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DID YOU KNOW?
FACTS & FICTION WITH A MEXICAN TWIST
NOVEMBER 2007Did you know that...
...November 7, 2007, marks the centenary of the death of Jesús García, the "Hero of Nacozari"?
A hundred years ago this month, a young locomotive driver had to make a desperate decision: save his own life or try to save the lives of hundreds in his home town? Choosing the latter, he drove his dynamite-laden train away from the town but it finally exploded, killing him instantly. He was only 50 meters from safety. Just 50 meters further, and he could have abandoned the locomotive to its fate and jumped off the burning train to save his own skin.
(Detail of photo in Lewis W. Douglas Collection, U. of Arizona)  |
His actions saved the town. Jesús García became a national hero. In his honor, November 7 is celebrated each year as Día del Ferrocarrilero (Day of the Railroad Worker).
By the end of the nineteenth century, Nacozari (the name means "abundance of prickly pears") was a lively frontier town of about 5,000 people. A worldwide copper boom promised to be the town's path to future wealth. Copper was needed for engines, motors, power plants, telephones, telegraph, pipes, rods and wire; demand was rising rapidly. Workers flocked in.
In 1895, Nacozari's copper mines were owned by Moctezuma Copper Corporation, a subsidiary of Phelps Dodge. The following year, an important copper reserve was discovered nearby at Pilares. The company enlarged the town, building homes, stores, workshops, warehouses, furnaces and ore concentrators. All the supplies had to be brought in by mule train; most items came from Arizona or California. Ore was packed out of the mines, also by mules.
Jesús García had been born Nov 13, 1883 in Hermosillo, Sonora. His mother moved with her eight children to Nacozari in 1898...
García drove locomotive number 2, transporting mineral ore and supplies between the loading yards in the town and the mine. Just after 2 p.m., García set off towards the mine. Locomotive number 2 was pulling several cars, the front two of which were open cars containing 70 boxes of dynamite, detonators and fuses. This was strictly against company regulations which stated that dynamite must be carried only in the rear cars. Other cars that day contained bales of hay. As they pulled out of the lower yard, stray sparks from the train's chimney stack were blown back onto the first cars, causing a box of dynamite to begin smoking...
Corrido de la Máquina 501 |
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la que corrió por Sonora, por eso los garroteros el que no suspira, llora. |
"Jesús, vámonos apeando, mira que el carro de atrás ya se nos viene quemando." |
To see all the words of the song, and read the complete article . . .Don Dedora and Bob Robles. Goodbye García Adiós: the true and powerful story of one of Mexico's authentic heroes. Northland Press. 1976. This great bilingual book is well researched, with excellent photos and a glossary.
Peter Laux. Famous Mexicans on their Stamps: Jesús García, The Hero of Nacozari. Edited by Michael D. Roberts.
Text © Copyright 2007 by Tony Burton. All rights reserved.
- - - Sombrero Books Page
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