During the month of June . . .

Table of Contents

ROUTE FROM PHILIPPINES BACK TO MEXICO FINALLY FOUND!

ALGERIAN FORCES TAKE ACAPULCO.

FIRST EUROPEANS VISIT AZTEC CAPITAL

FLOODS THREATEN MEXICO CITY

DOWN WITH MOCTEZUMA!

THE EMPEROR IS EXECUTED! LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!

ROUTE FROM PHILIPPINES BACK TO MEXICO FINALLY FOUND!

June 1, 1565. Andrés de Urdaneta sets sail from the Philippine Islands on what eventually becomes recognized as a landmark voyage in sailing history. His return to New Spain, by sailing across the Pacific Ocean from west to east, is the earliest documented successful voyage in this direction. His achievement opens up the possibility of using Mexican ports such as Acapulco and San Blas for trans-Pacific trade.

1, 1906. A general strike begins at the Cananea Copper Mine in Sonora. Workers demand improved working conditions, an 8-hour day, and salary equality with U.S. workers performing the same jobs. The mining company, Cananea Consolidated Mining Co., replies with force and 10 miners are killed in the fighting which results. The next day, state police, accompanied by U.S. Rangers, arrive to quell the violence. On June 5, the leaders are taken into custody and the strike ends.

2, 1774. By Royal Seal, King Charles III of Spain authorizes the outrageously wealthy Count of Regla, Pedro Romero de Terreros, to start a pawn-shop in Mexico City. This opens its doors in February of the following year and eventually becomes a much- loved national institution, the National Monte de Piedad.

ALGERIAN FORCES TAKE ACAPULCO.

June 3, 1864. An Algerian unit of the French army comes from the port of San Blas (Nayarit state) to attack and capture the port of Acapulco. This is one of the major incidents in the French intervention in Mexico, the pretext for which was the Mexican government’s decision in 1861 to defer payments on its foreign debt. On June 7, Mexican republican forces defeat the French to retake the port.

5, 1878. The legendary revolutionary Francisco “Pancho” Villa is born in San Juan de Río, Durango. He is christened Doroteo Arango Quiñones, but adopts the name Villa and plays a particularly active role in the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). After the Revolution, he retires to a ranch near Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua, but does not enjoy his retirement for long, dying when his car is struck by a hail of bullets on July 20, 1923.

6, 1555. The city of Sombrerete (today in Zacatecas state) is founded. Sombrerete quickly becomes an important mining center.

6, 1933. Mexico’s first female aviator, María Marcos Cedillo, dies in an accident in San Luis Potosí.

7, 1533. The first Augustine missionaries arrive in the city of Mexico. Many of their monumental early convents, including those at Acolman and Yuriria) still stand today.

8, 1692. A shortage of basic grains leads to a riot in Mexico City in which archives are burned and the Viceregal Palace is stoned.

8, 1816. Manuel Orozco y Berra is born in Mexico City. He becomes a distinguished historian, writer and politician. One of his major contributions is to make the first classification of indigenous languages.

8, 1933. The Mexican Academy of Surgery is founded.

FIRST EUROPEANS VISIT AZTEC CAPITAL

9, 1521. Hernán Cortés and his conquistadors finally reach the Great Temple at the heart of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. For centuries it is assumed that the temple is completely razed by the Spanish in order to build their cathedral and palace. However, in 1978, the foundations of the Great Temple are unearthed during excavations for a new building in downtown Mexico City. Archeologists restore parts of the Great Temple and open the site to the public; artifacts they discover are displayed in an excellent museum on the site.

11, 1594. King Philip II of Spain prohibits his representatives in New Spain from jailing any indigenous person.

11, 1928. Emilio Carranza departs from Mexico City on a non-stop flight to Washington D.C. (USA). Because of bad weather, Carranza is forced to end his flight in North Carolina. On July 12, shortly after taking off for the return flight, Carranza is killed when his plane crashes in Mount Holly, New Jersey.

12, 1869. Colima Volcano erupts, forming a new crater.

FLOODS THREATEN MEXICO CITY

13, 1622. Tremendous floods overwhelm parts of Mexico City. The flooding results from the Spanish Viceroy Mendoza’s efforts to see whether or not a drainage scheme is actually necessary for the city! The city is badly flooded several times more in the next few years. Ironically, one of the city’s biggest problems today is… a lack of water!

15, 1863. A national census reveals that the country has 8,400,000 inhabitants.

16, 1785. The New Spain government agrees to construct Chapultepec Castle and the two towers of the cathedral, in Mexico City.

16, 1962. U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, and his wife, begin an official visit to Mexico for talks with Mexican counterpart, Adolfo Lopez Mateos.

DOWN WITH MOCTEZUMA!

17, 1520. In the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, emperor Moctezuma stands outside his palace to confront an angry mob of Aztec Indians, who are furious that the Spanish have been allowed in their city. They stone their emperor, badly wounding him. He dies on June 29.

18, 1833. Manuel M. González, President of Mexico between 1880 and 1884, is born near Matamoros. Gonzalez distinguished himself on the field of battle in the campaigns against the Americans and the French, and against the conservatives in the Reform War.

18, 1888. Many towns in the Mexican “Bajío”, including Leon, Silao, Irapuato and Celaya, suffer disastrous flooding, after two days of torrential rain.

18, 1939. Alberto Alvarado, the concert violinist of Angela Peralta’a opera company, dies in Durango. In 1893 he played at the International Exhibition in Chicago, Alvarado composed many musical works, including an opera called “Mañana”, much acclaimed in New York.

THE EMPEROR IS EXECUTED! LONG LIVE THE REPUBLIC!

19, 1867. Emperor Maximilian is executed by firing squad. Only days later (June 2l), the Republican triumph over Maximilian’s Imperialists is sealed when general Porfirio Diaz (later to become President of Mexico for more than thirty years) takes Mexico City.

19, 1914. Battle of Zacatecas. Pancho Villa’s constitutionalist forces take on Huerta’s federalist forces. The main action occurs a few days later when Villa enters the city in triumph, after killing 5000 defenders and taking 6000 prisoners.

20, 1793. Mexico City’s public transportation system begins with authorization being granted for a system of single-horse carriages for hire.

21, 1823. Jalisco, formerly a Province, is elevated to the status of State. The Jalisco of 1823 is considerably larger than the Jalisco of today, including regions that are today in the states of Nayarit, Colima and Zacatecas.

21, 1876. Antonio López de Santa Anna dies in Mexico City. Santa Anna had been president of Mexico on no fewer than eleven occasions!

21, 1997. The veteran labor leader, Fidel Velázquez, dies at the age of 97. He was Secretary of the CTM (Confederación de Trabajadores de México), one of Mexico’s most powerful unions, from 1941 until his death.

23, 1943. The National Institute of Cardiology is founded.

25, 1530. The city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan is officially declared capital of New Spain by King Charles V of Spain.

26, 1950. The first formal television channel – XHTV – begins broadcasting from Mexico City. Mexico was the first Spanish-speaking country, and the fifth in the world, to have regular TV service.

27, 1929. The Government and the Church sign a treaty ending the conflict between them which has intensified since president Elias Calles suspended religious services in 1926. Many other religious restrictions continue to apply in Mexico until the 1990s.

28, 1907. The self-taught painter, Hermenegildo Bustos, dies in Guanajuato. Bustos is best known for his excellent, character-revealing portraits.

• History of Mexico Time-line

The main source for this series is Efemérides Mexicanas by Noé Solchaga Zamudio and Luisa A. Solchaga Peña, published in two volumes by Editorial Avante, Mexico City, 1983.

The post Mexico this month – June appeared first on MexConnect.

The small lakeside town of Chapala in Jalisco had more buildings designed by notable architects in the first half of the twentieth century than any other location of its size in Mexico, perhaps even in North America.

In 1900, Chapala was little more than an overgrown fishing village with one major hotel and 1753 residents. Fifty years later, its population had tripled and it boasted an extraordinary range of architect-designed buildings—varying from small chalets, fanciful Victorian-style villas and designer mansions to a grand railroad station and modernist vacation homes.

This eclectic mix of fine architecture greatly enhanced Chapala’s visual appeal, creating a legacy which continues to attract visitors today, even though the ‘town’ is now a small city of around 25,000 people.

According to a report in The Mexican Herald in 1898, bricks then cost about US$12 a thousand in Chapala, and a “comfortable cottage of eight or ten rooms, of two stories, built solidly with good foundations” cost less than $8,000. Lakeshore lots which cost only three cents a square meter a few years earlier were now changing hands for ninety cents a square meter, “one of the signs of the modern times in Chapala.”

The leading architects and their works

The earliest chalets at Chapala at the end of the nineteenth century may have been kit homes (perhaps from the U.S.) but, by the dawn of the twentieth century, architect-designed homes and hotels were in vogue. Here are brief descriptions of some of the prominent architects responsible for transforming Chapala.

George Edward King (1852-1912)

The first noteworthy foreign architect in Chapala was English architect George King, who had completed the stately Villa Tlalocan in 1896 for British consul Lionel Carden, before building the iconic Casa Pérez Verdía (commonly called Casa Braniff) in 1904-05 for a prominent Guadalajara lawyer and historian. The lawyer sold it two years later to Alberto Braniff, a wealthy Mexico City businessman, and it remained in the Braniff family until the 1940s. It is now a restaurant.

Prior to arriving in Mexico, King had designed a number of grand buildings in the U.S., including several private residences in Boulder, Colorado; Old Main at Colorado Agricultural college (now Colorado State University) in Fort Collins; the Tabor opera house, post office and hotel, all in Leadville, Colorado; and a number of offices and residences in El Paso, Texas.

In Mexico, King—sometimes with partners—was also responsible for the former customs house (now Museo Histórico)in Ciudad Juárez, and theaters in the cities of Zacatecas, Durango and Chihuahua. He also remodeled the Correo Mayor in Mexico City, as well as the Government Palace and Degollado Theater in Guadalajara. King returned to the U.S. when the Mexican Revolution began.

Charles Grove Johnson (1865–1942)

Charles Johnson, who worked with King on Villa Tlalocan and became a close friend of Lionel Carden, had moved to Mexico in about 1895, and soon found a place in the upper echelons of Mexico City society. He was the architect for a new British Legation building (later consulate) in Mexico City in 1911, and for the Cowdray Sanatorium (now the American-British-Cowdray Hospital), which opened in 1923.

Charles Lincoln Strange (1865?–1908)

Before arriving in Guadalajara, American architect Charles Strange had worked in Los Angeles and designed or co-designed Orange County Courthouse No 1 in Santa Ana, the Hotel Green in Pasadena and the Central Police Station at First and Hill. When his marriage broke down in 1900, Strange moved to Guadalajara, where he designed the Banco de Londres y México (later Cine Lux) and the Hotel San Francis (later Hotel Imperial). Both buildings were demolished when the city reinvented itself in the 1940s and 1950s.

In Chapala, Strange is the likely architect of the lakefront Chalet Paulsen (commonly called Villa Paz, and now a boutique hotel), built for Guadalajara entrepreneur Ernesto Paulsen in the very early years of the twentieth century. Paulsen and Strange were close friends, and worked together in 1904 on a proposed hotel (never built) on Isla de los Alacranes. That same year, Strange drew up plans for a pier and the first Chapala Yacht Club. The wooden pier, completed in 1910, two years after the architect’s death, was accidentally destroyed by fire in 1914.

Guillermo de Alba (1874–1935)

The most noteworthy Mexican architect in Chapala’s early tourist years was Guillermo de Alba. Born in Mexico City, de Alba graduated as an engineer in Guadalajara, before spending some time in Chicago. In the first decades of the twentieth century, de Alba designed and built numerous fine residences and commercial buildings in Guadalajara and Chapala.

His works in Guadalajara included the Hotel Fenix, Casa Abanicos, Villa Guillermina, and the development of Colonia Moderna, a new ‘garden city’ neighborhood.

In Chapala, de Alba’s architectural legacy is unequaled. His first major work was the 60-room Hotel Palmera, completed in 1907, one wing of which later became the Hotel Nido and is now the Palacio Municipal. De Alba also designed his family house Mi Pullman (1908), beautifully restored by Rosalind Chenery; Villa Niza (1919), with its strong geometric design; and—his crowning glory—the elegant Chapala Railroad Station (1920), now the Centro Cultural González Gallo.

Angelo Corsi (1867?- >1936)

In 1899, Italian engineer-architect Angelo Corsi, recently arrived in Guadalajara, was engaged to build a public school in the city. Later commissions in Guadalajara included ostentatious family homes for Aurelio González Hermosillo and Julio Collignon, while in Puerto Vallarta, Corsi designed the ‘Belle Époque’ Teatro Saucedo, completed in 1922, that city’s first theater (and later its first hotel).

In Chapala, Corsi’s major remodeling of the historic Villa Montecarlo, where pioneering foreigner Septimus Crowe once lived, created in 1919 a grand Italianate building, set amidst beautifully landscaped gardens. This property later became a hotel, but the main building was torn down and replaced by an ugly generic modern edifice in the early 1960s.

Corsi also designed and built Villa Macedonia, completed in 1920 a few doors west of Villa Montecarlo. Villa Macedonia was later acquired by Dr. Carlo Sutter, the honorary Swiss consul in Guadalajara, and renamed Villa Lucerna.

Luis Barragan Morfin (1902–1988)

Luis Barragán Morfín, the most influential Mexican architect of the twentieth century, graduated as an engineer from the Escuela Libre de Ingenieros in 1923. After traveling to Europe and North Africa, he returned to Guadalajara in 1926 to begin working alongside his brother Juan José, before establishing his own architectural practice.

Barragán was active in Guadalajara (see this MexConnect article) and Chapala between 1930 and 1936, before moving to Mexico City to build homes and develop the residential area of Jardines del Pedregal. Barragán, the only Mexican ever to have won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize (1980), was also responsible for Jardines del Bosque in Guadalajara, and, with partners, for Torres de Satélite (1957) and the residential areas of Las Arboledas and Lomas Verdes in the state of México.

In Chapala, in the early 1930s, Barragán transformed (with help from Juan Palomar y Arias) the home belonging to his family on Francisco I. Madero, and undertook several commissions, including modifying or remodeling Casa de las Cuentas (the ‘D. H. Lawrence’ house on calle Zaragoza, now Hotel Villa QQ), Villa Adriana, and Villa Robles León (Paseo Ramón Corona #14), where he was helped by Ignacio Díaz Morales.

Ignacio Díaz Morales (1905–1992)

Ignacio Díaz Morales was a fellow graduate of the Escuela Libre de Ingenieros, who, after gaining professional qualifications as an architect, had a distinguished career at the University of Guadalajara’s School of Architecture, where he influenced several later generations of architects. He was commissioned with the controversial but necessary project at the end of the 1940s which destroyed many historic buildings in Guadalajara to create the four central plazas, which form a cross when viewed from the air.

Juan Palomar y Arias (1894–1987)

Palomar y Arias fought all his life to make Guadalajara a better place in which to live, and combined his architecture practice with teaching at all three major Guadalajara universities: the University of Guadalajara, ITESO, and the Autonomous University of Guadalajara.

In Chapala, he helped Barragán transform his family home, and, on the hillside overlooking Villa Montecarlo, designed the Lourdes Chapel, built with the assistance of engineer Luis Ugarte. After years of benign neglect, this significant historical and cultural landmark, first consecrated in August 1941, was reopened for services in 2022, following extensive renovations spearheaded by Ing. Jorge Varela Martínez Negrete.

Pedro Castellanos Lambley (1902–1961)

Another graduate from the Escuela Libre de Ingenieros, and member of the ‘Tapatío school of architecture’ which had such a profound influence on architecture in Guadalajara and Chapala, was Pedro Castellanos Lambley. Raised in an exceptionally well-connected family, Castellanos designed or co-designed several stately family homes in Guadalajara, as well as the city’s San Juan de Dios market, a structure since replaced.

In Chapala, Castellanos designed two properties on Avenida Hidalgo: the magnificent Villa Ferrara (still intact) and Villa Adriana (later modified by Luis Barragán), and he also did extensive work on two buildings on Paseo Ramón Corona.

Ambrosio Ulloa González (1859-1933)

Educator and journalist Ambrosio Ulloa qualified simultaneously in 1880 as an engineer and a lawyer. He then taught at the Jalisco School of Engineers from 1893 to 1894 before founding the Escuela Libre de Ingenieros, inaugurated in 1902. In addition to various architectural projects in Guadalajara, Ulloa and his wife bought and remodeled a small 1906 building in Chapala into Casa Verde. Unfortunately, following some structural damage, the building, located immediately behind the present-day market, was torn down in 2006 by city authorities, despite protests at the unnecessary and avoidable loss of a significant element of Chapala’s urban heritage.

Aurelio Aceves Peña (1887-1946)

The building at Paseo Ramón Corona #9 is thought to be the work of engineer Aurelio Aceves Peña. Aceves Peña graduated from the Escuela Libre de Ingenieros in 1913 and was hugely influential in the development of architecture as a career. He taught numerous architects, including Ignacio Díaz Morales, Luis Barragán, Pedro Castellanos and Rafael Urzúa, and was Director of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Guadalajara for decades. His massive library of works related to engineering and architecture was unsurpassed. His architectural projects in Guadalajara included the dome of the university building, and the arches of Vallarta Avenue (1942).

Carlos Ochoa Arroniz (1847–1943)

Also on Paseo Ramón Corona, at #6, is Villa Ochoa, built by Carlos Ochoa Arroniz. Somewhat astonishingly, and unlike almost all the other old villas in Chapala, Villa Ochoa is still owned by direct descendants of its original owner. Ochoa Arroniz was a civil engineer; after studying at the College of Mining in Mexico City, he worked on plans to improve the navigability of the River Santiago, and on several railroads in western Mexico. His great-grandson, architect Jaime Troop Ochoa, aims to restore this epoch-defining building with its collection of period furnishings to something like its former grandeur.

As respected Guadalajara architect-journalist Juan Palomar Verea and others have repeatedly pointed out in print, Chapala has shown scant regard in the past fifty years for its rich architectural heritage. The prime examples of its failure to value its past have been the demolition of Corsi’s Villa Montecarlo in the early 1960s, of Ulloa’s Casa Verde more recently, and its tacit acceptance of a massive downtown remodeling in the 1950s, which created multi-lane main avenues at the expense of several historical buildings and dramatic and irreversible changes to Chapala’s long established street plan and its former beach and lakefront.

Acknowledgment

My thanks to Arq. Antonio Aceves of ITESO, Guadalajara for reading an early draft of this article, and for his valuable comments and suggestions.

Want to read more?

Additional details about these architects and their projects can be found in the author’s book If Walls Could Talk: Chapala’s Historic Buildings and Their Former Occupants, translated into Spanish as Si las paredes hablaran: Edificios históricos de Chapala y sus antiguos ocupantes. The author’s 2022 book Lake Chapala: A Postcard History uses reproductions of more than 150 vintage postcards to tell the incredible story of how the small village of Chapala morphed into an international tourist and retirement center.

The post Chapala’s rich architectural heritage: here today, gone tomorrow? appeared first on MexConnect.

October 16th 2024 marks the 115th anniversary of the first summit meeting, in 1909, between the presidents of Mexico and the United States. Mexico has had a long tumultuous history from the ancient Maya to modern day events. Like any personal relationships, it hasn’t always been pleasant. From wars and human sacrifice in pre-Columbian days, to the Spanish conquest, and political upheavals in modern times; it has often been painful for the people, but at times jubilant as well. Yet the summit in 1909 was a special moment in Mexico’s grand past; and I write about the occasion because it is deeply personal. In the end, behind every monumental meeting in history, there are less significant encounters that aren’t captured in any history books. So without passing judgment about whether Mexico’s past was right or wrong – just or unjust, I’ll ask you to look upon this event simply as a love affair amidst a controversial historical backdrop.

What was happening in Mexico in 1909?

It took place in an era when Mexico was riding a great wave of prosperity. The year was 1909, a time when Mexican-American diplomatic relations were arguably in their halcyon days. Mexico City was, as it is today, a bustling metropolis full of opportunities. For tourists and immigrants from around the world, there were visits to cultural sites, museums and concert venues. The world’s visitors during their stays would have been captivated by the culture, the unique blend of indigenous and Spanish influences that combined to establish the country’s unique art, music and other creative endeavors. There were the Mayan pyramids that were becoming renowned worldwide. There was the extraordinary eighteenth century Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the amazing art treasures that it holds. Impressive building projects were underway, like the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts), which today are celebrated by all. And modern railways were being financed and built that would advance commerce and facilitate travel throughout Mexico.

In the world of politics, diplomats on both sides of the border were calling for a summit between the leaders of the two nations, President Porfirio Díaz (1830–1915) for Mexico and William Howard Taft (1857–1930) for the U.S. It was highly unusual for an American president to travel outside the country. In fact, President Theodore Roosevelt’s visit to Panama the previous year was the first time any U.S. president traveled abroad while still in office. Within diplomatic circles, as meeting preparations were arranged, the planning went into high gear. The summit would take place on October 16th 1909 as a preview to the forthcoming one hundredth anniversary of Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1810, which happened to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of Díaz’ rule. The El Paso Herald called it the “Most Eventful Diplomatic Event in the History of the Two Nations.”

The plan was for President Díaz to start from Mexico City and ride the 900 miles by train in private railcar to Chihuahua, which was the closest major metropolis to Mexico’s northern border. There, he would be hosted by the Mexican-American industrialist and banker Enrique Creel (1854–1931), Governor of the State of Chihuahua and former ambassador to the United States. Creel, a man of action and of financial means, had big plans for the occasion when he would host Díaz at his palatial mansion, along with other prominent government officials. From there, Creel would accompany Díaz another 230 miles north to the U.S. border where they would meet with President Taft in El Paso, just across the Rio Grande, and in Ciudad Juárez on the Mexican side.

In Chihuahua, major infrastructure projects were underway, some of which were sponsored by Creel. The June 15th edition of Brill’s Magazine announced that the new electric railcar system, inaugurated in October the previous year with 9 miles of track, was to be extended by an additional 15 miles of track for “electrified railcars” to the important mining town of Santa Eulalia. This meant the construction of a large power plant and the purchase of a dozen new railcars. It further noted that Chihuahua “is the most progressive city in Northern Mexico, having a population of 40,000. Many handsome and modern buildings, beautiful driveways and parks, and a climate unexcelled are among its attractions.”

Preparing for President Porfirio Díaz’s visit

In preparation for President Díaz’ history-making journey to the city, there was a daunting amount of work to be completed. Highly trained artists, with specialized skills who could collaborate with architects and engineers, were in real demand. Among those skilled artisans was the Italian artist Ettore Serbaroli (1881–1951), who received his training in Rome and assisted the great Cesare Maccari on the famous Basilica of Santa Casa in Loreto, Italy. Having lived in Mexico for several years, Serbaroli had good command of the Spanish language, having worked on building projects in Mexico City. Governor Creel placed him in charge of the extensive decorative work for the city, and Serbaroli drew up creative concepts to embellish the city’s main thoroughfares and government buildings. This included the building interiors for which Sebaroli was commissioned to do murals and original paintings.

At age 28, and as the principle designer of the city’s decorations, Serbaroli was at his finest. His responsibility was not to decorate a room or an individual building, but instead to design and coordinate the embellishment of the city’s boulevards, in advance of its parades and planned fanfare. He enjoyed a certain degree of freedom to propose designs for the portals of each main avenue leading to the center of town. A torrent of ideas sprang from his mind, and he had the vitality, drive, passion and stamina to accomplish them. For this unique opportunity, the city was his grand stage, and he was the appointed set director with a chance to leave his mark on an entire city. For a young artist, you would think it couldn’t get much better than that—but it did!

While working on the city’s decorations, Serbaroli met a young woman from Chihuahua. Dark-haired, petite Señorita Josefina Sini was the twenty-eight-year-old daughter of the widowed Margarita Chabre de Sini. Artistic by nature, Josefina had numerous friends in the local literary scene and had performed in a number of productions at the local theatre. He genuinely enjoyed their moments together, and became enthralled with her beaming smile and her light-hearted playfulness.

Josefina felt an instant connection with the young Italian artist and was enamored of his artistic abilities. Her first impression of him was that he was exceedingly well-mannered and thoroughly considerate to those around him. She perceived him as serious and professional, yet fun-loving. In Chihuahua, he had become a minor celebrity, whose proficiency with paints and expertise in muralism were becoming well known:

• On the Trail of Lost Artworks in Chihuahua.

For the colossal amount of work that needed to be completed for Díaz’ visit, Serbaroli didn’t have much free time, but the limited free hours he had were spent with her. To him, she was a bright Mexican sunrise in his tired evenings, and her enticing, intoxicating smile encouraged him when his work was most demanding.

Unlike the lavish gifts that were exchanged between President Díaz and Governor Creel, he didn’t have the time or money to buy her expensive presents. There was, however, something he could offer to her in a personal moment that was better than any store-bought gift, and unlike any other she could ever receive. Shortly after they met, he drew her portrait on the inside cover of one of his sketch books, and signed it “E. Serbaroli Chih.”The speed at which he created her image, and the likeness itself, impressed her. She loved it, and took it home to show her mother. And she treasured it !

What did Porfirio Díaz do when he visited Chihuahua?

The day after Porfirio Díaz arrived in Chihuahua, some of the many celebrations were reported on the front page of the Friday, October 15 edition of the El Paso Times:

Chihuahua, Mex., Oct. 14. The city and state of Chihuahua gave President Díaz one of the grandest receptions ever recorded Wednesday evening at 5:26, on his special train of five coaches.

His arrival was heralded by the booming of cannon, the blowing of every whistle in the city and every other contrivance that could make a noise was pressed into service.

 At Governor’s Palace

After reaching Governor Creel’s Palace, where he is stopping while the guest of Chihuahua, the president, with Governor Creel, the minister of foreign relations and the minister of war, reviewed the long parade, among which was a troop of mounted artillery and two squadrons of cavalry from Mexico City.

Arches Span the Avenue

Avenida Juarez, along which the president drove on his way to the governor’s palace, was nothing but a series of arches, built by the different industries in the city. There were nine in number, the first being the Electric Arch, then the Mineral Arch, the Industries, the Commercial Arch, the State Arch, the Agricultural Arch, the City’s Arch, the Banker’s Arch and the arch of a private mining company, in the order named. The arches cost an average of $1,500 each, the Mineral Arch costing $2,500.

The President’s Quarters

In the governor’s palace, the president occupied the four rooms facing on Calle Libertad, consisting of bedroom, bath room, living room and parlor. In the parlor of the president’s suite, Gov. Creel had three panels painted by the great Italian painter Ettore Serbaroli, who came over from Italy especially for this work. In the dining room, the ceiling is made of hand-carved mahogany, the furniture being of mahogany to match, while a thick brown carpet covers the floor. In the corner of the parlor a small balcony extends out over the street. It was from this balcony that the president reviewed the parade.

For all the work he had done in Chihuahua, Serbaroli was rewarded by being asked to join the entourage with Governor Creel, riding on the same train of five coaches to Juárez with the city’s most notable citizens. He enjoyed the festivities associated with the whole exquisite affair.

Historic U.S.-Mexico summit in Ciudad Juárez

While on the Texas side of the border, Serbaroli bought a souvenir card of the momentous meeting between the two heads of state, and mailed it from El Paso to his sweetheart Josefina. He knew she liked to collect postage stamps and souvenir cards. She must have been thrilled when she received it, not just as a souvenir of the historic visit, but mainly because this young handsome artist had been considerate enough to get it especially for her.

President Taft’s visit with Porfirio Díaz in Juarez was met with tremendous enthusiasm, and for a brief moment in time the hemisphere’s newspapers fixed their attention on the cities of El Paso and Juarez. Governor Creel served as an interpreter between the two heads of state. The conference was an impressive affair. Taft was accompanied by Thomas Campbell, Governor of Texas and thousands of Texas’ cavalry, artillery and infantry troops.

As today, there were photo ops for the press too, which revealed quite a contrast between Taft’s simple, unadorned appearance and Díaz’s military bearing with a chest full of medals and honors. By all accounts their official discussions were brief, but likely touched upon the political climate in Mexico, which was gradually becoming unstable with the emergence of populist leaders like Francisco Madero and Emiliano Zapata.

What happened after the summit?

After the summit, Serbaroli’s skills became even more in demand. He had more free time now, and as time passed, the artist and his lovely lady grew closer. He took out more hours from his work schedule to spend with her and her widowed mother at their home. And the notes and letters he wrote when he was away gradually took on a different tone. They were addressed to her as “Josefina, chata y chula,” colloquial terms of affection and endearment. And she kept every one of them along with the pencil portrait he did of her when they first met. They married in November 1912, and one year later Judith, their first child, was born.

In the interim, the political environment was increasingly disrupting the region. President Díaz was deposed 17 months later, in May 1911. The next year former Governor Enrique Creel, along with other influential citizens, fled Mexico for the safety of the United States. Pancho Villa’s army, in support of President Francisco Madero, invaded Chihuahua City in March 1912, and scores of men were killed in the streets. President Madero, who deposed Díaz, was executed almost a year later in February 1913, and his brother Gustavo was later beaten to death by supporters of the new regime under General Victoriano Huerta. Then Villa ordered all foreigners to leave the state or face the consequences. Serbaroli, as an Italian, was forced to flee the country with his bride and new baby in mid-December 1913. They fled their home and left everything behind; that is, almost everything. Among the things that Josefina took with her was something that didn’t take up much room in her belongings: the pencil portrait that meant so much to her.

In stark contrast to the elaborate summit celebrations that took place four years earlier, Christmas time with their newborn was spent in squalid conditions amidst the overcrowded canals of El Paso, with a scarcity of drinkable water. And they weren’t alone. There were thousands of other refugees who fled the chaos that erupted in their homeland. It was the lowest point in Josefina’s life. What they did have remaining in their hearts was continual Hope, and an unshakable faith that God would see them through the bleakness of their situation. It was a Christmas that remained depressingly etched in their memories. (Years later, while on the train from California to Dallas to work on murals at the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1935, Serbaroli stopped in El Paso and wrote in Spanish to Josefina: “Today throughout most of this trip it was raining, and passing through Tucson it was snowing for a good while. In El Paso, I thought the wind was going to send me flying. How sad it made me to see the place where we lived.”)

In the ensuing lawlessness in 1913, banks were plundered, the mining industry was shut down and some railroads stopped functioning. In the end, within the framework of a bloody revolution that killed so many, the life-altering problems of two young lovers meant little to the larger outside world. Serbaroli managed to get the family from El Paso to the San Francisco Bay area, where he found employment at the great Panama Pacific Exposition of 1915. He and Josefina, who didn’t yet speak English, began a new life as immigrants in a different culture with their little daughter and, later, three sons. Moreover, in addition to the portrait that she took with her, Josefina brought other important things to her new home in the States. The children were raised bilingually, speaking Chihuahuense Spanish at home, and were weaned on her delicious Mexican recipes like corn meal taquitos and vanilla rice pudding. They also were entertained by her anecdotes of growing up as a girl in northern Mexico; and were imbued with a genuine appreciation for their Mexican heritage. Later, during World War II, all three of her sons served in the US military.

Today, meetings between heads-of-state are not as celebrated. They take place all the time without much fanfare, mostly garnering only scant headlines. Similarly, courtships like those between the artist and his sweetheart are certainly not the same either. These aren’t the stories one learns in history books; yet they’re important nonetheless, as they pass from generation to generation as this one does now.

These two emigrants from Mexico were my grandparents. Had Grandfather not been summoned to Chihuahua for the great presidential summit, or had Grandmother (Abuela) not made his acquaintance at that opportune moment in her life, how would their lives have progressed? As for me, this forthcoming 115th anniversary of the historic summit between Díaz and Taft, and the love affair that it spawned, remain more momentous than ever. In fact, every year at this time, I sense their spirits hovering around me, reminding me that, without it, I wouldn’t be here today to relate their fascinating journey together. Salud!

Want to read more about the summit meeting? See Porfirio Díaz en Texas: La Entrevista Díaz-Taft, 16 de Octubre de 1909 (Spanish Edition) by Miguel García Audelo (2020).

Related posts on MexConnect

• Art treasure hidden in a Chihuahua hacienda
• On the trail of lost art works in Chihuahua

Published or Updated on: October 2, 2024 by Joseph A. Serbaroli, Jr. © 2024.

The post Love affair began when President Díaz met President Taft at Mexico/US Summit appeared first on MexConnect.

For far too long the history of 19th Century Mayan free rule in the Mexican Yucatán has been largely ignored. But local Maya are working to put it on the map. Through museums, ruins, guided tours and more, they are preserving the legacy of this largest post-colonial indigenous revolution in the Americas, commonly known as La Guerra de las Castas (The Caste War) and alternatively as the Mayan Social War.

Most of the top sites are within 200 kilometers of tourist centers like Valladolid and Playa del Carmen, making them accessible as a day trip. For those wanting a deeper dive, a multi-day tour of these off-the-beaten-track Mayan communities awaits.

Background on Mayan Resistance

In contrast to the Aztecs and Incas, the Spanish failed to swiftly conquer the Mayan Yucatán. The many autonomous kingdoms spread throughout the region meant each one had to be defeated separately. As proof of this difficulty, not until 1697—almost 175 years after their first contact with Hernán Cortés—did the last independent Mayan kingdom, that of the Itza Maya, finally surrender. Even then, the fires of resistance were not extinguished. Over the coming century, waves of Mayan uprisings occurred. Most were short-lived. But, in the early 19th century Yucatán elites inadvertently aided their cause.

At that time the Yucatán was loosely affiliated with Mexico, and the peninsular white elite wanted independence, especially as the central government increased taxation in the 1830s to pay for the war to keep Texas. For the local Mayans, everyday life was becoming increasingly insufferable. Elites, especially in the peninsula’s east, were confiscating their communal lands for henequen and sugar cane plantations, and forcing them to work in debt servitude. Mayans outnumbered whites and mestizos three to one in the Western Yucatán, and five to one in the east. They were thus prime targets for military recruitment. And, when some of these same elites made promises of lower taxes and land free from tributes in return for their military service, thousands of Mayan males joined the revolts.

Over the coming decade, Mayans were recruited for various military campaigns, both in support of Yucatán independence and in defending the Mexican republic, as two factions had emerged in the peninsula. Regardless, no change in their material conditions had occurred. A powder-keg-in-waiting had been created: the Mayan troops had kept their weapons, and they had been trained and led in battle by Mayan generals.

Panicked about a possible Mayan revolt, the peninsula government of Santiago Mendéz summarily executed Mayan leader Manuel Antonio Ay of Chichimilá in June 1847 on the suspicion that he was planning an attack. In the ensuing weeks, Mayan residents in the nearby town of Tepich were punished, with many killed and their homes burned. On July 30th, Mayan soldiers stormed Tepich. They first entered the church and executed the priest, who had been accused of sexually abusing children, then proceeded to kill all the town’s whites.

Just a year after its start, a federation of roughly 100,000 Mayan troops had conquered all the Mexican Yucatán, save the walled cities of Campeche and Mérida and the narrow Camino Real connecting the two.

Over the coming years, Mayan troops were pushed back to the peninsula’s east. There, three independent Mayan states self-ruled. The largest and most militarily aggressive, the Cruzo’ob, controlled the entire region of what is now the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, and had diplomatic relations with the British in Belize.

In 1901, Mexican troops took control of the Cruzo’ob’s capital, marking the ‘official’ end to the war. Nonetheless, the rebels scattered. The largest community of some 700, the Xcacal (or Tixcacal) Guardia, resisted and continued to self-govern until mid-century. This small community of the same name exists to this day.

Despite this fascinating tale, that includes white slaves building Cruzo’ob religious and governance buildings and captured Mayans being sent to Cuba as slaves, most visitors to the Yucatán leave without learning about this history and how it shaped the peninsula. Over its course, an estimated 250,000 perished. The region lost a third of its population due to death and exile, including half of its Mayans. Neighboring Belize was also heavily impacted. Several thousand persons took refuge and remained there after the war’s conclusion.

A perfect location to become acquainted with this history is at the aptly named Museo de la Guerra de Castas (Caste War Museum). Located in a colonial building in Tihosuco, a small town that was overtaken by Mayan rebels during the Caste War, this is the largest and most comprehensive museum in Mexico dedicated to the Caste War.

The museum provides visitors with an orientation to the 400-year history of Mayan resistance in the region, including the various uprisings against Spanish colonization. Many museum items were donated by locals to preserve them. On display are letters sent between the Mayan rebels’ key leaders concerning their military strategy. Artifacts also tell the story of the several hundred U.S. soldiers of fortune, fresh off the Mexican-American War, who agreed to the Yucatán government’s offer of 320 hectares each and a salary of $8 a month for enlisting. None collected this offer. They were unprepared for this guerrilla-style war with its high casualty rates, and most quickly returned to the U.S.

Just a few steps from the Caste War museum is the spectacular Iglesia de Santo Niño Jesús (Church of the Saint of Baby Jesus). Rather than rebuild its dome, destroyed by Mayan rebels’ shelling during the war, the locals who later resettled the area continued to hold services in the structure as is.

A Tihosuco-based cooperative tourism project, Sociedad Cooperativa Ubelilek Kaxtik Kuxtal, provides guided tours of the church, the Caste War museum, and a demonstration of cotton weaving.

Another symbol of the Caste War’s devastation can be seen during a half-hour walk through the jungle outside of Tihosuco. Here is the Lal kah or Téla. This village of primarily whites and mestizos was abandoned during the Caste War and lays blanketed by vegetation. Over the course of the Caste War, several hundred villages across the Yucatán were deserted.

Aventura Tela, a Tihosuco-based responsible tourism outfit run by Maya youth, offers guided tours of TéLa, as well as biking excursions in the area, visits to cenotes, guided birdwatching, lodging and meals with locals, and even nighttime walks in Tihosuco.

Those interested in additional ruins can visit Jacinto Pat’s former hacienda Xculumpich, another twenty minute walk from Téla.

The small village of Sacalaca, 37 kilometers southwest of Tihosuco, provides visitors with a glimpse into the colonial-era social hierarchy. Here, two churches existed within 350 meters of each other, one exclusively for the Spanish and elites, and the other for the Mayan populace.

During the Caste War, the church for the Spaniards (Iglesia Virgen de la Candelaria y los Tres Reyes) was damaged and its roof destroyed by Cruzo’ob fighters. Present-day villagers have left it as is. The former, and much smaller, church for the Maya, San Francisco de Asís, is actively used. A small community museum preserves art pieces from these churches. Also in town is a large cenote, Yokdzonot, for snorkeling and bathing, which was used by Mayan and Spanish troops during the war.

Ten kilometers from Sacalaca is the town of Huay Max, also shaped by the Caste War. Here a woman-led tourism cooperative, Yuumtsil Ka’ax, provides demonstrations to visitors about native foods (pumpkin, achiote, chilies, and several types of corn) and embroidery. In addition to providing a traditional meal, they guide visitors around sites of interest, including a medicinal garden, a community museum, and the colonial-era La Inmaculada Concepcíon church.

An hour drive south of Tihosuco is the once stronghold of the Cruzo’ob known as Chan Santa Cruz (Small Holy Cross, present day Felipe Carrillo Puerto). Passed over by most guidebooks, this small waystation holds several Cruzo’ob sites. Start at the Iglesia de la Santa Cruz (Church of the Holy Cross), which served as the Cruzo’ob’s main religious center of Balam Na (House of the Jaguar Priest). No plaques or markers attest to this plainly adorned building’s singularity: it was built by white slaves.

Across the inlaid brick plaza from the church is the Casa de la Cultura Maya. This building, with an arched walkway outside, was the one-time home of Mayan General Venancio Puc and later served as a base for successive Cruzo’ob governments, as well as a school for their children, where captive whites served as teachers. Also in the building complex is the Museo Maya Santa Cruz Xbáalam Naj, which houses some Caste War artifacts.

The seeming fountain in front of the building, Pila de los Azotes, is actually where locals who committed transgressions were punished under the rule of Mayan general Francisco May Pech. At the end of the Caste War in the early 20th century, he took over as the ruler of this semi-independent region. With an influx of settlers from other Mexican states, he had this structure built in order to punish those who committed infractions. For the crime of adultery, the punishment is said to have been 50 strikes.

The most famous of all Cruzo’ob buildings is a few kilometers away. Known as the Sanctuario de la Cruz Parlante (Sanctuary of the Talking Cross), this site honors the cenote where the Cruzo’ob developed a cult to a talking cross. Services are still held. Visitors are welcome, though they are asked to comply with the posted rules, such as removing their shoes at the sanctuary.

Due the guerrilla war style of the Caste war, few battle sites remain. However, just outside Valladolid, the San Bernadino de Siena Convent—the second largest Franciscan convent in the Yucatan—displays in its small museum the rifles and arms thrown into the convent’s cenote by fleeing Yucateco soldiers prior to their abandonment of the town during the Caste war.

Valladolid’s Palacio Municipal (Municipal Palace) has several murals of Yucatan history painted by Yucatecan Manuel Lizama, including one of the Caste War.

About 50 kilometers south is Tepich, the first village to be decimated by the Caste War. Mayan rebels first attacked the Iglesia de San José de Tepich. They then killed all the white and mestizo residents in retribution for the murder of Manuel Antonio Ay. In the adjacent cemetery Mayan rebel leader Cicilio Chi is buried. His grave is easy to spot as it is the only one in the cemetery! Chi’s former house is nearby.

A plaque at the base of the statue reads (in translation): “On the morning of July 30, 1847, Cecilio Chi and his people entered Tepich, executing the population of Spanish origin and burning homes, inaugurating with this act the war for the liberation of the Mayan people and turning Tepich into one of the centers of this great movement.”

Due to the relative lack of attention paid to Caste War history, only a few tour companies offer day tours. They include Playa del Carmen Tours, which has a day-long outing to several sites, starting from Valladolid. Undoubtedly, as more interest in this history grows, additional tours and experiences will be developed. The Tourist Promotion Council of Quintana Roo has created a colorful handout of many of the sites listed in this article.

Beyond their historical significance, a visit to these areas provides an opportunity to experience Mayan communities outside of the main tourist centers. Additionally, as these projects are organized and led by local Maya, their communities are the prime beneficiaries.

Clearly, this Caste War route is one that should not be cast aside!

Related posts on MexConnect

• The cuisine of the Yucatan: a gastronomical tour of the Maya heartland
• Instituto Cientifico de Na Bolom: a magical place in Chiapas for Maya studies
• Mexico’s Lincoln: The ecstasy and agony of Benito Juárez

The post The Path of Most Resistance: the Top Yucatán Caste War Sites appeared first on MexConnect.

G. M. Bashford’s Tourist Guide to Mexico was first published exactly seventy years ago in 1954. It was one of a spate of motoring book guides written after World War II as Americans began to hit the open road and drive south in search of sunshine and adventure.

How much has Mexico really changed in the past seventy years? The answer is: in some ways lots, and in other ways almost not at all.

The following extracts from Bashford’s book give the flavor of his anecdotal writing style, and of the subjects which occupied his attention.

Monterrey

“The trademark of the city is the 5,700-foot-high Cerro de la Silla (Saddle Mountain), which rises above the city and is seen from every direction. The thrifty Regiomontanos, as the people of Monterrey are called, tell a story about how the saddle in the mountain was formed. According to the legend, an ambitious mountain climber took an early morning stroll to the summit of what was then a cone-shaped mountain, to watch the sunrise. As he was about to return, a centavo piece fell from his pocket, and before he had finished digging for it, there were two peaks instead of one.”

Mazatlán

After naming five hotels (Belmar, Freeman, Central, Imperial and Morales), Bashford warns that:

“Existing hotels in Mazatlán are hopelessly inadequate. Check on arrival to see if new hotels have been completed.”

For local sightseeing, he explains that:

“Araña, calèches, surries or buggies, as you choose to call them, are for rent with driver at the Hotel Belmar and various other points in the city.”

And, if you think highway 15 is bad today, you should have driven it fifty years ago!

“The road south from Mazatlán is good, except for a few missing bridges. Motorists should be careful not to travel too fast, as some of these detours are unmarked, and may be come upon suddenly.

“About an hour out of Mazatlán the highway enters the state of Nayarit, and shortly afterwards the Acaponeta River is crossed – on a ferry. In case the ferry is not working, there is a ford about a mile upstream which can be crossed in dry weather. Two more rivers, the San Pedro and Santiago, remain to be crossed, both by ferry pending completion of the bridges. If the traffic is heavy, considerable time may be lost at the ferry crossings. At some of the ferries, passenger cars take precedence over trucks, which fact is stated on signs.”

Tequila and Beautiful Women

Bashford seems unsure of the true quality of tequila…

“When thoroughly fermented, it is consumed either straight, or with lemon and salt, taken alternately. A more agreeable possibility (not to be broached in the presence of the local folk) is to combine it with sugar, lemon, etc., in a tequila sour, and drink it as a cocktail. The consensus among all but the most rugged foreigners is that taken straight, as in Jalisco, it leaves much to be desired as a refreshment. If, however, it must be taken straight, the tipo almendrado (with almonds) is best.”

… but very sure about the most beautiful women in Mexico:

“Within Mexico, Guadalajara is famed as the land of the legendary wine, women and song, except that here they are called tequila, Tapatías, and mariachis. The Tapatías, who are always given preference even over the wine and song, are by reputation the most beautiful women of Mexico.”

Lake Chapala

After listing six hotels for Guadalajara – Morales (Calle Corona), Del Parque (Vallarta), Guadalajara (Colón), Fenix (López Cotilla; 25 pesos for a double), Roma (Juárez) and Clemen Courts on the Mexico City highway – Bashford sets off for Chapala.

“Chapala, a quaint town of 5,000 inhabitants located on the north shore of the largest lake in Mexico, is 30 miles south of Guadalajara on a high-speed highway.

“Due to the increasing demands for water on the Lerma River, and the shortage of rainfall in recent years, the level of Lake Chapala has decreased steadily for the past several years. In 1952 it was practically impossible to go boating or swimming on the lake.

“However Chapala is still a charming pueblo, and a better place for rest would be hard to find. There are two good hotels. Villa Monte Carlo is a first-class hotel a mile from town, well managed by Señora Martha Viteri de Morales. Rates are 15 to 45 pesos single, and 40 to 60 pesos double; meals are 20 pesos per person per day. There are four deluxe bungalows. The Hotel Nido, in town, is another good hotel, with rates 15 to 25 pesos single, and 25 to 50 pesos double; meals are 20 pesos per person per day.”

Ajijic just qualifies for a single paragraph.

“Ajijic is a picturesque pueblo a few miles west of Chapala on the lake, not quite so interesting as some stories would have you believe. It recently has become an artists’ colony. Some hand-painted and hand-loomed fabrics are made here by enterprising Americans. Inquire for locations at Posada Ajijic.”

Single paragraphs are also sufficient for Ocotlán and Jocotepec.

“Ocotlán, on the northeast corner of Lake Chapala, is another picturesque pueblo, as yet “undiscovered.” Every day goods are brought in canoes from other pueblos on the lake to trade in the market.”

“Jocotepec is at the western end of Lake Chapala, 40 miles from Guadalajara via the Mexico City Highway. Also may be reached by gravel road from Chapala.”

Puerto Vallarta

Bashford shows considerably more enthusiasm for various side-trips from Guadalajara and Chapala, including Puerto Vallarta,

“the most charming and least-known pueblo in Mexico. It is a fishing village of 4.800 people located on the Pacific Coast due west of Guadalajara. Its charm lies in the fact that until a few years ago it could be reached only be sea. Thus the people have not yet come to regard tourists as a necessary evil, as in some of the more frequented resorts. Here is found complete democracy: even the mayor can be seen sweeping the street in front of his house every morning!

“Although there are no architectural masterpieces in the town, some of the old buildings provide excellent material for good camera shots… There are no shops catering to tourists….”

San Miguel de Allende and Morelia

Elsewhere, Bashford mentions only three hotels in San Miguel de Allende:

“the Posada San Francisco on the zócalo (double 75 to 95 pesos American plan), the Colonial, one block to the west (30 pesos) and the Arias 4 blocks away on Mesones near the market (20 – 30 pesos; main attraction ping-pong).”

Morelia does not do much better. Four hotels are mentioned: “Virrey de Mendoza (Portal Matamoros 16 on the zócalo; 24-44 pesos a double), Valladolid (Portal Hidalgo 241 on the zócalo), Casino (Portal Hidalgo 229 on the zócalo) and Oseguera (Avenida Madero Oriente 24, a block from the zócalo).”

These hotels were far surpassed in Bashford’s estimation by the finest hotel in this region, the Balneario de San José Purúa (which sadly has long been closed). A road branches off highway 15 and leads to:

“San José Purúa, and one of the most spectacular views in Mexico. The pueblo is noted for its radioactive waters, and its fame has spread widely – cars from seven different countries have been seen in town at the same time. (Single 70 pesos, double 110 pesos, American plan).”

Road Conditions

When Bashford’s book was published, the Pan-American highway had still not been completed.

“The Tehuantepec-Tuxtla highway (immigration inspection at Juchitan) is nearly straight, and good time can be made. Two hours’ drive from Tehuantepec is Las Cruces, where a road turns right to Arriaga. This pueblo, on the railroad to Tapachula (Guatemalan point of entry), is the logical point of shipment for motorists who wish to send their cars to that country. It is still impossible to drive all the way, there being no highway connection between Ciudad Cuauhtemoc and the Guatemalan capital. Rail freight is about 300 pesos per car. The trip is scheduled to be made in 10 hours, but often takes as long as 20. There are no Pullman accommodations, and the trip is recommended only to the hardiest of travelers.”

The author frequently found roads that were less than perfect:

“The drive from Mexico City to Acapulco includes the best and the worst roads in Mexico. Two stretches of the new freeway are now open, but beyond Iguala (the southern half of the trip) the road is in a sorry state. Although Acapulco can be reached from Iguala in from 4 to 5 hours, the trip itself is unrewarding.

“Pending completion of the new highway beyond Iguala, 5 hours or more are necessary for the 160-mile trip to Acapulco, depending on the extent of the rains and the ambition of the maintenance crew assigned to the area.”

Acapulco

The resort of Acapulco was thriving:

“The original atmosphere of the old port exists no more. There are now broad paved streets, modern stores, and dozens of hotels, several of them large luxury establishments. The beaches are crowded with people, and it is necessary to look far for the proverbial native sleeping in his hammock beneath his sombrero or lazily drinking coconut milk. There are, of course, compensations for the lost atmosphere: comfortable hotels, lively night clubs, a country club and facilities for all known water sports. And the natural beauty of the place is such that no amount of modern construction could change it.”

San Cristobal de Las Casas

The city of San Cristobal de Las Casas fascinated the author:

“The social organization of the city is the most interesting in Mexico, each trade monopolizing a different section of the city, which has its own name, patron saint, and holidays. The distinct neighborhoods also usually represent a different tribe. For example, the Aztecs who came with Mazariego stayed to found the Barrio (district) Mexicano, and today are dedicated to weaving and dyeing. In the Barrio Cerrillo dwell the blacksmiths, in Barrio Guadalupe the toymakers, in San Ramon the potters, and in Santa Lucia the makers of fireworks! Around the first part of the seventeenth century a group of malcontents from Guatemala came to town and formed their own barrio: Cuxtitali.

“The greatest interest, however, is the market where can be seen Indians from a dozen distinct tribes, each with its own type of dress.”

Curious Attractions and Indian Distances

Tell it like it is! Bashford found an unexpected attraction at the Villa Granados hotel in Tehuacan, Puebla:

“Excellent cuisine. Attentive service by Señorita Amelia. Friendly atmosphere. The antics of Genaro, the gardener, are alone worth the price of the hotel. When he is not aware of an audience, he goes about his chores singing an unending repertoire of canciones rancheros, occasionally dancing with the hose, broom, or dog.”

But don’t ask how far it is…

“To the Mexican Indian, distance is directly related to time, and therefore of no importance. When enquiring distances in the country, be prepared to accept the answer in leagues (leguas). For the uninitiated, a legua is equal to two whoops and a holler, or not quite so far as up yonder.”

Veracruz

Bashford appears to have enjoyed Veracruz, which even then had a population of over 100,000, and tells a charming tale of social one-upmanship:

“In spite of the vicissitudes of the climate, the Veracruzanos are a merry people. Immigration from all over the world has left its mark on the city, and many of the inhabitants are darker or lighter than Mexicans elsewhere, depending on the origin of their forebears. Apart from music, the only fetish of the people is gold teeth. Every small boy dreams of the day when he will be rich enough to have his teeth capped with gold. And, if he is very successful, he will someday be rich enough to have a tooth pulled and a removable replacement made. Then he will stand in the plaza in the evening, listen to other marimbas and, as the fair maidens pass, remove his tooth, polish it, and ceremoniously replace it.”

Oaxaca

One of the most extravagant tales in Bashford tells how one particular cathedral bell in Oaxaca had to be tried for heresy:

“The Holy Office held proper and exhaustive hearings, and having found the bell guilty, condemned it to be struck throughout eternity. Charles V of Spain, in hearty approval of the sentence, hastened to make a gift to Oaxaca of a clock, complete with striking mechanism. Even today the clock may be seen on the cathedral tower, periodically chastising the guilty bell.”

The Yucatan

The Yucatán Peninsula (Cancún) was still undiscovered:

“One of the most fascinating and least visited of the Mexican archeological areas is the Yucatán Peninsula, located two and a half air hours south of New Orleans, and the same distance east of Mexico City. Before the advent of the airways the peninsula was isolated to all but ocean travelers or an occasional unfortunate who fell prey to the passenger agent of the wood-burning train that from time to time made its way there. Because of its geographic isolation from the rest of Mexico, Yucatán has grown up almost independently: historically, economically, and socially it is a nation apart.”

Reference:

• Bashford, G.M. (1954) Tourist Guide to Mexico. McGraw-Hill.

Did You Know Index
Quotations © Copyright 1954 by William L. Bashford, Jr.
Commentary © Copyright 2004 by Tony Burton. All rights reserved.

The post What was Mexico like 70 years ago? appeared first on MexConnect.

During the month of May…

ACAPULCO IN UNDER NINE HOURS!

WAR IS DECLARED!!

PRESIDENT FINALLY RESIGNS.

DRASTIC WATER SHORTAGES IN AZTEC CAPITAL.

May 1, 1552
A royal decree establishes four schools for natives in the province of Nueva Galicia (now Jalisco): in Guadalajara, Atoyac, Ahuacatlán and Juchipila.

1, 1917
Venustiano Carranza begins his term as President. During his three years in office (until 1920) fighting continues in much of the country – against Villa’s forces, in the north, and Zapata’s forces further south.

3, 1518
The island of Cozumel is “discovered” by Captain Juan de Grijalva. He names the island Santa Cruz island, and disembarks, “taking possession”, on May 5.

3, 1535
Hernán Cortés lands at the site of La Paz, on the Baja California Peninsula. According to some accounts, Cortés, complaining about the heat, exclaimed, in Latin, “Oh, callida fornax“, hence the name “California”.

ACAPULCO IN UNDER NINE HOURS!

3, 1928
A new speed record is set for the drive from Mexico City to Acapulco. Luis G. Armienta, a race-car driver, accompanied by a newspaper reporter, completes the 458-kilometer trip in just 8 hours and 45 minutes. Only some parts of the “highway” were paved at this time.

4, 1904
Agustín Yáñez is born. Yáñez went on to become an educator, lawyer, politician and novelist. He was Governor of Jalisco state between 1953 and 1959. His novels include Al filo del agua (The Eye of the Storm) in 1947 and Las Tierras Flacas in 1962.

5, 1804
The famous explorer, Alexander von Humboldt, traveling through the region, estimates the population of New Spain to be 6 million people.

5, 1862
The Battle of Puebla. The Republican forces of President Benito Juárez defeat the French army, thought at the time to be the best in the world. The defeat caused consternation in Europe.

5, 1990
40 passengers killed when train from Oaxaca to Mexico City derails near Oaxaca city and plunges into dry riverbed.

5, 1998
19 firefighters killed in central Puebla while battling forest fire.

6, 1517
The first Mass on Mexican soil is celebrated at an improvised altar on the shore of Campeche by the sailors accompanying Juan de Grijalva.

8, 1753
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla born on the San Vicente hacienda in Corralejo, near Pénjamo, in the state of Guanajuato. Hidalgo enters the priesthood and on September 15, 1810, while parish priest of Dolores (now Dolores Hidalgo), exhorts the people to march on nearby towns. His speech marks the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence and Hidalgo, killed in 1811, is often labelled the “Father of Mexican Independence”.

9, 1983
More than 30 killed and dozens injured when fireworks and gunpowder explode during fiesta del Día de la Santa Cruz fair in Santa Cruz de Tlapacoya, State of México.

10, 1870
Dr. Angel Iglesias Domínguez, a pioneer of animal vaccination in Mexico, dies in Mexico City. A teacher of medicine, he was a member of the Mexican Commission that went to Europe to invite Maximilian to come to Mexico.

10, 1922
Mothers’ Day is celebrated for the first time in Mexico. The celebration is promoted by Rafael Alducin, the then Editor of the Mexico City daily Excélsior. In the U.S., the first celebration of Mothers’ Day was in 1908.

11, 1535
King Charles V of Spain decrees the founding of three Royal Mints in the New World, including one in New Spain.

WAR IS DECLARED!!

11, 1846
U.S. President James K. Polk officially declares war on Mexico. Skirmishes had broken out in the north a month earlier and U.S. troops were already on Mexican soil.

12, 1908
The musician and composer Melosio Morales dies in Mexico City. Morales composed several symphonies and operas including Romeo y Julieta (1863) and Cleopatra (1891).

13, 1942
A German submarine attacks and sinks the Mexican oil barge “Potrero de Llano” in the Gulf of Mexico. On May 28, having received no satisfactory reply to its complaint over the sinking, Mexico formally declares war on Germany and its allies Japan and Italy.

14, 1983
Miguel Alemán Valdés, president from 1946 to 1952 dies in Mexico City at the age of 79. Foreign investment boomed during his presidency, helping to finance substantial improvements to infrastructure, especially reservoirs and highways.

15, 1847
U.S. General Williams Jenkins Worth, on behalf of General Scott, takes the city of Puebla, securing the city prior to the advance on Mexico City. As a result of this war (referred to by Mexican historians as the American Intervention), the U.S. gained Texas, New Mexico and California.

15, 1918
The first celebration of Teachers’ Day, celebrated annually on this date every year since.

15, 1932
Mexico joins the League of Nations.

15, 1981
In the Volkswagen plant in Puebla, the 20 millionth VW Bug rolls off the production line.

16, 1833
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna becomes president for the first time. He goes on to serve as president no fewer than eleven times during the nineteenth century!

PRESIDENT FINALLY RESIGNS.

With the Revolution breaking out all around him, President Diaz, who has been in power almost continuously for over thirty years, announces to the nation his intention of leaving office. (May 17, 1911) Subsequently, on May 21, Diaz signs the pact of Ciudad Juarez, in which he and his vice-President resign, and his former External Affairs minister, Francisco Leon de la Barra, assumes the interim presidency. Francisco I. Madero, the Revolutionary President, also resigns (complicated times, these!) as part of the deal. The same treaty promises private persons reparations for damages suffered at the hands of revolutionary forces. After a public rally in the zócalo of Mexico City on May 24, protesting the delay in Diaz’s departure from the presidential palace, Diaz formally resigns to his own ministers (May 25) and the following day leaves, with his family, for exile in France.

16, 1946
Several homes destroyed and 28 people injured when a meteorite hits the remote village of Santa Ana, Nuevo León.

17, 2011
X-ray equipment at a checkpoint in Chiapas finds 513 illegal migrants, including 32 women and 4 children, crammed into two trucks bound for the US. 

19, 1816
The Spanish government reconsiders the expulsion of the Jesuits from New Spain (which took place in 1767) and permits them to return.

19, 1969
The country’s highest ever temperature is recorded: 59 degrees C. (in the shade!) in Nazas, Durango.

21, 1534
Juan de Zumárraga receives royal approval to found the first library in the Americas.

21, 1895
Lázaro Cárdenas is born in Jiquilpan, Michoacan, near the south-east corner of Lake Chapala. Cárdenas becomes President in 1934 and during his presidency, which lasts until 1940, nationalizes both the railroads and the oil companies.

23, 1892
The “lnteroceanic Railway” between Mexico City and Veracruz is opened. The original plan (never realized) was to continue the line to link Acapulco to Veracruz via the capital.

24, 1939
Francisco Sarabia breaks the Mexico City-New York flying time record, making the journey, non-stop, in 10 hours, 46 minutes and 5 seconds. He dies two weeks later (June 7) when engine failure causes his plane, “El Conquistador del Cielo” to fall into the Potomac river on his return flight to the U.S.

24, 1993
Shootout between rival drug gangs in parking lot at Guadalajara International Airport kills 2 gunmen, 3 bystanders and Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo and his driver who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

DRASTIC WATER SHORTAGES IN AZTEC CAPITAL.

26, 1521
As Spanish conquistador Cortés’ forces continue their siege of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, they deliberately break the Chapultepec aqueduct (the city’s main fresh water supply) in order to force the Aztecs to surrender.

27, 1937
70 killed and dozens injured when gasoline tanks explode after a mudslide near Tlalpujahua, Michoacan, buries the El Carmen and Somosa mining villages.

28, 1784
Tsunami hits Acapulco following an earthquake; dozens dead.

28, 1864
“Emperor” Maximilian and his wife, Carlotta, arrive in Veracruz (from Europe) to take the reins of the Mexican “Empire”. His reception is so cool that he has to wait another day before disembarking.

30, 1920
Bubonic plague appears in Veracruz. The outbreak is quickly brought under control by the authorities.

30, 1984
One of Mexico’s top investigative journalists, Manuel Buendia, 58 years old, is assassinated in broad daylight in the middle of a tourist zone in Mexico City. Buendia had gained a worldwide reputation for straightforward, honest reporting. No-one has ever been brought to trial for his murder.

• History of Mexico Time-line

The main source for this series is Efemérides Mexicanas by Noé Solchaga Zamudio and Luisa A. Solchaga Peña, published in two volumes by Editorial Avante, Mexico City, 1983.

Published or Updated on: April 27, 2020 by Tony Burton © 2008

The post Mexico this month – May appeared first on MexConnect.

During the month of April…

ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE ENCOUNTERS EVER.

ZAPATA MURDERED AFTER MOCK BATTLE

MAXIMILIAN ACCEPTS THE CROWN OF MEXICO

EPIDEMIC KILLS EARLY FEMINIST

MASSACRE AT VERACRUZ AS U.S. TRIES TO INVADE!

ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE ENCOUNTERS EVER.

April 1, 1536.
Pánfilo Narváez’s expedition had been shipwrecked off the Florida coast in 1518. After 18 years of traversing the continent, on foot, four survivors, including Alvaro Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and Alonso del Castillo Maldonado finally make contact with other Spaniards near the Pacific Ocean in San Miguel de Culiacán.

1, 1895
The signing of the definitive agreement defining the frontier with Guatemala.

2, 1844
The National Library is inaugurated. In 1929, its administration was handed over to the National University, UNAM.

3, 1854
The National Medical School opens its doors.

6, 1857
In Caborca, Sonora, the forces of Lorenzo Rodríguez defeat a group of filibusters led by Henry A. Crabb after six days of fighting. Crabb, who wanted to claim Sonora for himself, is killed, alongside 84 of his followers.

6, 1929
Pianist and composer Carlos J. Meneses dies in Mexico City, at the age of 66. Meneses was the first conductor of a symphony orchestra in Mexico.

9, 1779
The death of the 46th Viceroy of New Spain, Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, occurs in Mexico City. Bucareli promoted various important scientific commissions studying the country’s natural resources.

9, 1914
Nine U.S. sailors from the battleship Dolphin, berthed off Tampico, come ashore carrying weapons and are detained (for about thirty minutes) by federal authorities. The “Tampico incident” is subsequently used by the U.S. government as a pretext to invade Mexico on April 21 (see below).

ZAPATA MURDERED AFTER MOCK BATTLE

9, 1919.

A federal colonel, Jesús M. Guajardo, manages to convince Revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata that he is actually his ally by agreeing to Zapata’s request to attack the plaza of Jonacatepec. Unknown to Zapata, Guajardo agrees with Antonio Ríos Zertuche, the commander of the federal troops protecting the plaza, to stage only a mock battle. The next day (April 10) Zapata accepts an invitation to visit Guajardo’s HQ, the hacienda of San Juan Chinameca, Morelos. Even before the Honor Guard has finished playing the Arrival March, Zapata is shot to death in a hail of bullets.

MAXIMILIAN ACCEPTS THE CROWN OF MEXICO

10, 1864
In Miramar Castle, near Trieste, Maximilian of Hapsburg, Archduke of Austria, is offered the Imperial Crown of Mexico by a commission sent from Mexico City. Maximilian accepts, beginning an ill-fated three years of power before his execution in 1867.

11, 1861
Francisco González Bocanegra, who wrote the words of the Mexican National Anthem in 1854, dies in Mexico City. He was born in the city of San Luis Potosí in 1824. The music to the anthem was composed by Spanish-born Jaime Nunó.

14, 1811
In the War of Independence, an heroic feat of strength and bravery is performed by Juan Valdivia near the city of Zacatecas. He dies in agony after allowing his body to be used as a gun carriage to direct a captured cannon barrel accurately against the hacienda of San Eustaquio.

15, 1535
Hernán Cortés sets sail from Acapulco in charge of three ships to explore the Pacific coast. The Pacific Ocean was known as the Southern Sea at that time. His voyage took him to Baja California and the Sea of Cortés (Gulf of California).

15, 1928
The first fixed route airmail service is inaugurated, linking Mexico City to Tuxpan and Tampico. The company responsible, Compañia Mexicana de Transportación Aérea, is now known as Mexicana.

16, 1838
The Pastry War begins with the blockade of the port of Veracruz by the French navy. The French government demands excessive compensation for damages allegedly suffered during a riot in Mexico City ten years earlier. The Mexican government refuses to pay. In November, the French fleet bombards the port. Eventually the Mexican government capitulates and the French fleet sails off.

EPIDEMIC KILLS EARLY FEMINIST

17, 1695
The revered poetess Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz dies in a typhoid epidemic in Mexico City, at the tragically young age of 43. After learning to read at the age of three and attending University classes at the age of eight, she became one of Mexico’s greatest poets. Historians now regard her as one of the pioneers of the women’s liberation movement, since she was an active participant in discussions (previously dominated by men) concerning theological matters.

17, 1902
Jaime Torres Bodet is born in Mexico City. Torres Bodet becomes a distinguished educator, poet and diplomat, holding the cabinet position of Education Secretary on two occasions and representing Mexico in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.

19, 1940
The first Panamerican Indigenous Congress is held in the city of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. Delegates approve the designation of this day each year as Panamerican Indian Day.

20, 1853
General Antonio López de Santa Anna begins his 11th (and final) term of office as President. He resigns two years later.

20, 1970
The construction begins of the planned tourist resort of Cancún, originally Can Cún.

21, 1519
On orders from Diego de Velázquez, Hernán Cortés arrives at the islet of San Juan de Ulúa, where he makes contact with the emissaries of Moctezuma. They give Cortés lavish gifts and request that he returns home. The Spaniards listen politely but hatch their own plans. The next day (April 22) they camp on the mainland, founding the village which would later be known as Villa Rica de la Vera-Cruz.

21, 1836
Texan troops, commanded by General Samuel Houston, take Mexican leader (and president on leave) General López de Santa Anna prisoner. Fearing for his life, Santa Anna orders his troops to retreat. This ends thewar against Texas and the following month (May 14) Santa Anna signs the Velasco treaty, effectively giving the “Republic of Texas” independence.

MASSACRE AT VERACRUZ AS U.S. TRIES TO INVADE!

21, 1914
The U.S., citing the Tampico incident of April 9 and the fact that German munitions are being supplied to Huerta’s forces via the port of Veracruz, tries to invade Mexico. The local people, aided by the cadets from the city’s Naval College, repel the invaders, but only after suffering heavy losses: 193 dead and 600 wounded.

22, 1992
Guadalajara suffered its worst ever disaster. Just after 10.00am, a series of huge explosions, caused by a build-up of hydrocarbons in a section of the city drainage system, tore up 15 kilometers of streets, destroying homes, stores and factories. According to official figures, more than 500 died and 800 were injured. The true figure is likely much  10,000 people were left homeless.

23, 1930
Mexico’s first Pediatric Society is founded in Mexico City.

24, 1985
Dr. Wigberto Jiménez Moreno dies in Mexico City. Jiménez Moreno was a distinguished geographer, historian, anthropologist and archeologist who held various positions in the National Museum of Archaeology, History and Ethnology.

25, 1528
King Charles V of Spain awards the title of “city” to Gran Tenochtitlan, known today as Mexico City. Four years to the day later, city status is awarded to Oaxaca.

30, 1863
In Camerón, Veracruz, a French Foreign Legion regiment, facing overwhelming odds, refuses to surrender. The battle, known in France as La Bataille de Camerone, is still commemorated annually in the village of El Camerón

30, 1916
The distinguished doctor and historian, Francisco del Paso y Troncoso, born in Veracruz in 1842, dies in Florence, Italy. Among his published works was a compilation of documents relating to Mexican history in European museums and libraries.

• History of Mexico Time-line

The main source for this series is Efemérides Mexicanas by Noé Solchaga Zamudio and Luisa A. Solchaga Peña, published in two volumes by Editorial Avante, Mexico City, 1983.

The post Mexico this month – April appeared first on MexConnect.

Lake Chapala: A Postcard History

Tony Burton. Sombrero Books, 2022.

Available from Amazon Books: Paperback / Kindle

Tony Burton’s most recent book, Lake Chapala: a postcard history, is an interesting pictorial romp through the Lake Chapala area from just before the twentieth century to about 1960. Over 150 postcards mostly taken from Burton’s private collection give a broad overview of what life was like around the lake from the time when the stagecoach and river boat were the only way to reach the area to when the railroad and the first paved roads opened the region to the world.

These postcards are a collector’s treasure and valuable keepsake, their function since replaced by the digital camera and cell phone. As I looked at each of the postcards, I could feel myself being carried back as though in a time machine. There is something magical in looking at old postcards. Age gives them the same patina one feels looking at old photographs. Back then it was mostly friends and family sending home postcards that exposed us to the wonders of parts of the world we didn’t know. Photographs were more expensive, had to be sent to a lab to be processed, and often only took in the traveler but not the ambiance.

Postcards were an inexpensive way to be exposed to the landscape and daily life of another culture without the sender being center stage. At the same time, they kept us in touch with friends and family without having to say too much, giving us more time for exploration and amusement. For those of us growing up in the time of postcards, there’s a nostalgia that comes with viewing them in Burton’s book.

The book is divided into eleven chapters, each dealing with a different period of the history and taking us over a wide area around the lake. Fortunately, two maps have been included so that I could situate each of the villages in the postcards since I hadn’t traveled to all of them during my stay in Ajijic. Another plus with having a map is that when I return to Ajijic, I am now motivated to visit villages I hadn’t been to before. Also, knowing some of the history of a place before traveling there is a bit like visiting an old friend one hasn’t seen in years. The familiarity lends itself to a comfort level that increases the pleasure.

The first postcard in the book is from a photograph that dates the image between 1896 or 1897, though it was published in 1901. It’s the waterfront in Chapala that is almost bare of buildings except for the Hotel Arzapalo, Casa Capetillo, Villa Tlalocan and the Villa Josefina. The mountain is prominent in the background as are the fishermen along the shore. The change along that waterfront today is striking. Many of the postcards show that evolution from small fishing villages to sophisticated and architecturally elegant buildings—mostly in Chapala due to the influx of high society vacationers from Mexico City and wealthy foreign residents who came and then stayed, enthralled by the lakeside’s quality of light, weather and vegetation.

One of the more engaging features of the book is the historical stories told along with the postcards—many of which I hadn’t known before. Hotel La Quinta in Jocotepec is one example. It opened its doors to visitors in 1824 and by 1970 was billed as “the oldest public hostelry in continuous operation in Western Mexico.” The hotel was s typical adobe building with a tile roof, shuttered windows and wrought-iron work. It was built one room deep around three patios. You entered through a tropical garden filled with banana and orange trees. Bougainvillea and geraniums filled the patio. Famous international writers and artists stayed there as well as many dignitaries. The magic of Burton’s description makes me wish I had been there before the building fell into disrepair to be remodeled into a discotheque in the mid-1980s. In the 1990s the building was demolished. I wish I had been there when it reflected so much of the beautiful craftsmanship and flowering gardens that makes living in Mexico so splendid. It’s now just a memory of a time that is frozen inside a few surviving postcards.

Another story that caught my interest was that of Neill James. Though I already knew the story of Ms James, the postcards reflecting scenes from her life brought the reality of her contributions to Ajijic closer in awareness. There’s a postcard of Ms James in her hammock, another of her beekeeping enterprise, and another of a local woman spinning strands of yarn for one of her looms. A postcard of Ms James entertaining guests at her home was particularly evocative. That she left this property to the Lake Chapala Society was a gift to the community that keeps on giving.

A visual delight in this book is to peruse the many types of boats that at one time were the only transportation in and out of the area. The lake had been a vital link connecting central Mexico to Guadalajara. “Local-craft criss-crossed the lake every day ferrying all manner of goods and provisions from one small port to the next.” There were fishing skiffs, flat-bottomed launches, row boats, sail canoes, and eventually paddlesteamers. The lake canoes with their huge sails were quite elegant, as noted in one of the photographs, and must have been a beautiful vision skimming the lake on a breezy day. Along the beaches firewood was stockpiled to supply the large paddlesteamers.

I learned that the first steamship was commissioned in 1866. It was built in San Francisco, disassembled, brought to San Blas, and then carried over the mountains on donkeys to Chapala for reassembly. It was the first iron steamship ever built in California, and was seventy-five feet long. It offered regular sailing from Chapala to La Barca, Ocotlán and Jamay every Saturday, returning the following Monday, and was called the Libertad. It capsized in 1889 while approaching Ocotlán taking the lives of 28 passengers. The story is that the people aboard were having too good of a time and moved to one side of the boat unbalancing it, causing the accident.

Although I arrived too late in its history to see the lake dotted with all manner of vessels, the postcards bring me back to the time, and I can imagine what it must have been like. It’s no wonder so many were attracted to this area long before I discovered it.

One of the things that surprised me when I first arrived in the lake country was the stately and architecturally sophisticated homes along the Chapala waterfront. It’s not common to see buildings of that caliber in a small fishing village. Burton’s postcards show an array of these houses as they came to be built. Each house has a story, and the stories bring the houses alive. That includes the histories of the hotels that sprang up in the town. Once you read about the background of these places, your appreciation of them is enhanced. I look forward to my return to Chapala with this more enlightened appreciation. It does make a difference to have some knowledge of what one is looking at whether it’s a painted postcard or photograph of a place. Each anecdote that accompanies a card beckons me to return.

Lake Chapala: a postcard history is well-researched and enlightening. It brings alive for us a greater appreciation of the small towns along the banks of Lake Chapala, and should be on the book shelf of everyone who lives in the area. The book is 139 pages and beautifully designed with photographs of the postcards on every page—sometimes two on a page. Each postcard comes with a story. Pictures ground the imagination and at the same time expand it. Burton’s book makes me nostalgic to return to the lakeside, but with a greater appreciation of its offerings than when I lived there before.

Tony Burton’s Lake Chapala: a postcard history is a gem of a book and a gift to anyone living in proximity to the lake.

***

Lake Chapala; A Postcard History is available at Diane Pearl’s in Riberas; Hotel Villa QQ in Chapala; at La Nueva Posada, Mi México and Ajijic Museo de Arte (all in Ajijic); and via Amazon (both print and Kindle editions).

The post Lake Chapala: A Postcard History (review) appeared first on MexConnect.

During the month of September . . .

7, 1949 MEXICO’S TOP MURALIST DIES.

15, 1810 CALL FROM PULPIT FOR INDEPENDENCE!

17, 1810 – 1000 PESOS FOR THEIR HEADS.

September 1, 1880 Porfirio Diaz’s government awards the concessions for building railroad lines from Mexico City to the U.S. border.

1, 1925 The inauguration of the Bank Of Mexico which will function as a central bank, the only one able to print money. On this precise date, 57 years later, in 1982, President Lopez Portillo announces the nationalization of all banks. (The banks have since been privatized again.)

1, 1969 From this date, Mexicans reaching their eighteenth birthday come of age, and assume voting rights.

3, 1783 Spain and England sign a treaty which allows the English to exploit the timber resources of Belize, formerly a Mexican province. The province is later renamed British Honduras, a name which persists until it gains independence from Britain, when it reverts to “Belize”.

4, 1781 The city of Los Angeles is founded by Felipe de Neve, governor of the Californias.

4, 1884 Francisco J. Mújica is born in Michoacán. Mújica becomes one of the key figures in the Mexican Revolution, and occupies important government posts under President Cárdenas. The town of Jiquilpan, not far from Lake Chapala, has a museum housing a permanent photographic record of both men’s achievements.

4, 1969 Line 1 of Mexico City’s “metro” (the subway) is opened. The line boasts French technology and super-quiet trains.

7, 1949 – MEXICO’S TOP MURALIST DIES.

José Clemente Orozco, the internationally famous mural painter from Guadalajara, dies in Mexico City. First recognized as a great artist in the U.S., he later painted murals in many of Guadalajara’s public buildings, including the Government Palace, the University and the Cabañas orphanage, which later became the Cabañas Cultural Institute. Orozco’s work ranks among the finest ever produced in Mexico.

8, 1546 Deposits of silver ore are discovered in the state of Zacatecas, the first such deposits to be found by the Spanish conquistadors. Coincidentally, two years to the day later, more deposits are found. This discovery leads to the founding of the city of Zacatecas.

8, 1824 The author of the music of Mexico’s national anthem, performed for the first time officially in 1854, is born in Spain. Jaime Nuño Roca lives to the ripe old age of 84.

8, 1847 Mexican forces defend Chapultepec Castle against invading U.S. troops. In the succeeding days, there are numerous acts of heroism, including that of the “Child Heroes” (which some modern day historians believe never took place!) The major battle for the castle begins on the 12th and ends on the 13th when the last remaining cadets throw themselves off the ramparts, rather than surrender.

8, 1862 Death, from typhoid fever, of General Ignacio Zaragoza (born 1829), whose forces, only four months earlier (May 5), had defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla.

9, 1847 The U.S. troops in Mexico City hang 16 Irish soldiers of the Saint Patrick’s Battalion (see August 20th for their story). More captured Irishmen are put to death on the 10th and the 13th of September, 1847.

9, 1850 The American Congress formally admits “Upper California”, as a State of the Union -leaving Mexico only “Lower (Baja) California”.

10, 1824 Colima is formally declared a “city”.

12, 1931 Mexico joins the League of Nations.

14, 1526 The city of Antequera (now known as Oaxaca) is founded by Francisco de Orozco.

15, 1498 Christopher Columbus begins his third voyage to the New World.

15, 1810 – CALL FROM PULPIT FOR INDEPENDENCE!

Father Miguel Hidalgo, and his fellow conspirators, decide to begin an armed uprising aimed at gaining independence from Spain. The days prior to the 15th have been full of intrigue and incident, with the Spanish authorities desperately trying to capture the ring-leaders. In the early morning of the 16th, Hidalgo issues his call to the people, an event commemorated today by the Independence Eve “Grito” (shout) made by the President every 15th of September. The 16th is Mexico’s “Independence Day”, a national holiday.

15, 1882 The Public Education Law makes primary education free and compulsory. Even today, all the primary school textbooks used in public schools are free.

15, 1939 The Partido Acción Nacional (PAN) was founded. During the 1990s, PAN candidates win several state governorships from the PRI party. In 2000, standing for PAN, Vicente Fox became the first opposition candidate to wrest the presidency from the PRI for more than seventy years. Fox’s term of office ends in 2006.

16, 1850 The opening of the first railway in Mexico: 11 kilometers of track between Veracruz and Molino.

16, 1869 President Benito Juárez inaugurates the railroad from Mexico City to Puebla. It takes another four years to finish the Puebla-Veracruz section of the line.

16, 1896 Mexico adopts the decimal system.

17, 1810 – 1000 PESOS FOR THEIR HEADS.

Spanish authorities offer a bounty of 1000 pesos each for the heads of Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama and Abasolo, the leaders of the Mexican Independence movement, which on that same day, installs the first independent government, in San Miguel el Grande (today San Miguel de Allende). The price on each of their heads was soon raised to $2500!

17, 1964 President Lopez Mateos opens the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City. Recognized as one of the world’s outstanding museums, the building was designed by Pedro Ramirez Vazquez and is a “must see” for anyone visiting Mexico City for the first time.

19, 1553 The Spanish Crown gives a coat of arms to the city of Valladolid, today known as Morelia. This year (2001), the city will celebrate its 460th anniversary.

19, 1985 A severe earthquake, measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale, shakes Mexico City and surrounding states. An estimated 20,000 people lose their lives and some 3,000 buildings are damaged.

20, 1870 The National School for the Blind is founded in Mexico City.

21, 1629 Disastrous floods, with the water rising up to 2 meters in some places, cause extensive damage and loss of life in Mexico City.

25, 1493 Christopher Columbus departs from Cadiz, on his second voyage to the New World. Exactly twenty years to the day later, Balboa discovers the Pacific Ocean, naming it “the Southern Sea”.

25, 1572 The first Jesuits arrive in New Spain. The Jesuits play a crucial role in the exploration of north-west Mexico, and in the early development of education and colleges.

26, 1949 After exhaustive research, Dr. Eulalia Guzmán discovers the remains of the last Aztec Emperor, Cuauhtemoc, buried in a church in the state of Guerrero.

27, 1821 Mexico formally wins independence from Spain.

27, 1862 Miguel Angel de Quevedo is born in Guadalajara. Quevedo, a road engineer, is a pioneer tree planter, and eventually becomes the Head of the Forestry department in the Agriculture Secretariat. He is sometimes referred to as the “Apostle of the Trees”.

29, 1759 The first completely new volcano to be formed in the Americas in historic times, Jorullo, commences activity. Jorullo is located in the state of Michoacán, very close to the site of the America’s second (and better known) new volcano, Paricutín.

• History of Mexico Time-line

The main source for this series is Efemérides Mexicanas by Noé Solchaga Zamudio and Luisa A. Solchaga Peña, published in two volumes by Editorial Avante, Mexico City, 1983.

The post Mexico this month – September appeared first on MexConnect.

During the month of February . . .

SOLD? NORTHERN MEXICO CHANGES HANDS

U.S. FORCES WITHDRAW

NEW MUSICAL SYSTEM

VOLCANO ERUPTS IN FARMER’S FIELD

GREAT TEMPLE UNCOVERED

1, 1867 The Battle of San Jacinto is fought in Zacatecas between Republican forces, commanded by Mariano Escobedo, and the Imperialist forces of Miguel Miramón. The Republicans win, and take about 500 prisoners, including 139 French soldiers and general Miramón.

2, 1530 Hernán Cortés commissions Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán to conquer the “interior”. Guzmán rapidly advances through what are now the states of Michoacán and Jalisco.

SOLD? NORTHERN MEXICO CHANGES HANDS

2, 1848 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is signed in Mexico City, between Mexico and the U.S., putting an end to the U.S. Intervention. As a result of the treaty, Mexico has to exchange huge territories (2 million square kilometers) in the north (Texas north of the River Bravo/Grande, New Mexico, Upper California) for 15 million pesos.

2, 1859 Mexico’s youngest president ever, Miguel Miramón, just 27 years old, assumes office. On August 13 the following year, he is succeeded by 69-year-old José Ignacio Pavón, the nation’s oldest ever president.

2, 1861 The government of Benito Juárez passes the “Printing Law”, which enshrines the freedom to write and print anything provided it does not infringe respect for privacy, morality and public order.

3, 1814 Mariano Matamoros (born Mexico City August 14, 1770), priest and Independence leader, is executed in Morelia.

3, 1939 By decree of President Lázaro Cárdenas, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) is created, Its first director is the archaeologist Alfonso Caso.

4, 1402 Nezahualcóyotl, son of king Ixtlilxóchitl, is born in the city of Texcoco. He ascends to the throne in 1431, reorganizes the kingdom and rebuilds the city. He becomes famous as a poet, philosopher, orator and legislator.

5, 1590 Friar Bernardino de Sahagún (Bernardino Ribeira) dies in Tlatelolco, Mexico City. De Sahagún was a missionary, educator and historian who arrived in New Spain in 1529. He was a strong advocate for Indian rights.

5, 1857 A new Constitution is proclaimed. It takes effect September 16, 1857.

5, 1861 Regulations are published for the nationalization of church property.

5, 1917 A new Constitution is proclaimed, that supersedes that of 1857. It takes effect May 1, 1917 and remains in effect to this day.

U.S. FORCES WITHDRAW

6, 1917 The punitive expedition of U.S. general Pershing crosses the border back into the U.S. after eleven months in Mexico. The original motive for the incursion was to locate and apprehend Francisco (Pancho) Villa in retaliation for Villa’s attack on Columbus on March 9, 1916.

7, 1864 The internationally renowned pianist and composer Ricardo Castro is born in the city of Durango. He becomes director of the National Conservatory prior to his death in Mexico City on November 28, 1907.

7, 1903 Ricardo López Méndez is born in Izamal, Yucatán. He is best remembered for his exquisite poetry, including “Mexico, I believe in you”. Many of his poems are later transformed into popular songs.

8, 1847 The invading forces of the U.S., commanded by General Scott arrive in the port of Veracruz.

8, 1969 A meteorite, estimated to be 4 million years old, older than any previous known meteorite in Mexico, falls on the Valle of Allende in Chihuahua.

10, 1818 The birth in Mexico City of Guillermo Prieto, who becomes a poet, dramatist, and liberal politician. He holds numerous government positions and is a staunch supporter of the Reform Movement. He dies March 2, 1897.

12, 1779 The frigates “Princesa” and “Favorita” set sail from San Blas to explore the northern Pacific coast as far as San Francisco.

14, 1781 Valentín Gómez Farías is born in Guadalajara, Jalisco. A strong supporter of independence, Gómez Farías goes on to become President on five occasions. He dies in Mexico City July 5, 1858.

14, 1831 Vicente Guerrero is executed at Cuilapan, Oaxaca, on the orders of President Anastasio Bustamante.

15, 1775 Miguel Ramos Arizpe is born in Valle de San Nicolás (now called Ramos Arizpe) in Coahuila. Ramos Arizpe becomes a distinguished priest, lawyer, diplomat and politician. Elected Deputy to the Spanish Court in 1810, he defends Mexico’s right to seek independence. He dies a National Hero in Mexico City, April 28, 1843.

15, 1865 The first issue of “The Liberal Party” is published in Mexico City.

NEW MUSICAL SYSTEM

15, 1925 In Mexico City’s Teatro Principal, the world is introduced to the musical novelty of the moment: “El Sonido Trece”, invented by violinist and composer Julián Carrillo Trujillo (born in Ahualulco, San Luis Potosí in 1875). The revolutionary sound is based on a system comprised of smaller divisions than a semitone. Carrillo dies in Mexico City on September 9, 1965.

17, 1519 Hernán Cortés and his crew set foot on the island of Cozumel after crossing the ocean from Cuba.

17, 1877 General Porfirio Díáz regains office as President. After 1884, Díaz remains in power continuously until he is forced out on May 25, 1911, as the Mexican Revolution gets under way.

17, 1907 President Díaz opens the Central Post Office Building in Mexico City, a beautiful building designed by Italian architect Adamo Boari with help from Gonzalo Garita.

18, 1913 On the orders of Victoriano Huerta, Francisco I. Madero and José María Pino Suárez, President and Vice- President respectively, are apprehended and forced to resign.

19, 1862 The Soledad Agreement is signed in Soledad, Veracruz, by representatives of Mexico, France, England and Spain. The agreement recognizes the government of Benito Juárez, and the European powers promise to discuss their foreign debt demands and restrict their troops to Tehuacán, Córdoba and Orizaba. However, the French government subsequently refuses to ratify the agreement and sends its troops into the interior of Mexico.

19, 1880 Álvaro Obregón is born in Navojoa, Sonora. Obregón becomes a distinguished soldier and politician , who becomes President in 1920. Later, shortly after assuming the presidency for a second time, he is assassinated (July 28, 1928) in Mexico City.

20, 1905 Tobacco workers come out on strike in Jalapa, Veracruz. They seek higher wages and shorter working days.

VOLCANO ERUPTS IN FARMER’S FIELD

20, 1943 A brand-new volcano, subsequently called Paricutín, erupts in a farmer’s field in Michoacan. It attracts world-wide attention. In succeeding years of eruption, two villages, Paricutin and San Juan Parangaricutirimícuaro are lost beneath the lava.

21, 1910 The Mexican Red Cross is created. Its first director is Dr. Eduardo Liceaga, a physician from Guanajuato.

23, 1847 The Battle of la Angostura, fought on many fronts between Mexicans and U.S. invaders, comes to an abrupt end. The Battle appears to have been won by the home team, but that night their leader, Santa Anna, inexplicably orders his troops to retreat, leaving the enemy victorious.

24, 1534 The first geographic division of New Spain is established. There are four provinces: México, Michoacán, Coatzacoalcos and the Mixtecas, in addition to the (imprecise) territories of Tabasco and Yucatán.

24, 1561 Puebla receives, by royal assent, its “city” status.

24, 1821 The Plan of Iguala (or of the “Three Guarantees”) is proclaimed in Iguala, Guerrero by generals Vicente Guerrero and Agustín de Iturbide. The plan proclaims the independence of Mexico and has the motto, “Independence, Union and Religion”. One year to the day later, work begins in Mexico City on a new constitution.

24, 1936 One of Mexico’s most powerful trade union groupings, the Confederación de Trabajadores de México (CTM) is founded by Vicente Lombardo Toledano.

GREAT TEMPLE UNCOVERED

24, 1978 During renovations for a building in downtown Mexico City, the ruins are uncovered of the Great Temple, the most important building in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Prior to the discovery, it had been thought that all Aztec constructions had been deliberately obliterated by later colonial buildings.

25, 1732 Tidal waves smash onto the Pacific coast, flooding Acapulco and many other ports, alarming the local populace.

25, 1775 The “Monte de Piedad” (National Pawn Shop) is founded in Mexico City by Pedro Romero de Terreros, the first Count of Regla and one of the richest men in Mexico. It continues to play a vital role in the lives of many citizens to this day.

26, 1854 Porfirio Parra is born in the city of Chihuahua. Parra becomes a distinguished medic, philosopher, novelist and scientist. He dies in Mexico City July 5, 1912.

27, 1882 José Vasconcelos is born in Oaxaca City. He becomes internationally known as an educator, historian and liberal politician and author of many books. He dies in Mexico City June 30, 1959.

28, 1525 Aztec Emperor Cuauhtemoc is executed at Itzancánac, in the modern-day state of Tabasco, on the orders of the leader of the conquistadores, Hernán Cortés. Cuauhtemoc had organized an heroic defense of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital.

• History of Mexico Time-line

The main source for this series is Efemérides Mexicanas by Noé Solchaga Zamudio and Luisa A. Solchaga Peña, published in two volumes by Editorial Avante, Mexico City, 1983.

The post Mexico this month – February appeared first on MexConnect.