PROVINCE OF SANTA CLARA
Probably in no part of Cuba is the topography more varied or the scenery
more beautiful than in the Province of Santa Clara, with its area of
8,250 square miles. Mountain, valley, table land and plain seem to be
thrown together in this, the central section of the Island, in reckless
yet picturesque confusion. The main system of mountains, extending
throughout the entire length of Cuba, disappears and reappears along the
northern coast of Santa Clara, thus permitting easy communication
between her rich central plains, covered with sugar estates, and her
harbors on the coast.
In the southwestern center of this province, we have another group of
mountains, foot hills and fertile valleys, in which are located some of
the old coffee estates of slavery days, established at the close of the
18th century, shortly after the negro uprising in Santo Domingo. These
cafetales, in the early half of the following century, made Cuban coffee
famous throughout the world. Nestling within this mountain cradle lies
the city of Trinidad, founded by Diego Velasquez in January, 1514. The
presence of gold, which the Indians panned from the waters of the Arimo
River, rendered Trinidad an important center for the early Spanish
conquerors during the first years of Cuban history. Sancti Spiritus,
lying on the edge of a fertile plateau, some forty-five miles to the
northeast, was founded a few months later.
Gold was the god of the Spanish conquerors, and to secure it was their
chief aim and ambition. Its discovery in this section of Santa Clara
brought hope to them and despair to the Indians, on whom the former
depended for labor with which to dig this precious metal from the earth.
Velasquez found the natives of Trinidad, like those of Oriente, a
gentle, confiding people, who asked only permission to live as they had
always done; tilling the soil, fishing, visiting and dancing, at which
they were most clever, an ideal and harmless life, suited to their
tastes. They grew corn, sweet potatoes, tobacco and yucca, from which
they made their cazaba bread, still used by the country people of the
present day. The Spaniards, however, soon changed this earthly dream of
ease and joy into one of arduous and repugnant toil, rather than to
submit to which, many of them committed suicide by poison and by
drowning.
Velasquez, enthusiastic over the locality of his newly founded city,
Trinidad, despatched at once one of his caravels to La Espanola in Santo
Domingo, with orders to bring back cattle, mares and other material
necessary to further the interests of the new settlement. And so it came
to pass that this section of southern Santa Clara, with its fertile
lands, beautiful scenery and promise of gold, played an important part
in the early colonization of the Island.
The desire to accumulate wealth through the toil of the unhappy Indians,
of whom the Spaniards made slaves, tempted even Las Casas, the great
defender of the Cuban aborigines, to accept assignment of them as a gift
from the crown, so that he might share something of the prosperity of
the early conquerors. It is reported that Las Casas repented this
departure from the path of rectitude and afterwards was led to indorse
the importation of African slaves in order to save the Cuban Indians
from extermination.
It was on the banks of the beautiful Arimo, some twenty-five miles east
of Trinidad, that this celebrated old historian and defender of the
faith maintained his ranch and other worldly possessions. Throughout the
sixteenth century this section of Santa Clara was an important station
on the line of travel between Santiago de Cuba and Havana.
Caravels leaving “Tierra Firme,” or the great continent of South
America, that had been discovered, frequently made this shore, on the
other side of the Caribbean, or were driven against it by storms, the
crews afterwards reaching Santiago de Cuba by travel overland, along the
south coast. Owing probably to the fact that all of this coast, from the
mouth of the Zaza River east to the Cauto, is low, covered with dense
jungle, reports reached Spain to the effect that the most of Cuba was a
swamp, which is far from the truth, since by far the greatest portion of
the Island is rolling and mountainous.
More than half of Santa Clara is hilly and broken, although owing to the
fertility of the soil this interferes but little with the agricultural
development of the Province.
The mountains of Santa Clara form the central zone of the great volcanic
upheaval that raised Cuba from the depths of the Caribbean. A broad belt
or double chain lies between the city of Santa Clara and Sancti
Spiritus. Another ridge, just south of the latter city, extends from the
Tunas de Zaza railroad to a point east of the Manatee River, near the
harbor of Cienfuegos. A second group lies between the valleys of the
rivers Arimao and Agabama, names taken from the original appellations
given them by the Indians.
The highest peak of this central region, called Potrerillo, is located
some seven miles north of Trinidad and reaches an altitude of about
3,000 feet. The mountains of this group extend northwest as far as the
Manicaragua Valley. A third group, lying southeast of the city of Santa
Clara, includes the Sierra del Escambray and the Sierra de Agabama. The
average altitude of these latter hills is only about a thousand feet.
Another range of hills begins at a point on the north coast of the
Province, twenty-five miles east of Sagua la Orande, and runs parallel
with the north shore of the Island into the Province of Camaguey, in the
western edge of which it disappears in the great level prairies of that
region. The highest peaks of this group are the Sierra Morena, west of
Sagua la Grande, and the Lomas de Santa Fe, near Camajuani. A little
further east they are known as the Lomas de Las Sabanas.
With the exception of the northern coast range, the other ranges of
Santa Clara have resulted from seismic forces, working apparently at
right angles to the main line of upheaval, leaving the tangled mass of
hills and valleys characteristic of this great central zone of the
Province. What is known as the schistose or pre-cretaceous limestones of
Trinidad, are supposed to be the oldest geological formations in the
Island of Cuba.
From the foot of the Sierra de Morena, near the north coast, a wide,
comparatively level plain sweeps across the province to the Caribbean
Sea, broken only at a few points by one or two abrupt hills, northeast
of Cienfuegos. Lying between the northern chain of mountains and the
coast, we find quite a broad area of rich level land washed by the salt
water lagoons of the north shore.
Again, in the extreme southeast corner of Santa Clara, is found another
large tract comprising perhaps a thousand square miles, located between
the Zaza and the two Jatabonico rivers that form the boundary between
the province and Camaguey.
Between the various chains of mountains and hills that cut the province
of Santa Clara into hundreds of parks and valleys, are exceptionally
rich lands, sufficiently level for cultivation. The Manicaragua Valley,
sloping towards the eastern edge of the Bay of Cienfuegos, is noted for
an excellent quality of tobacco grown in that region.
Of navigable rivers, owing to the short plains between the various
divides and the coast line, there are practically none in Santa Clara,
although many of the streams have considerable length, and are utilized
for floating logs to the coast during the rainy season. The Arimao,
with its falls, known as the Habanillo, is a picturesque and beautiful
stream, rising in the mountains of the southern central zone and flowing
in a westerly direction, until it empties into the Bay of Cienfuegos.
The Canao, another small stream with its source near the city of Santa
Clara, takes a southwesterly course and empties into the same bay. The
Damiji flows south to and into Cienfuegos Harbor. The Hanabana rises in
the northwestern extremity of the province, and, flowing south and west,
forms much of its western boundary until it empties into a little lake a
few miles north of the Bay of Cochinos, known as El Tesoro or Treasure
Lake. From this a continuation of the river known as the Gonzalo runs
due west throughout the entire length of the Cienaga de Zapata until it
empties into Broa Bay, an eastern extension of the Gulf of Batabano.
The Manatee River is a small stream with its origin in the center of the
nest of mountains that lie north of Trinidad; it flows south until it
empties into the Caribbean, midway between the ports of Casilda and
Tunas de Zaza. The Zaza River has its origin in a number of tributary
streams in the northeast corner of the Province, whence it wanders
through many twists and turns between hills and ridges until it finally
passes into the level lands of the southwest corner of the Province,
whence it eventually finds its way to the Caribbean. This stream,
although troubled with bars just beyond its mouth, has a considerable
depth for some twenty or more miles.
The most important river commercially in this Province, known as the
Sagua, rises a little west of the capital, Santa Clara, and flows in a
northerly direction until it empties into the Bay across from the Sagua
Light on the north coast. The city of Sagua la Grande, a small but
aristocratic place, is located about twenty miles from the mouth of the
river, and is the distributing point for that section of the province.
The river is navigable for small boats from the port of Isabella to the
city above. Another small stream, known as the Sagua la Chica, empties
into the Bay, about midway between La Isabella and the port of
Caibarien.
The southern coast of the province of Santa Clara, not including the
indentations of gulfs and bays, is approximately two hundred and fifty
miles long. This, of course, includes the great western extension of the
Zapata peninsula, whose shore line alone is one hundred miles in length.
The northern shore, bordering on the great lagoon that separates it from
the Atlantic, measures one hundred and fifty miles, forming thus for the
province an irregular parallelogram whose average width north to south
is about seventy-five miles.
In the center of the south coast we find the harbor of Cienfuegos, a
beautiful, perfectly land-locked, deep water bay, dotted with islands,
from whose eastern shores tall mountains loom up on the near horizon in
majestic beauty. One of the picturesque old forts of the early
eighteenth century on the west bank of the channel guards the approach
to the entrance of the harbor. Some ten miles back, located on a gently
sloping rise of ground, is the city of Cienfuegos, which next to
Santiago de Cuba is the most important shipping port on the southern
coast.
As far as definitely known, this port was first entered by the old
Spanish conqueror Ocampo, in 1508. No definite settlement was made
however, until 1819, when refugees from the insurrection of Santo
Domingo established a colony, from which rose the present city of
Cienfuegos. These involuntary immigrants from Santo Domingo were coffee
growers in their own country, and from their efforts splendid coffee
plantations were soon located in the rich valleys and on the mountain
sides that lay off towards the northeast. Large groves of coffee,
struggling under the dense forest shade, still survive in these
mountains, from which the natives of the district bring out on mule back
large crops of excellent coffee that have been grown under difficulties.
The city of Cienfuegos, or a Hundred Fires, is substantially built of
stone and brick, with wide streets, radiating from a large central
plaza, as in all Spanish cities the favorite meeting place where people
discuss the topics of the day, and listen to the evening concerts of the
municipal band. There are several social clubs in Cienfuegos and a very
good theatre, together with the city hall and hospital, which are
creditable to the community. The population is estimated at 36,000.
Sancti Spiritus is one of the seven cities founded by Diego Velasquez in
1514, and still bears every evidence of its antiquity. Its streets are
crooked and but little has been done to bring the city into line with
modern progress. This is owing largely to the fact of its being located
twenty-five miles back from the southern coast, and some ten miles off
the main railroad line, connecting the eastern and western sections of
the Island. It lies on the edge of the plateau, east of the mountain
group of southern Santa Clara. An old, tall-towered church still bears
the date of its founding by Velasquez. The city has a population of
approximately 15,000.
Santa Clara, the capital, is located almost in the center of the
province, well above the sea level. Its wide, well kept streets are
suggestive of health and prosperity. It was founded in 1689, and until
1900 was the eastern terminus of the main railroad line running east
from Havana. Rich fertile lands surround Santa Clara, while the mining
interests a little to the south, although not at present developed, give
every promise of future importance. Copper ore of excellent quality has
been found in a number of places between Santa Clara and Trinidad, while
silver, zinc and gold are found in the same zone, but up to the present
not in quantities that would justify the investment of capital in their
development. Ten thousand tons of asphalt are mined annually not far
from the city, and considerable tobacco is grown in the surrounding
country. The population is estimated at 15,000.
Sagua la Grande is located on the Sagua River, twenty miles up from the
port of La Isabella. It is a comparatively modern city, with wide
streets, and is the distributing point for the large sugar estates of
that section. Its population is 12,000.
The Port of Caibarien has grown into considerable importance owing to
the large amount of sugar brought in by the different railroads, for
storage in the big stone warehouses that line the wharf. Shoal water
necessitates lightering out some fifteen miles to a splendid anchorage
under the lee of Cayo Frances, on the outer edge of the great salt water
lagoon which envelops the entire north coast of Santa Clara. The
population is 7,000.
Five miles west, on the line between Caibarien and Santa Clara, is the
little old city of Remedios, that once occupied a place on the coast,
but was compelled by the unfriendly visits of pirates, as were many
other cities in Cuba in the olden days, to move back from the sea shore,
so that the inhabitants could be warned of an approaching enemy. Around
Remedios, large fields of tobacco furnish the chief source of income to
this city of six or seven thousand people.
The great “Cienaga de Zapata,” or Swamp of the Shoe, so called on
account of its strange resemblance to a heeled moccasin, although
geographically a part of the Province of Matanzas, has nevertheless
always been included in the boundaries of Santa Clara. Its length from
east to west is about sixty-five miles, with an average width from north
to south of twenty. Many plans, at different times since the first
Government of Intervention, have been formed for the drainage and
reclaiming of this great swamp of the Caribbean, whose area is
approximately twelve hundred square miles.
Nearly all of the surface is covered with hard wood timber, growing in a
vast expanse of water, varying in depth from one to three feet. Owing
to its lack of incline in any direction, reclamation of this isolated
territory is not easy, although the land, after the timber was removed
and the water once disposed of, would probably be very valuable.
Enormous deposits of peat and black vegetable muck, cover the western
shores of this peninsula and will, when utilized for either fuel,
fertilizer or gas production, be an important source of revenue, as will
its forests of hard wood, when transportation to the coast is rendered
possible.
Just east of the heel of the “Zapata” and some forty miles west of the
harbor of Cienfuegos, a deep, open, wide-mouthed roadstead projects from
the Caribbean some eighteen miles into the land, almost connecting with
the little lake known as “El Tesero” or Treasure, located at the most
southerly point of the Province of Matanzas. This roadstead, known as
the Bay of Cochinos, furnishes shelter from all winds excepting those
from the south, against which there is no protection, although abutments
thrown out from the shore might give artificial shelter, and thus render
it a fairly safe harbor.
Quite a large forest of valuable woods lies a few miles back from the
coast, between Cochinos Bay and the harbor of Cienfuegos. The broken
surface of the dog teeth rocks, however, upon which this forest stands,
renders the removal of logs difficult and dangerous, since iron shoes
will not protect the feet of draft animals used in the transport of wood
to the coast. A narrow strip of very good vegetable land, running only a
mile or so back from the beach, extends along this section of the coast
for about twenty-five miles, awaiting the intelligent efforts of some
future gardener to produce potatoes and other vegetables on a large
scale for spring shipments to Cienfuegos.
The great source of wealth of the Province of Santa Clara, of course, is
sugar, and to that industry nearly all of her industrial energies are at
present devoted. Seventy great sugar estates, with modern mills, are
located within the Province, yielding an annual production of
approximately eight million sacks of sugar, each weighing 225 pounds.
The fertility of Santa Clara soil has never been exhausted, and the
great network of railroads covering the Province furnishes easy
transportation to the harbors of Cienfuegos, Sagua and Caibarien.
Considerable amounts of sugar are also shipped from Casilda, the port of
Trinidad on the south coast, and some from Tunas de Zaza, at the mouth
of the Zaza River, thirty miles further east. The sugar produced in the
Province in 1918 was valued at eighty million dollars.
The tobacco of Santa Clara Province, although not of the standard
quality obtained in the western provinces of Pinar del Rio and Havana,
still forms a very important industry. That coming from the Manicaragua
Valley, northeast of Cienfuegos, has obtained a good reputation for its
excellent flavor.
Coffee culture in the mountains and valleys lying between Trinidad and
Sancti Spiritus, introduced by French refugees from the Island of Santo
Domingo the first years of the last century, was at one time a very
important industry. With the introduction of machinery for hulling and
polishing the beans, and with better facilities for the removal of the
crop to the coast, there is every reason to believe that this industry,
in the near future, will resume some of the importance which it enjoyed
half a century ago, or before the abolition of slavery rendered picking
the berries expensive, since this work can be done only by hand. The
growing of coffee offers a delightful and profitable occupation to large
families, since the work of gathering and caring for the berries is a
very pleasant occupation for women and children.
Owing to the fertility of the soil of Santa Clara, the abundance of
shade, rich grass, and plentiful streams of clear running water flowing
from the mountains, there is perhaps no section of Cuba that offers
greater inducement to the stock raiser.
The breeding of fine horses, of high-grade hogs, of angora goats, sheep
and milch cows, will undoubtedly, when the attention of capital is
called to the natural advantages of this section of the country, rival
even the sugar industry of the Province. In no part of the world could
moderate sized herds of fine animals be better cared for than on the
high table lands and rich valleys of Santa Clara.
Santa Clara bore its part in the trials and sufferings endured by the
patriots of Cuba in the War of Independence. The range of mountains
between Sancti Spiritus and Trinidad, during those four fearful years,
furnished a safe retreat for the Cuban forces, when the soldiers of
Spain, abundantly supplied with ammunition, which their opponents never
enjoyed, pressed them too hard. It was in these dense forests and rocky
recesses which Nature had provided that the great old chieftain, General
Maximo Gomez, in the last years of the war, defied the forces of Spain.