breadstuffs a dense popula
tion. Still each State has land enough to supply an im
mense number of people. Each one of the States re
ferred to has its proper proportion of mountain and
plain land, thus enabling them to claim a greater or less
area of mineral deposits, with good agricultural land to
produce what the mineral department may need and
cannot raise.
The State of Chihuahua, as may be seen by consult
ing the map, is an enormously large State, and in point

65
of agricultural and mineral wealth is worth a good-sized
kingdom. The mineral resources have already been referred to
in the foregoing papers.
The State of Chihuahua, from the easternmost
boundaries to the foot of the Cordilleras, is almost one
unbroken plain or plateau of good soil. In some places
on this plain water is scarce, and hence the wild, uncul
tivated appearance at the present time. Still there are
ten thousand places upon some or all of the streams that
meander through this part of the State, where farmers
or agriculturists might profitably locate and do well.
Formerly the Camanche and other Indian tribes
roamed over and held undisputed sway of the whole
of the plains of Chihuahua. In a northerly and a west
erly direction from the city of Chihuahua, for one hun
dred and fifty miles, the traveler will pass through corn
and wheat fields unfenced, the cattle being guarded
during the day and corralled at night. The valley of
the Concepcion, in- particular, during the planting sea
son, presents one of the most civilizing and pleasant
appearances. For ninety , miles without a break, you
journey through one grand wheat field.
To the south of the State last named we come to the
State of Durango, which enjoys a portion of the great
plateau of Chihuahua, and being better watered, it is
more productive as a general thing. To describe the
agricultural resources of Durango will be but repeating
what has been already said of Chihuahua. In addition
to the cereals which are cultivated, sugar-cane and
grapes are grown in abundance.

66

THE TAUMARE INDIANS OF CHIHUAHUA.
The districts of Batosegachic and Guazapares, and
the towns of the same name heretofore mentioned as
being two of the most important minerals in the whole
range of the Cordilleras, owe the first vestiges of civ
ilization to the Jesuits, more than three hundred years
ago. At that period this part of Mexico was inhabited
by a wild, warlike race of Indians, which the Jesuit
missionaries attempted to civilize and Christianize also.
To carry out their benevolent designs they established
a mission, No. 8, in what is now called the town of
Guazapares. At first, as may well be supposed, the new faces of
the missionaries were looked upon by the Indians with
anger and distrust. So hostile, in fact, were they, that
the priests were afraid to risk their lives among them
without taking great precaution.
Near to the town of Guazapares. is situated a very
high mountain peak, the top of which is only accessible
by one solitary path. To this mountain, now called
San Miguel, resorted the Jesuit priests for safety.
Upon the very top of the mountain, which is some
7,000 feet above the sea level and over 2,000 feet above
the town and table-land that surrounds it, was found a
small level spot, where the missionaries built their tem
porary dwelling, chapel, and altar. Strange as it may
appear, a spring of pure water gushed out of the moun
tain near the top, which supplied them with this useful
element in abundance. The only approach to their
place of abode was duly guarded, day and night. From
this lofty dwelling-place would these devoted fanatics
sally forth and mingle with the wild, unchristianized

67
dwellers below. By signs, symbols, and various modes,
they finally convinced the Indians that their mission
was one of peace and good-will. Being highly edu
cated men, they soon acquired an insight into, and a
knowledge of, the Indian tongue or language, which
greatly facilitated them in their work of converting
them to the religion of the Catholic church. By dint
of preaching, praying, and humbugging, they at last
succeeded in getting control of the Indian mind, and
finally of his body and soul.
The moment the priests, felt they were secure from
any harm from the Indians, they abandoned their abode
upon the mountain and established themselves upon the
spot where Guazapares now stands. Before leaving San
Miguel, Santa Teresa made her appearance to the
Jesuits, and told them that in what is now the town
and district aforesaid was situated vast treasures of
gold and silver.
This fact was made known to the natives, and forth
with explorations were made which proved Santa Ter
esa a true saint. The first mine of silver opened was
named Santa Teresa, and has ever since been retained
by this mine. ' The vein was found a true, well-formed
. lode, and rich in silver. The ores were found to yield over
$300 per ton. This mine is now owned by the Santa
Clara Mining Company of New York. During the time
this mine was worked by the last Mexican owners, large
quantities of pure silver were found interspersed through
out the vein, and when it was abandoned in consequence
of the influx of water, the mine was left as rich as ever
and the ores abundant. As soon as the Indians were
sufficiently docile and instructed in religious bigotry so
that they became completely subservient in the hands
of their new masters, a church building was commenced

68
by the voluntary labors of the Indians, and, in due
course of time, finished.
The adornments, such as paintings, were executed
by these highly talented priests. The paintings and
pictures made by the Jesuits served still more to create
awe and respect in the minds of the poor savages.
The lamps and candlesticks, and other church orna
ments, were made of pure silver taken from the mine
of Santa Teresa, and fashioned by the cunning craft of
these same missionaries.
The walls of the building were made of adobes, or
large sun-dried brick. The floor in the interior was
laid with white sandstone, taken from a quarry near
the town, and roughly hewn by the Indians.
The church now standing in Guazapares is named
Santa Teresa, and is the third that has been built
upon the same spot, and is now seventy years old.
The outside is rough, and very uninviting in appear
ance; the inside is more artistic, and pleasant to look
upon. The labors of these Jesuit missionaries were at
tended with very happy results, so far as taming of the
Indians was concerned.
They who then and now inhabit the' mountain re
gions of Chihuahua are called Taumares — a mild, honest
race of people, who live by agriculture. They raise
corn, beans, potatoes, fruit, such as apples, pears, quinces,
&c. They have cattle, sheep, goats, few mules and
horses, and many donkeys. They live in towns, villages,
and on farms. They have their own governor and
magistrate, who punishes all crimes committed against
each other without resorting to the courts established
by the government of Mexico. Thefts or murders are of
rare occurrence among them. Their dwellings are rude
and inexpensive, and their mode of living primitive.

69
Their food consists of corn, beans, pumpkins,, and fruit ;
they rarely eat meat, not more than four or five times a
year. Their clothing consists of a woolen serape or
blanket, made from the wool of their sheep and woven
by their wives. This blanket is generally thrown
around their loins by day, and at night serves "as mat
tress, sheet, and bed-quilt, all in one. They wear their
hair long and tied in a cue, which hangs down their
back ; they seldom wear any hat, but go bareheaded in
all seasons and in all kinds of weather.
In their social relations they manifest the benefit of
a partial civilization at least. The men treat their
wives with great consideration ; in fact, the wife is gen
erally consulted in all matters, and her opinion is re
garded as sound, and consequently followed by the hus
band. They are not given to immorality. Instances occur
where the fair sex endeavor to imitate their more refined
and highly civilized* neighbors of this continent, and in
dulge in unlawful lascivious pleasures ; these instances
are the exceptions, and not the rule. Take them all in
all, although they are an honest, inoffensive race of
people, they are to all intents and purposes useless
dwellers upon the earth. They are now just where
they were after their conversion to partial Christianity,
non-progressive and unambitious. All they expect and
care for is to support, from year to year, their miserable
existence. They raise little or nothing to sell, hence
they add nothing to the wealth or civilization of the
country in which they live.
They seldom labor for anybody but themselves;
therefore, as miners or farm laborers, they cannot be
hired. They occupy nearly all of the good agricultural

70
land there is in the mountain regions, and plant just
enough to maintain their families^ until a new crop is
ready to be gathered. Should the harvest by any chance
fail, as it does sometimes, they are put to great straits ;
if they have any cattle, they will sell one or two cows
for corn to the Mexican traders, who are always on the
look-out for any such speculation. If they have no
cattle, they will live on roots and what wild fruit they
may find in the forest. When these Indians are
hungry from short harvest, the squirrels have to suffer,
as well as the wood-rat. They have no fire-arms, and
hence the trouble and labor to catch squirrels is very
great. In hunting these animals they carry an axe, and
fell the trees, sometimes, for several miles before they
capture their victim ; in this way they destroy great
quantities of very fine pine timber.
They have no education; it is a rare thing to find a
Taumare that can read or write, consequently they have
no records or history of their race;* besides, they have
few legends or stories which bear any relation to their
origin. In many parts of the mountains there are large caves
formed by nature in the rocks which are filled with the
dead bodies of Indians. These bodies are packed in
with great regularity, and many have been found in a
tolerable state of preservation. They seem to have been
, stowed away in these caves wrapped in a blanket of
wool or some cotton fabric, which formed their shroud
or winding-sheet. Portions of the blanket or sheet may
still be found. Many of these bodies have the hair still
clinging to the skull and the dried cuticle attached to
the bones. The undecayed or mummified condition of
these corpses is most probably owing to the presence of

71
nitre, which is to be found in the caves in large quanti
ties. Now comes the most curious part of the history of
these bodies in the caves. The present race of Indians
who inhabit the mountains of Chihuahua, and which
have been described, are well known to have existed
in the same locality for over four hundred years, dating
back from this time.
The Taumares say that the bodies found so numerous
in the caves aforesaid are none of their people or race.
That much they are certain of, but to what race they
belong they are totally ignorant. The nearest that they
can get to an accounting for the presence of these dead
Indians, is that of a story handed down from generation
to generation among the Taumares, that once upon a
time, long before their race occupied that part of Mex
ico, a terrible war raged for many years between the
people who then inhabited the country and a race of
people that came from the direction of what is now
known as California and Oregon. These invaders first
crossed the Gila, and Colorado Rivers, and fought their
way until they reached the region now inhabited by the
Taumares. At this point, also, they encountered a host
that disputed their way southward and fought until they
were all killed and scattered, never to come together
again as a nation or people, and their whole country left
desolate. Several years elapsed before they were com
pletely obliterated, and the slain were deposited in these
mountain caves.
This is the only account that can be obtained from
the Indians or any other source relative to these dead
bodies. The Jesuits are silent, also, in regard to this subject ;
for upon examining the writings of the missionaries-left

72
in the church by them and their successors, nothing is
said in relation to this matter.
The Taumares, notwithstanding their general tem
perance morality, have an annual drinking frolic. This
spree takes place after their corn has been gathered
and the year's labor ended. The liquor from which
they become drunken is manufactured in this manner :
Shelled corn is put into large earthen jars and wet with -
water until it commences to ferment, when more water is
added ; in course of time the fermentation has arrived
at the proper stage,, when the liquor produced is drawn
off and drank, until those who drink it are dead drunk.
This liquor is called Tezuina, and is horrible to the
taste, and scarcely fit for swine.
The annual frolic is generally conducted in groups
of several families or a whole village, at which times it
is always understood that one out of the assembled
party shall keep perfectly sober. All the rest — men,
women, and children — get gloriously intoxicated; so
much so, that they are perfectly unconscious. In fact a
half drunk will not do ; the whole programme must be
complied with, and that is to get what is usually called
dead drunk. When this state is reached they fall asleep
wherever they may happen to be, and there remain until
consciousness again returns. The sober watchman now
in turn becomes intoxicated.
Besides the engagement of the annual spree, they
have games of ball-playing, horse and foot-racing. Their
horse-racing does not amount to much, but their foot
races are wonderful exhibitions of speed and endurance.
The women take part in the foot-races, and often out
strip the men in speed and distance. In their foot
races they wear nothing but a piece of cloth around
their loins, and in this way they will run a distance of

73
ninety to one hundred miles between the rising and set
ting of the sun. Those who succeed in making the
circle of a certain mountain a given number of times
within the time above mentioned are winners of the
race. They run for <uo fixed sum, but share in the
winnings, of those who have bet upon them. The
character and condition of these half-civilized Indians
•is a subject of study and profound reflection for the
philosopher, statesman, and philanthropist.
Some men contend that the Indian is as capable as
the white man of a high order of civilization. If so,
there is no evidence of it among the many Christianized
tribes in Mexico. As "a general thing, the Mexicans
treat the different tribes of Indians that are what is
called Christians, with great justice and mercy. They
do not oppress them or rob them, but leave them in
peace and to follow their own mode of life as best they
can. One thing can be said in favor of all of these half-
civilized, partly-Christianized Indian races in Mexico,
and that is, that they are an honest, inoffensive people,
doing but little harm, which is more than can be said of
thjeir Mexican neighbors.
THE GREAT SIERRA MADRE SCENERY, &C.
Near latitude 20 there occurs a break or depression
in the great chain of the Cordilleras, through which a
carriage can be driven without any trouble whatever ;
from thence northward the mountains continue in one
grand, majestic, unbroken condition until the upper line
of Sonora is reached; these two depressions in this
mountain chain are the only two places between the
latitudes indicated by San Bias on the Pacific coast,
150 miles south of Mazatlan, and Arispe in Sonora, or
10

74
Guaymas on the Gulf of California, through which
the Atlantic and Pacific coasts could be connected "by a
railroad. All projects of railroad speculators for reach
ing the Pacific coast anywhere between the points just
named, are perfectly impracticable or impossible of be
ing realized, unless they can climb ' with a. railroad
mountain peaks 9,000 feet high, and descend and ascend
continuously for 180 miles, until the Pacific and Atlan-*
tic levels are reached.
From the Pacific coast, in ascending the Sierra
Madre, until an elevation of 3,000 feet is reached, the
growth of timber or trees is the same as found upon the
level country below ; after that we come to pine and
oak covering the tops and sides of the mountains. The
pines grow to a great height, and make excellent build
ing material.
It must not be supposed that this mountain range is
composed of two sides and a single ridge, running
straight from north to south — no, far from it ; it is one
continual peak after peak, rising higher and higher un
til the back-bone is reached ; that is to say, after going
up one peak — which may take from one to three ho^rs
with a good mule — the traveler supposes that surely
must be the last highest peak he will have to climb.
Great mistake ! He commences to descend, and keeps
going until he is down ; when he was on the other
side he thought at all events there should be a long
valley when he reached the bottom — but no ; it is only
a ravine a few yards wide, and then it is climb again.
So it is day after day, with now and then a small piece
of table land, which, if it were not so small, both man
and mule would feel encouraged and hopeful. .
1 In traveling through the Cordilleras, the traveler
should never be in a hurry; if he is, he becomes dis-

75
couraged, fretful, and unkind to his faithful and true
frien.d, the mule ; let him be well provided with pack
animals, with clothes and abundance of provisions, and
good, industrious, honest servants, and he will be as
happy as need be.
The salubrity of the atmosphere, the ever-clear-
bright sky above; the towering pines and fine, cool,
pure water, with the ever-changing grandeur of the
scenery, is enough to brighten every hope, and gild
with golden visions every thought and pulsation of the
heart ; and when night comes, and the tired mules are
rejoicing in the abundance of grass, good water, and
sweet corn which you have providently and kindly
taken along with you for your best friend, the patient
and serviceable mule ; the fires lighted, and the evening
meal in course of preparation, and finally eaten with a
relish that no epicure or gourmand can ever feel ; the
cigar or pipe lighted, and the stories told — then it is
that true enjoyment is fully realized. Tired nature at
last seeks repose in sleep. Measure out, then, as much
length and breadth as you please of earth, spread your
blankets and sheets, and rest without fear of being
crowded or circumscribed to a narrow bed or a cramped,
seven-by-nine room. One hundred to one that you
sleep sound and awake, refreshed and free from the in
fluence of smothered or foul air always found in close
sleeping-rooms. At this moment, after a good night's
rest, you feel like Sancho Panza, to pronounce a blessing
upon him who first invented sleep.
In travelling north or south, east or west, in the
great Sierra Madre, you often come to some mining or
farming locality where the inhabitants are very primi
tive as well as ignorant ; still, they are not so ignorant
as not to be hospitable and obliging. Among the many

76
sins of the Mexicans, inhospitality is not among them ;
on the contrary, the last tortilla is freely offered to the
traveler and stranger ; they are ever ready to give you
all the information in their power; and if, perchance,
you should light upon one of the least intelligent living
where you may have stopped, he is sure to bring to you
the oracle of the hamlet, or take you to one of a supposed
higher order of information. , Then it is that the whole
village will contrive to be present to see the stranger,
more particularly if he be a foreigner and speaks their
language. His business ended, or his curiosity satisfied,
he is cheerily and heartily bid God-speed and good-
luck upon setting out upon his journey of exploration ;
no cold good-bye will satisfy these simple-hearted
mountaineers ; it is a cordial embrace, a hundred times
good voyage or journey to you, " May God care for you,
and hasten your return." If you should have any med
icines along with you, as the traveler should always be
provided with, and administer to a sick child, or man
or woman, as the case may be, you have, by doing so,
secured for certain your passport to paradise. You can
be but a saint traveling in disguise.
Throughout the whole range of these mountains,
wherever there are people, there corn, beans, pumpkins,
squashes, and various kinds of fruit are raised by the
residents ; upon these they principally live. The scen
ery is not monotonous by any means, for it is constantly
changing and ever attractive.
One of the most remarkable views in the whole
range is to be found near the backbone of the Sierra
Madre, in the State of Chihuahua. 9,000 feet above
sea level the traveler comes to the barranca of Diare-
qua. This barranca or gorge seems to have been 'formed

77
by digging out the highest ridge of the mountain, at
this point, for a distance of some seventy miles. The
distance across at the top -of the barranca, at its most
northern termination or commencement, is about two
miles. The depth is over 5,000 feet, and in many
parts almost perpendicular. Standing at the extreme
northern end, the spectator is obliged to lie face earth
ward while he looks down, or cling to a tree while
doing so, for fear of losing his balance from dizziness ;
at the very bottom may be perceived a white, narrow
streak, which proves to be a river — one of the branches
of the Rio del Fuerte, which empties into the Gulf of
California, 250 miles distant. This barranca is peopled
by the Taumare Indians, who are what the Mexicans
call Gentiles, that is, they never have been baptized ;
they admit of no residents in this barranca but them
selves ; they seldom come out of. it, and only to sell
some surplus fruit. The grandeur and magnificence of
the scenery is something wonderful, and if situated any
where within the United States or Europe would be
visited by travelers and wonder-seekers from all parts,
' and a thousand pens would be busy in relating its won
ders and beauty ; as" it is, it remains an unknown
wonder, almost, and never has been seen by a dozen
foreigners. What makes this barranca appear more
wonderful, is its creation'; if it had been formed as bar
rancas generally are, by the dividing ridges in the
mountains, it would be shorn of its grandeur ; but that
is not the case in this instance. It is, as was said before,
the ridge of the mountain out of which the barranca
has been dug or formed. The mountains upon the east
and west all being lower, in fact the barranca forms the
very back-bone of the range, as is very apparent from

78
the flow of the water or course of the streams ; from
this point in the mountains the waters run in opposite
directions. »
HOW TO REACH THE NORTHERN STATES OF MEXICO — THE
RIVERS, ESTUARIES, HARBORS, OF THE PACIFIC COAST, ETC.
The Americans, as a general thing, know but little
of the northern part of Mexico, and still less how the
traveler for pleasure or business can best visit there.
There are various routes that can be traveled, occupy- ,
ing more or less time and accompanied with greater or
less risk.
First, the route by the way of Vera Cruz to the city
of Mexico, and thence by carriage or diligence to San
Luis Potosi and Zacetetas ; from thence to the city of
Durango; from Durango the traveler can proceed to
Mazatlan on the Pacific, or the city of Chihuahua. From
either of these places he can visit in detail and at his
leisure, the whole length and breadth of the Sierra
Madre and Sierra Caliente, or hot country.
Two other routes are now open and traveled by
stages. These stages both start from San Antonio,
Texas — one is an American mail stage, which runs
weekly from San Antonio to El Paso ; the other is a
Mexican diligence, which makes monthly trips between
San Antonio and the city of Chihuahua. From El Paso
the traveler will have to make his way to Chihuahua or
Durango upon mules. The Mexican diligence is far
preferable, from the fact that it is the shortest of the
two routes to the city of Chihuahua ; besides, this stage
passes through a country which is more or less settled
by people who are engaged in agriculture, manufactures,
grape culture, &c. The security, also, for the lives of

79
the travelers are by this route perfectly assured against
attacks from Indians or robbers, while the route by El
Paso is, very dangerous, on account of the hostility of
the swarming bands of savages, and not free from dan
ger from attacks by the many bushwhackers the civil
war in the United States has let loose to prey upon the
public in that section of Texas and New Mexico through
which the American mail stage is compelled to pass.
The safest, most agreeable, and the least tiresome
route is to take the California steamer to San Francisco,
anal thence by large steamer to Mazatlan or Guaymas.
This steamer leaves San Francisco for the aforesaid
Mexican ports once each month, touching at Cape St.
Lucas and La Paz, in Baja-California ; Mazatlan and
Guaymas, in Sinaloa and Sonora. From Mazatlan the
voyager can ,find mule conveyance to any part of Sina
loa, Durango, Sonora, or Chihuahua. From Guaymas,
also, to any of the latter-named States, the conveyance
is by mules.
Traveling in any of these States is perfectly safe
without escort of any kind, except it may be in the up
per part of Sonora, which is more or less infested by the
Apache Indians. These Indians invade the upper part
of Sonora from Arizona, and render life in that section
very unsafe. With this exception, the traveler will find
he can visit nearly the whole of northern Mexico with
out ever being molested in any way, or insulted in a sin
gle instance. If he conducts himself as a jovial, good-
natured gentleman should, minding his own business,
and paying a reasonable price for what he has occasion
to buy, he will find that sensation letter-writers, who
represent all Mexico as a hot-bed of robbers, are quite
mistaken. Whatever sins central Mexico may have to

80
justly bear for robberies daily committed upon the pub
lic highway, northern Mexico is certainly quite free from
this curse of civilization.
If, perchance,, one of these enlightened Jack Shep
pards should make his appearance there, the country,
large as it is, and temperate as the climate may be, sud
denly becomes too hot for him.
RIVERS AND ESTUARIES.
The rivers which empty into the Gulf of California
or the Pacific Ocean, are none of them navigated, or are
they navigable any distance from their mouth for any
but very small craft. In the rainy season large boats
might go up some of the rivers to a considerable dis
tance, if they were not particular when they returned.
The great difficulty with all of these Mexican rivers is,
that they rise very suddenly and as suddenly fall. The
rains only falling annually from the last of June to the
first of October, leaves the rivers without any source of
supply ; hence a large part of the year they are very
low, and at all times full of sand-bars, rocks, and other
obstructions. The Zaqui, in Sonora, and the Fuerte, in
Sinaloa, might be made navigable, by an expenditure of
two hundred thousand dollars, a distance of sixty miles
in an air line, or one hundred and twenty taking the
windings of the river.
The Gulf coast, from Mazatlan to Guaymas, is hap
pily provided with a great number of estuaries, which
are navigable some forty to fifty miles back from the
coast by vessels of from fifty to one hundred tons bur
then. Although the rivers are not used for commerce
yet these estuaries are patronized to a great extent by
vessels conveying goods and machinery for the interior.

81
During the hurricane season, which commences in Au
gust and lasts until October, the timid Mexican mariner
finds in these estuaries a perfectly safe and snug retreat
for his tiny craft. HARBORS.
The whole Gulf and Pacific coast of Mexico cannot
boast of but a few good harbors for large vessels. Guay
mas, a new port called Libertad, on the Gulf of Cali
fornia, Manzannillo and Acapulco, on the ocean coast,
are all that can be called harbors ; the harbor at Guay
mas being the largest and best of all. Manzannillo is
very small, but a very pretty little port withal. Al
though Mazatlan is a place of considerable importance,
still there is no good harbor there ; what is called a
harbor is very unsafe, and nothing but an open road
stead. Vessels lying there are subject .to the influence
of the wind and waves from all points of the compass.
By making breakwaters and other improvements, a
decent harbor might be made, but at a cost of several
millions of dollars. San Bias, one hundred and fifty
miles south of Mazatlan — the most proper terminus for
a railroad across from Texas to the Pacific — is also des
titute of any good harbor. Still, money and engineer
ing skill could supply this deficiency.
' Upon the west side of the peninsula of Baja-Cali-
fornia, there is a large bay called Magdalena, which
affords a,good shelter for vessels. This bay is only fre
quented by vessels in search of whales, who resort
thither to have their young. I know of nothing that
will ever make this place valuable for commerce, inas:-
much as it is so located as to be out of the reach of any
trade except it be the whales aforesaid. If the penin-
n

82
sula of Lower California was a fertile country — a coun
try capable of sustaining anything like a decently large
population — then this bay and harbor might be valua
ble and useful ; but the reverse being the fact, so far as
the peninsula is concerned, this bay may be regarded as
being in the wrong place, and therefore useless for com
merce. CITIES AND TOWNS IN NORTHERN MEXICO.
Mazatlan, in the State of Sinaloa, is a city of some
twelve thousand inhabitants. The houses are generally
well built, the materials for the walls being good well-
burnt brick, and laid in lime mortar ; they are all plas
tered, outside as well as inside, and afterward white
washed. The ornamental part of the outside, such as
the cornice and moulding of the doors and windows,
which are always wrought and fashioned in mortar in
stead of wood, are frequently painted red, or some color
that contrasts with the everlasting whiteness of the
structure generally. This white appearance of the city
is very pretty to look at from a distance, but in a hot,
tropical climate, where the sun's rays are so intensely
bright, it becomes very painful to the eyes.
Mazatlan is one of the youngest of Mexican cities,
being not over forty years since the first decent house
was built. The first brick house erected there, nearly
forty years ago, was built by John Parrot, an American
citizen, and afterward American consul, now an eminent
and wealthy banker in San Francisco. The commerce
of Mazatlan is mostly in the hands of foreigners, such
as English, Spanish, German, and French. The English
and German are the most enterprising and energetic
A great part of Durango, all of Sinaloa, part of So-

83
nora and Chihuahua, and Baja-California, are supplied
with goods by the Mazatlan merchants. In exchange
they receive the only thing Mexico has to pay with, that
is, silver and gold. It is no uncommon thing in peaceable
or. semi-peaceable times, 'to see three hundred mules
come into Mazatlan, laden with silver from the mining
districts of Durango and Sinaloa, each mule carrying
two hundred and fifty to three hundred pounds of sil
ver as his legitimate cargo or load.
Formerly logwood was exported in large quantities
from Mazatlan as a return cargo for vessels' that come
from Europe with goods for the English and German
merchants ; but that trade has, in a great degree, been
abandoned. These foreign merchants are the princes of the land ;
they live in good style, and put on many aristocratic
airs which their great profits enable them to main
tain. In former years, before the advent of Max. of
Hapsburg, these merchants had things all their own
way ; for instance, if one of them had news that a ship
of theirs had cleared from an English or German port
with goods for their house, they lost no time in inform
ing the collector of the port of the event, and furnish
ing him an invoice of the goods. The duties that would
be due upon the vessel's safe arrival, would be carefully
ascertained. If the amount should be found to be
$100,000, $40,000 would be offered to the Government
in advance in full of all demands. This amount, as a
matter of course, was always accepted by the Govern
ment, and when the ship arrived the goods were exam
ined, found to correspond with the invoice, and all was
settled. In this way all competition was shut out, and
"these merchants for years were enabled to control this
branch of trade against all outsiders.

84
But the would-be Emperor Max. put a stop to this
mode of doing business. He exacted full duties from
all importers, let them be of what nation or color they
might happen to be. This rigid execution of the law
was so sudden and unexpected that these foreign mer
chants became great enemies to the imperial way of
doing business, and therefore they yearned for the re
turn of the good old days of corruption and misrule
in high and low places. Before the advent of his
serene highness, and while the invasion of Mexico was
being contemplated and talked about, these same aris
tocratic merchants were highly in favor of the contem
plated change in the Government, but the moment the
change occurred, and they found they could not buy
the new parties in power, and that a poor man had just
as good a chance to import goods as they had, and
required to pay no more duties, then their rage and dis
gust knew no bounds. It was now discovered that
these merchants were all in favor of Republican form
of Government, although they had been born and reared
under the influence of monarchical rule, while the poor
trader who had always been a Republican, was all of a
sudden strongly advocating the [empire of Max. Inter
est makes strange bed-fellows among men.
Culican is an interior city, distant from Mazatlan
eighty-five leagues north, and from the coast sixteen
leagues — Altala being the port of Culican upon the
Gulf of California. The city is well built, mostly of
white sand-stone; the houses are spacious and very
comfortable. ' Ten years ago Culican contained about
fifteen thousand inhabitants, many of which were very
wealthy and aristocratic. The civil war which com
menced so violently in 1857, proved very destructive

85
to the people of Culican. From a wealthy business
place, it has become in a great degree deserted and
ruined. Houses that, a few years ago, cost $40,000, can
now be bought for $1,000, such has been the decay.
Formerly this city was the capital of the State. The
Vega family, who ruled and bled the State of Sinaloa
for so many years, resided in Culican, and owned a large
portion of the city and its surroundings. The Mexican
Government have a mint and assay office here", which
done a very large amount of business, especially when
the mines in Cosala, Guadalupe and Calvo were being
worked. Between revolutions and forced loans, levied by
every political or military chieftain during the last ten
years, the Vega family and all others who had any
money, have become completely shorn of their wealth
and political influence, and some of them their lives also.
Many of the large stone mansions that a few years ago
were the abodes of wealth and refinement, are now occu
pied by bats, rats and other vermin. The glory of, the
Vigas and Verdugos has departed, never to return. If
ever Mexico becomes a prosperous country, which a
stable and good government only can produce, Culican
will again revive and become the great business mart
of middle Sinaloa. The mineral interest of a portion of
Durango, a part of Chihuahua, and more than two-
thirds of the State of Sinaloa, will center at this city.
In whatever direction from Culican one travels, he finds
the agricultural and mineral resources to be immense.
The pity of the traveler of progressive ideas is excited
when he views so many elements of wealth lying idle
and unimproved. He feels like calling down curses upon
the heads of all political scoundrels and religious bigots,

86
that by their lust for power, place, and money, are
guilty of laying waste such a garden spot, and paralyz
ing the productive industry of a nation.
Durango, the capital of the State of the same name,
is a well built, and at one time highly flourishing
inland city. It stands upon the extreme eastern slope,
or at the foot of the Great Sierra Madre. The city owes
its prosperity and almost existence to a miner, who
built her splendid cathedral and a great portion of the
many public buildings and private palaces from the
wealth he derived from his mines in San Demas and
Guaresimez. Durango will long recollect with affection
and respect Zambrano, the prince of miners in Northern
Mexico. The town of Sinaloa, 156 leagues north of Mazat
lan, and situated on the river Sinaloa, in the midst of *a
remarkably rich agricultural district, is an old town of
about five thousand inhabitants. Old as it is, and
haying been at one time the capital of the intendencies
of Sonora and Sinaloa before they became States, is
poorly built, and presents a miserable appearance.
Nothing but peace and good government is wanting to
enable Sinaloa to advance in a career of great prosperity.
Situated as it is in the midst of the great granary of
the Pacific coast, and upon the great highway from the
rich mineral districts of Chihuahua to Mazatlan and the
other coast ports, thereris no reason why Sinaloa should
not become a very important town or city.
Villa del Fuerte, twenty-eight leagues northwest of
Sinaloa, contains four thousand inhabitants. There are
some veiy fine brick buildings in this village, but the

87
great majority of houses are poorly built and uninviting
in appearance. It is situated upon a river of the same
name as the town. Fuerte is a place of considerable
trade, being surrounded with a fine agricultural coun
try, which is occupied by farmers who raise large num
bers of cattle, mules, and horses. The trade with the
mining districts is large, more or less of these contribu
ting to the wealth of the country.
Alamos, twenty-eight leagues distant from Fuerte,
in the State of Sonora, is a mining town— that is, the
town was built from the actual products of the mines
of Sonora, and more particularly from those mines within
the immediate vicinity of the town. For the most part
the place is well built, stone and brick being the mate
rial generally employed. The population amounts to
about four thousand.
During the conflict caused by the rOyal fillibuster
Maximilian, of Hapsburg, this town was repeatedly be
sieged by the different contending parties, and as often
taken by one or the other of the armies. At last, in
1865, the Imperialists were driven completely out of
Alamos, and concentrated themselves in Guaymas, leav
ing the lower part of Sonora entirely. Alamos, during
these different sieges, suffered dreadfully. Both parties,
whenever they succeeded in taking the town, levied con
tributions or forced loans upon the inhabitants, which.
resulted at last in impoverishing every wealthy person
in the place. The government of Mexico has a mint
here, which coins about $1,100,000 per annum in the
most disastrous of times.
Guaymas is a city in Sonora, and is situated upon
the Gulf of California, four hundred and fifty miles north-

88
west from Mazatlan. It contains about eight thousand
inhabitants. Guaymas has a very fine harbor, being
protected from storms by land upon all sides ; in other
words, it is, what is called land-locked. The water is
deep and the harbor spacious. The temperature in the
summer is of a high order, and Guaymas may be em
phatically pronounced a hot, disagreeable place to live
in. It is so completely shut in on all sides by high,
barren hills that no breeze can reach the city to dissipate
the heat or render it more tolerable.
Chihuahua. — This city is situated upon the great
plateau or plains in the State of that name. This great
inland and beautiful city was built a great many years
ago from the products of the celebrated silver mines of
Santa Eulalia, distant from the city about fifteen miles.
The cathedral is quite a large building, built of cut sand
stone from bottom to the very cross upon the towers.
The roof is also of stone, in the form of groined arches.
The exterior is a model of beauty. The moldings and
ornaments of a thousand kinds are all cut in the stone.
The only wood about the whole structure are the doors.
The city contains about twelve thousand inhabitants.
The houses are generally built of stone. The sidewalks
are paved with flagging or large flat sandstone slabs.
The streets are paved with stone taken from the river
bed. When the mines of Santa Eulalia were being
worked vigorously, Chihuahua contained as many as
sixty thousand people. The trade with the city is now
quite considerable, being the only large depot for many
hundreds of miles around of goods of all descriptions.
The government have a mint which coins yearly about
$1,000,000.

89
Parral, Santa Rosalia, Las Cienugas, are towns in the
State of Chihuahua, supported by manufactures, agri
culture, and mining. Cienugas is a new town, having
sprung into existence from the wealth derived by grape
culture and wine making.
Arispe, Ures, and Hermosillo, in Sonora, are towns
supported by mines and wheat raising. Hermosillo. is
ninety miles north of Guaymas, and in the center of a
very fertile valley, where immense wheat fields are an
nually planted. There are also large flour mills erected
which convert the wheat into flour for market. .The
flour made from the Sonora wheat is of a very superior
quality, and possesses the merit of keeping perfectly
sweet for a longer time in a hot climate than any flour
known. They pack the flour in bags made of cotton
cloth, and it has been known to keep perfectly well for
over two years in a tropical climate. Whether this is
owing to any quality the wheat possesses or not, may be
left to the speculation of the curious.
THE MORAL, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL CONDITION OF MEX
ICO.
In the few preceding pages a short description has
been given of the mineral and agricultural resources of
the Northern States of the Mexican Republic.
When we take into consideration the unexampled
riches of every description that Mexico as a territory
has been blessed with, it seems strange that the people
inhabiting it should have done so little to take advan
tage of these riches and thereby advance in every ele-,
ment of civilization.
Notwithstanding the advantages that the Mexican
12

90
people have enjoyed in the possession of a fertile soil
and a climate unsurpassed in salubrity and boundless
mineral riches, they are three hundred or more years
behind countries much less favored by nature: Their
mode of cultivating the goil is rude, and yet so rich is
the soil that large crops of cereals are sure to follow.
Their morals, as a general thing, are of a very low
standard ; gambling and infidelity are among their be
setting sins. It is a rare thing to find a man who is
chaste in his life or who does not gamble. It is still
more rare to find a man who advocates chastity as one
of the cardinal virtues, which, if wanting in any one,.
however many other excellencies he may possess, is but
a gilded cheat.
The females are really the superior Of the men or
males in every qualification that goes to ennoble man
kind. They are gifted with rare beauty of face and
person, and highly graceful by nature in their move
ments. The universal opinion abroad, that the Mexican
women are unchaste, is a great error. They are no more
so than the women of more civilized nations, and yet
their advantages for the cultivation of womanly purity
are far from being as numerous as elsewhere. The men
are so shameless in their morals, and their general con
versation in the presence of the females is so demoral
izing, that it seems passing strange that there should
be any women found who were not wantonly inclined.
Still it is otherwise. No more true, kind, generous,
amiable, or self-sacrificing women are to be found upon
earth than the Mexicans. Generally they are unedu
cated, so far as book learning is concerned ; but notwith
standing the lack of that, they manifest an intelligence
and good common sense that puzzles the stranger. Their

91
aptitude for the details of many kinds of business is
oftentimes strikingly displayed ; in fact in this respect
they are not generally surpassed by the men.
As a general practice, the men, who style themselves
the lords of creation, take no pains to inculcate purity
among the other sex, hence the females are entitled to
more credit for their general characters.
But how are we to account for the general demoral
ization of the Mexican people ? The revolutionary war
that resulted in the separation of this beautiful creation
from Spain was waged by both priest and people, and
therefore was in no sense a religious war. It was not
fought to free the people from religious oppression, but
that the priests might have still greater power and
greater riches. The whole secret of the degraded and
immoral condition of the Mexican people is to be
found in the past rule and example of the priest
hood of Mexico. Although many good men are to
be found among the legion of priests, still the great
majority were ignorant, dishonest, and led shameless
lives. They never raised a hand or voice to ameliorate
the moral or physical condition of the people, but on
the contrary, used the whole power of the church to
keep them in subserviency and ignorant of all human
rights. If their religion teaches morality, virtue and
progress, the Mexican priest was ever -careful to con
ceal it, and in their lives they taught quite a dif
ferent doctrine. Therefore, if the Mexican people are
demoralized, degraded, ignorant, lazy, and npn-progres-
sive, the whole blame can be traced to this accursed
priesthood, which became fastened upon the necks of
the whole nation of people and served to drag them
down, and back to their present condition.

92
Whatever theories may be advanced for the final re
generation of the Mexican people, - nothing will prove
effectual but- universal education disrobed of all re
ligious teachings, and thus bigotry and superstition
made to give place to toleration. The moral upas that
have so long poisoned the great mass of the citizens of
Mexico must find the proper antidote and apply the
remedy at once, or they are lost. Fortunately, within a
few years, the priests have been shorn of their power,
and there is some faint hopes that a more happy time is
in store' for the country.
Previous to the year 1857 the clergy of Mexico had
everything, their own way. Besides keeping the great
body of the people in ignorance, they encouraged and
maintained the ancient law of peonage, a system of serv
itude worse by far in its moral and .physical effects than
any system of slavery known upon this continent. Be
sides, they insisted upon performing the marriage cere
mony, thus legalizing all marriages . and charging such
high fees that but few could indulge in the luxury.
What were the poor to do in such a state of things that
perhaps in their whole lives they never saw as much
money as the priest asked for marrying them ? Why,
reader, he had to do as best he could — live in a state of
concubinage and raise up a race of illegitimate children.
Is it any wonder that the Mexican morals should be
so debased, when every measure that a corrupt priesthood
could invent was put in force to demoralize a people \
On the contrary, is it not a wonder that any semblance of
morality and virtue is to be found in the land ! What
a spectacle, to behold the professed teachers of the reli
gion of one of the purest moralists and best of men that
ever lived, enacting laws which from their very nature

93
debars the people from following the precepts and exam
ple of him who taught the observance of the highest
order of virtuous life ! The blistering, blighting curse
of a corrupt and wicked priesthood are everywhere vis
ible in Mexico. The gaze of every lover of his kind be
comes wearied in looking for one single redeeming feature
in the past rule of these ghostly priests among, and over
the people of Mexico. POLITICAL CONDITION.
The frequent revolutions that occurred in Mexico
prior to the year 1855 were all alike, and had their origin
from the same cause, and the results were generally de
termined by the amount of money spent and the side
that the priests favored the most. In other words, these
civil wars were contests between the party in power and
some ambitious military or political chieftain who wanted
to get into place if only to be removed next day. Until
the date before-mentioned there never was any principle
involved in the various contests waged by the various
leading contestants for power. Finally the little progres
sive leaven that was found to exist even in poor priest-
ridden Mexico began to work, until it reached a very re
spectable proportion. For the first time the progressive
or liberal party organized armies and took the field and
unfurled their banners to the breeze, avowing their hos
tility to the power of the church, and determined to
crush this hydra-headed monster and introduce reforms
and free the people from their vassalage. For the first
time in the history of Mexican revolutions, blood flowed
in streams. This was not a holiday's fight ; there were
principles to be fought for on the one side and the power
of the church to fight for upon the other. The liberals

94
had undertaken a herculean task. They were poor and
the church rich. One went into the conflict with the
simple words — Constitution of 1857 : Progress, Liberty,
and Reform. The other, with the money-bags of the
church and the cross for a banner, and promises of ab
solution from the bishop.
The leaven of progress before spoken of, spread with
wonderful rapidity, and before three years had elapsed
the great mass of the people were enrolled upon the side
of the liberal party, and they became masters of the
whole country. Although beaten and driven from
power, and their immense property become subject to
the wants of the State, the chosen adherents were not to
submit ; so, by their persistent intrigues, they finally
brought about the intervention which ushered into exist
ence the royal fillibuster Maximilian of Hapsburg. What
an unhappy state of affairs! After years of bloody
struggle and an expenditure of untold millions of money,
the whole political status of Mexico and the liberal party
was suddenly changed. Their capital taken, their coun
try overrun by foreign troops, an emperor installed in
the halls of the Montezumas, and the ruler chosen by
the people retreating from point to point, until he .
reached a friendly frontier.
If such a state of affairs was not enough to make the
heart faint, what could ? Still the liberals did not give
up in despair, but fought and retreated, and then fought
again and again, until, with the aid of the United States,
the French troops were withdrawn from the country, and
the faction Avho remained with Max were completely
routed, dispersed, and taken prisoners, and his imperial
highness shot, and the people's President once more re-

95
instated in the palace from whence he was driven by
the minions of the church.
This short and necessarily imperfect history of the
struggles of the progressive or anti-church party in Mex
ico, is but history repeating itself. It is the same old
story of liberty contending against the tyranny of the
priesthood. It is progressive ideas struggling against
the despotism and degrading influence of priestcraft.
The present condition of Mexico is one of peculiar
peril. During the time she has been fighting the church
party, the liberals have had no time to put into opera
tion her proposed reforms, so far as educating the masses
. of the people are concerned, consequently the ignorance
and demoralized condition of the country acts as an in
cubus upon the energies of the more intelligent and
patriotic. THE FUTURE' OF MEXICO. ,
One favorable circumstance in regard to the future
of Mexico is that, owing to her having no credit abroad,
she has been unable to borrow money or run up a debt
to any large amount. What the country does owe, was
contracted many, years ago, before the revolutions so
often indulged in became chronic.
The wars waged during the last ten years has been
carried on by forced contributions from friend and foe
(and more particularly foe), in every part of the repub
lic. Although this system has had a tendency to im
poverish the people and paralyze the industry of the
whole country, it has enabled the liberals to wage a
bloody war without incurring any great amount of debt.
It is a rare thing to see a nation or people keep from

96
fifty to one hundred thousand men in the field for ten
years without incurring a debt, especially where the rev
enue that should come to the legitimate government falls
into the hands of their enemies or invaders.
The present disordered state of finances of the Mex
ican government, and the well-known dishonesty of a
greater part of the officials who have the handling of the
money, and the general incapacity of the leading men
of that country in matters of finance and statesmanship,
calls for some speedy relief both as to the management
of the finances of the country and a loan of several mil
lions until matters relating to revenue can be properly
adjusted. This relief, both as to a financial manager and a loan,
must come from some country outside of Mexico. Mex
ico does not contain a single individual capable of man
aging and regulating the monetary affairs of the govern
ment, even if he has hjs own way in every scheme he
may suggest.
If Mexico could have peace—continued peace — and
some wise, disinterested financial head to manage her rev
enue, prosperity would at once spring up and spread
over the whole country. Unless something of this kind
is done,, disintegration must continue until the country
is hopelessly lost and her sources of wealth pass into
other hands.
Mexico, with but slight taxation, can collect a yearly
revenue of $35,000,000, and administer to all of the
wants of a liberal government for $25,000,000, leaving
$10,000,000 for educating the people. Will she do it ?
The present and future rulers of Mexico have a gigan
tic reformatory work before them. No country on earth
claiming to be civilized or half civilized needs the prun-

97
ing hand of intelligent, wise statesmanship, so much
as Mexico at this moment.
The mental and physical degradation heaped upon
the whole people of Mexico by the selfishness and short
sighted policy of Old Spain, and the influence of a cor
rupt priesthood, has all to be eradicated and remedied
by education and a wise course of legislation.
Patriotism must take the place of corruption in high
places, and vigorous endeavors put forth to change the
apathy of the people into energetic action in behalf of
themselves. The present system, of one individual hold
ing in his own right the land embraced within the lim
its of one-half of a State, as is now the case in some
instances, and paying no tax thereon, must be abolished.
Some means must be taken to give the mass of the peo
ple a chance to oavu and cultivate the soil, and enjoy the
fruits of his labor, instead of being compelled to labor
for the great landholder for a mere pittance — a sum so
insignificantly small that he is unable to either clothe or
educate his children. By law peonage has been abol
ished, but, nominally forced labor is still practiced, for
the very reason that no encouragement is given to the
laboring classes to pursue a different life. The old feudal
laws and practices are hard for both master and servant
to forget, and where civil Avar, and a war against invad
ers is being waged for many years, involving all classes
of the citizens, it is difficult to put in force the reforms
contemplated by the party of progress ; it becomes still
more difficult to carry out the proposed changes for the
amelioration of the people, when the rulers, as a general
thing, are ignorant hoAV to go about it. Their theories
are very sound and read Avell upon parchment, Until
the moral and social condition- of the Avhole nation is
changed, Mexico will flounder about in the darkness and
13.

98
gloom that ignorance and' non-intercourse with highly^
civilized nations has entailed upon her. These changes,
as a matter of course, must come gradually ; but unless
the seed is planted at once, and cultivated with earnest
assiduity by the statesmen of the country, ages will
elapse before the lover of his country will see Mexico
begin to take rank Avith the intelligent progressive na
tions of this century.
What Mexico now needs is patriotic statesmen at the
head of the government, and, not diplomatic tricksters,
military chieftains, or political place-hunters. Wise men,
and years upon years of peace, Avill regenerate Mexico
and cause the richest spot upon earth to send forth her
treasures, give wing to commerce, encourage scientific
agriculture, the mechanic arts, and every branch of hu
man industry. The first great change to be effected in
Mexico is Avith the educated or partially educated classes.
They must learn the first great principle of human rights,-
and then teach it to the people at large. >
When the people are fully educated to know and
feel that they are not machines, but men with inaliena
ble rights, among which is life, liberty, and happiness ;
that they hava a right to labor and enjoy the fruits of
that labor, and that no military chieftain can drag him
from his home, manacled Avith iron like some base crim
inal, to fight in the chieftain's behalf to avenge some
personal hate or raise him to poAver for the purposes of
robbery,. then, and only then, will the people of Mex
ico be prepared to assume their place among civilized
people. The rulers of Mexico, when they have learned well
in Avhat human rights consist, they will readily see that
the tendency of industry and civilization is to diffuse

99
happiness among every order of the community, to in
crease the enjoyments which Avealth commands, and to
diminish the evils to Avhich poverty is exposed. The
mental and moral education of the lower orders tend to
strengthen, ennoble, and make lasting the government.
Knowledge does not breed discontent, as many of the
educated men of Mexico are prone to believe. They
certainly ought to know by this time, that ignorance
seems to be the parent of anarchy and crime of every
sort. In a country where the people are educated and free,
the loudest clamors of sedition are sounded in vain, and
therefore reATolutions and pronunciamentos are impossi
ble. We repeat, the better class of Mexicans — as those
who have more or less education call themselves — must
shake off the shackles that a false education has imposed
upon them, and become enlightened teachers of the
masses of their countrymen. By so doing they will
hasten the great Avork before the nation, and cause them
to rise from the darkness that bigotry and superstition
has so long enveloped them, and introduce the people to
that glorious light that education and freedom imparts
to mankind.
v Products of the Silver Mines of Mexico.
The following statement of the yield of some of the
mines of silver, in Mexico, approaches near the truth,
although it must always be remembered that OAving to
the insane policy of making the exportation of silver
bullion from Mexico contraband, and charging so high
an export duty upon coined gold or silver, that a large
amount of both bullion and coin is yearly smuggled out
of the country, and hence no account has been given

100
either by past or present writers upon the products of
the precious metals of Mexico ;
The San Dumas Mines gave betAveen 1783 and 1807,
$55,000,0*00. This Avas over $2,000,000 per year for
twenty-four years.
The Pavillion divided among its shareholders over
$6,000,000 per annum.
The Sombrerite in seven months paid its shareholders
$5,000,000. The San Avario paid its shareholders in three years
$54,000,000. The Gallego paid its stockholders in six jears
$11,000,000. The Viscaina vein has yielded $17,000,000.
The San Anita vein has yielded $22,000,000.
The Vateuca vein has yielded $31,000,000.
The Rages vein has. produced $8-6,000,000.
The Veta Madre vein has yielded $225,000,000.
Baron Humboldt estimates the products of the
Mexican mines from 1537. to 1731 at $2,570,000,000.
He further says, from the discovery of NeAV Spain to
the commencement of the nineteenth century, the product
of the precious metals was $4,218,243,840. ¦
The Mexican mines tripled in fifty years and sex-
tripled in one hundred years, and will admit of still
greater increase should a liberal, free, and . progressive
policy be pursued by the statesmen or leading men of
the country, for where one mine was Avorked under
Spanish rule there Would be twenty uoav, and owing to
the progress made by science and art in the treatment
of ores, the gross products Avould be more than tAventy
times as great.
Owing, as was said before, to the short-sighted policy

101
of the people of Mexico in attempting to keep the min
eral products from leaving their country, they invite
smuggling and the secrecy that has been generally ob
served by mine owners and merchants who produce the
silver, and who buy it and ship it abroad in bullion
clandestinely ; therefore it is impossible to estimate cor
rectly the real product of the mines from any statistics
procured at the different mints, hence the foregoing state
ments are only good so far as they go. The only way
to ascertain correctly the real quantity of silver and
gold extracted frOm the mines of Mexico, is to visit the
different mints and all of the mines that are worked
in the country, and by patient labor collect the facts.
This labor has not been taken by any Avriter who has
given figures heretofore upon this subject. Therefore
the real production of gold and silver in Mexico has
never been given ; the statements made by different
writers have all been below rather than above the truth.
During the residence of Mr. Chipman in Mexico (thir
teen years), he has taken great pains to ascertain how
much gold, silver and copper were yearly thrown into
circulation from "the Mexican mines, and without any
desire to magnify the amount, he found that from 1856
to 1862 the yearly product did not fall below $37,000,-
000. Since 1862 the annual product has not been so
great, owing principally to the intensity of the civil war,
and finally the invasion of Mexico by the French. Dur
ing all of these intestine and foreign troubles the Mexi
can miners alone have been the ones who suffered — _
Americans who have been engaged in this great indus
trial pursuit have been generally unmolested, and never
interfered with except by the French or Imperialists.
That is to say the Mexicans generally, and the govern-

102

ment of the liberal party in particular, have ever
evinced a friendship for the Americans who were en
gaged in mining, that is highly creditable and praise
worthy. They have even gone so far as to ignore cer
tain old fashioned laws that seemed in the mass of free
movement, which was never known before, in fact doing
everything they could to encourage the working of the
mines by the Americans. What the French, with Max.
as Emperor, might have done if they had been left alone
by the United States we cannot tell, but what they did
Ave well know. One thing is certain, the Mexican and
American miners in Mexico are under great obligations
to the Government of the United States for running the
French, Austrians and Belgians out of Mexico and crush
ing the attempt to foist upon Mexico the non-progressive
rule of one educated among the rotten and bigoted
dynasties of the old world.
The Mexican mines are numerous and rich, and all
that is wanting to produce 1,000,000,000 of dollars
yearly is peace, population, capital, and above all a free,
liberal and just government. '

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