PROVINCE OF ORIENTE
The Province of Oriente, called by Spain Santiago de Cuba, forms the
eastern extremity of the Island, and is not only the largest in area,
but, owing to the exceptional fertility of its soil, the great number of
magnificent harbors, the size and extent of its plains and valleys,
together with the untold wealth of its mines of iron, copper, manganese,
chrome and other minerals, it must be considered industrially as one of
the most important provinces of Cuba.
Its area consists of 14,213 square miles, its form is triangular, Cape
Maysi, the eastern terminus of the island, forming the apex of the
triangle, while the base, with a length of about one hundred miles,
extends from Cabo Cruz along the Manzanillo coast to the north shore.
One side of the triangle, formed by the south coast, has a length of
nearly 250 miles, while another, without counting the convolutions of
the sea coast, borders for two hundred miles on the Atlantic.
Mountain chains follow both the north and south shores of Oriente, while
about one-third of its area, which composes the eastern section, is a
great tangle or nest of irregular mountains, flat top domes, plateaus,
and foothills, with their intervening basins, parks and valleys.
While the main chain, or mountainous vertebrae, seems to disappear in
the Sierra de Cubitas of Camaguey, it reappears again, just west of the
Bay of Manati, in the extreme northern part of the province, and extends
along the north shore at broken intervals, until it finally melts into
that great eastern nest of volcanic upheavals that forms the eastern end
of the Island. From this north shore chain, innumerable spurs are thrown
off to the southward between Manati and Nipe Bay, reaching sometimes
twenty-five or thirty miles back into the interior.
[Illustration: A MOUNTAIN ROAD, ORIENTE]
Along the southern shore of Oriente from Cabo Cruz to Cabo Maysi,
ascending at times abruptly from the beach, and at others dropping back
a little, we have the longest and tallest mountain range of Cuba. One
peak, known as Turquino, located midway between the city of Santiago de
Cuba and Cape Cruz, reaches an altitude of 8,642 feet.
From the crest of this range, known as the Sierra Maestra, the great
network of spurs are thrown off to the north toward the valley of the
Cauto, while between these mountain offshoots several of the Cauto’s
most important tributaries, including the Cautill, Contraemaestre and
Brazos del Cauto, have their sources.
Most of the mountainous districts are still covered with dense tropical
forests that contain over three hundred varieties of hard woods, the
cost of transportation alone preventing their being cut and marketed.
The interior of the Province, from the Mayari River west, is the largest
valley in Cuba, with a virgin soil marvellously rich through which runs
the Cauto River, emptying into the Caribbean Sea, a little north of the
City of Manzanillo. This stream, with its tributaries, forms the most
extensive waterway in the Island.
A tributary on the north known as the Rio Salado, rising south of the
city of Holguin, flows in a westerly direction and empties into the
Cauto just above the landing of Guamo, some fifteen miles from the
Caribbean. Small streams empty into all of the numerous deep water gulfs
and bays that indent the north coast of Oriente. Each serves its purpose
in draining adjacent lands, but none, with the exception of the Mayari,
is navigable. This stream, the most important perhaps of the north
coast, rises in the eastern center of the Province, cutting its way west
along the base of the Crystal Mountains, until it reaches their western
end, whence it makes a sharp turn to the north, and after tumbling over
the falls, gradually descends and empties into Nipe Bay.
The Sagua de Tanamo and its tributaries drain quite a large basin east
of the Mayari, and empty into the Gulf of Tanamo. The Moa, a short
stream, rises not far from the Tanamo but flows north to the ocean. The
Toa, flowing east, cuts through valleys for fifty miles, and finally
empties into the Atlantic thirty miles west of Cape Maysi.
But little is known of this river; and like many of the streams which
for countless centuries have been cutting their tortuous ways through
the table lands and gorges of the eastern part of Oriente, its shores
have seldom been visited by human beings since the Siboney Indians, who
once made that section their home, gave up trying to be Christians and
took their chances of happiness on the other side of the “Great
Divide.”
The Harbor of Puentes Grandes, that separates Oriente from Camaguey on
the north coast, is sufficiently deep for ordinary draft vessels, but
owing to sand spits and coral reefs that extend for some distance out
into the Atlantic, and to the fact that good harbors lie within a few
miles on either side, commerce up to the present has never sought this
place as a port of entry.
About twelve miles east, however, we have the Bay of Manati with a
fairly easy entrance and an elbow-like channel that will give anchorage
to vessels drawing fathoms. On the shore of Manati Bay has been
established a very fine sugar mill surrounded by thousands of acres of
cane grown in the Yarigua Valley. Sugar is exported from this port
directly to the United States.
Within the next twenty-five miles, east, are found two well protected
harbors, Malagueta and Puerto Padre. The latter is the deeper and more
important, owing to the large basin of fertile lands immediately
surrounding it. Puerto Padre has excellent anchorage and belongs to the
type of narrow mouthed bays so common to the north coast of Cuba.
On the eastern shore of Puerto Padre are located two of the Cuban
American Sugar Company’s largest mills, “El Chaparra” and “Las
Delicias,” each with a capacity of 600,000 bags of sugar per year. These
two mills are considered, both in location and equipment, among the
finest in the world. The sugar, of course, is shipped directly from
Puerto Padre to New York, rendering them independent of railroad
transportation, and consequently large revenue producing properties.
General Mario Menocal, General Manager of the Cuban American Company’s
mills, began his great industrial career at Chaparra, which he left to
assume the Presidency of the Republic in 1913. It is a very neat little
city, with wide avenues, comfortable homes, good schools and many of the
conveniences of much larger places. President Menocal visits Chaparra
several times during the grinding season each year.
Some thirty-five miles east we have the large open roadstead of Jibara,
with sufficient depth of water to provide for shipping, but with very
little protection from northerly gales. On the western side of this
harbor is located the city of Jibara, which forms the shipping place for
the rich Holguin district, some thirty miles south.
Some forty miles further east, around the bold Punta de Lucrecia, we
have another fine, deep-water, perfectly protected harbor, known as the
Bay of Banes, whose rich valleys lying to the south and west contribute
cane to the Ingenio Boston, belonging to the United Fruit Company, whose
output is approximately half a million bags of sugar per year.
Southeast of Banes, about fifteen miles, we reach the entrance of the
Bay of Nipe, considered one of the finest and best protected harbors in
the world. Its entrance is sufficiently wide for ships to pass in or out
at ease, while the bay itself furnishes forty-seven miles of deep water
anchorage.
Nipe Bay is a little round inland sea, measuring ten miles from north to
south by fifteen from east to west. The Mayari River flows into the bay
from the southern shore and furnishes, for light draft boats,
transportation to the city, some six miles up the river. On the north
shore of the bay is located the town of Antilla, terminus of the
northern extension of the Cuba Company’s lines, and one of the most
important shipping places on the north coast. On the Bay of Nipe is
located the Ingenio Preston, one of the finest sugar mills in Cuba,
contributing 371,000 bags in the year 1918 to the sugar stock of the
world.
Some seven or eight miles east of the entrance of Nipe lies another
large, beautiful, land-locked bay, or rather two bays, separated by a
tongue of land extending into the entrance of the harbor and known as
Lavisa and Cabonico, both of which are deep, although the first
mentioned, with a length of eight miles and a width of six, is the
larger of the two. The shores of both these harbors are covered with
magnificent hardwood forests, most of which have remained intact. The
lands surrounding them are rich, and will, within a very short time,
probably be converted into large sugar estates. These beautiful virgin
forests, with their marvellously fertile soil, surrounding the harbors
of Lavisa and Cabonico, might have been purchased ten years ago at
prices varying from eight to twelve dollars an acre. In 1918 they were
sold at fifty dollars per acre, and were easily worth twice that sum.
Fifteen miles further east we have another fine deep-water harbor known
as Tanamo. Its entrance is comparatively easy, and although the bay is
very irregular in shape, the channel furnishes good anchorage for fairly
deep draft vessels. The Sagua de Tanamo River, whose tributaries drain
the rich valleys south of the bay, has its source in the great nest of
mountains in the eastern end of Oriente.
Baracoa, some twenty miles east, is a small, picturesque anchorage, but
with almost no protection against northerly winds, and for this reason
cannot rank as a first class port, although a good deal of shipping
leaves it during the year, the cargoes consisting mostly of cocoanuts
and bananas, for which this district has always been quite a center of
production in Oriente.
It was on this harbor that Diego Velasquez made the first settlement in
Cuba, in the year 1512. He called it the city of Nuestra Senora de la
Asuncion, but the original Indian name of Baracoa has remained attached
to the spot where Spanish civilization began in the Pearl of the
Antilles.
It was here that General Antonio Maceo with a little band of thirty men
landed from Costa Rica in March, 1895, and began the War of
Independence, which ultimately led to the formation of the Republic of
Cuba.
Rounding Cape Maysi at the extreme eastern end of Cuba, and following
the south coast, no harbor is found until we reach Guantanamo Bay,
nearly a hundred miles west. This magnificent harbor was first visited
by Columbus on his second voyage when he sailed along the south coast in
1494. The celebrated navigator referred to it as “Puerto Grande,” but
the original Indian name of Guantanamo again replaced that of the white
invaders.
The Bay of Guantanamo is considered one of the finest harbors in the
world. It was selected from all the ports of Cuba by Captain Lucien
Young in 1901 as the best site for a naval station in the West Indies
for the United States Navy. Arrangements were later made between Cuba
and authorities in Washington, by which it was formally ceded for that
purpose. Not only is Guantanamo a large bay, extending some fifteen
miles up into the interior, but its mouth is sufficiently wide and deep
to permit three first-class men of war to enter or leave the harbor
abreast at full speed, without danger of collision or contact with the
channel’s edge on either side.
The Guantanamo River, after draining the great wide valleys that lie to
the north and west, enters the Bay on the western shore. The City of
Guantanamo, some fifteen miles back, is connected by rail with the
coast, and also with the city of Santiago de Cuba, fifty miles further
west. It was founded toward the end of the eighteenth century by French
refugees from Santo Domingo, and has at present a population of 28,000.
Eleven large sugar estates are located in the Guantanamo valley, which
is one of the largest cane producers in Oriente.
Fifty miles further west we find the harbor of Santiago de Cuba,
absolutely land-locked, and probably the most beautiful of all in the
West Indies. Its entrance, between two headlands, is narrow and might
easily escape observation unless the passing vessel were less than a
mile from shore. Rounding the high promontory of the east, with its
old-fashioned fort of the middle eighteenth century, one enters a
magnificent bay, dotted with palm covered islands, gradually opening
and spreading out towards the north. Its winding channels present
changing views at every turn, until the main or upper bay is reached, on
the northern shore of which is located the city of Santiago de Cuba,
that for half a century after its founding in 1515 was the capital of
Cuba.
Santiago played a very important part in the early history, or colonial
days, of the Pearl of the Antilles, passing through the trials and
tribulations that befell the first white settlers in this part of the
Western Hemisphere. Not many years after its founding, it was sacked and
burned by French corsairs.
Santiago was one of the few cities in all Cuba that retained the names
given them by their Spanish founders. It was here in June, 1538, that
Hernando de Soto, appointed Governor by the King of Spain, recruited men
for that unfortunate expedition into the great unknown territory across
the Gulf, which cost him his life, although his name became immortal as
the discoverer of the Mississippi River.
Santiago became famous in American history through the destruction of
Cervera’s fleet by Admirals Sampson and Schley, and the capitulation of
the city to United States forces in July, 1898. It has a population of
about 45,000. The city lies on the southern slope of the plateau, rising
from the bay towards the interior. Its streets are well laid out and
fairly wide, with several charming little parks, or plazas, such as are
found in all Latin American cities.
The commercial standing of the city is based on the heavy shipments of
sugar and ores, iron, copper and manganese mined in the surrounding
mountains. The building of the Cuba Company’s railroad connecting it
with the other end of the Island and with the Bay of Nipe on the north
coast, did much towards increasing the importance of Santiago. The
outlying districts of the city are reached by a splendid system of
automobile drives, surveyed and begun at the instigation of General
Leonard Wood, then governor of the Province, in 1900. These well-built,
macadamized carreteras wind around hills and beautiful valleys, many of
which have a historic interest, especially the crest of the Loma San
Juan, or San Juan Hill, captured by the American forces in the summer of
1898. A unique kiosk has been built on the summit of this hill from
which a view of El Caney, over toward the east, and many other points
which figured in that sharp, brief engagement, are indicated on brass
tablets, whose pointed arrows, together with accompanying descriptions,
give quite a comprehensive idea of the battle which loosened the grip of
the Spanish monarchy on the Pearl of the Antilles, and made Cuban
liberty possible for all time to come. In the valley just below is a
beautiful Ceiba tree, under which the peace agreement between American
and Spanish commanders was concluded in July, 1898. The grounds are
inclosed by an iron fence with various inscriptions instructive and
interesting.
Santiago is named in honor of the Patron Saint of Spain, and the
Archbishop of Cuba, in keeping with custom and early traditions, still
makes his headquarters in this picturesque and historically interesting
capital of the Province of Oriente.
Between Santiago and Cabo Cruz, one hundred and fifty miles west, is but
one harbor worthy of mention, the Bay of Portillo, a rather shallow
although well protected indentation of the south coast. On the rich
level lands at the base of the mountains back of and around the harbor
of Portillo, grow enormous fields of cane, feeding the mill on the
western side of the bay. Several other indentations of the south coast
furnish landing places from which either timber or agricultural products
may be shipped, when southerly winds do not endanger the anchorage. A
small harbor known as Media Luna, between Cabo Cruz and Manzanillo,
forms the shipping place of the Ingenio Isabel, which produced 175,000
sacks of sugar in 1918.
The somewhat shallow harbor of Manzanillo is located at the mouth of a
small stream in the Sierra Maestra. Vessels of more than fifteen feet
draft, find the Manzanillo channel somewhat difficult. The city itself
is comparatively modern, with wide streets regularly planned and laid
out. Its population is about 18,000, although the municipal district
contains some 35,000 inhabitants. Manzanillo is one of the chief
shipping ports and distributing points for the rich valley of the Cauto,
the largest valley by far in Cuba. This river during the rainy season is
navigable for river boats for some hundred miles to the interior. Bars
that have formed near its mouth on the west shore of Guacanabo Gulf
prevent the navigation of deeper craft.
The City of Bayamo, located on the Bayamo River, a tributary of the
Cauto, is connected by the southern branch of the Cuba Company’s
Railroad with Manzanillo, twenty-five miles west, and also with Santiago
de Cuba. It was one of the original seven cities founded by Diego
Velasquez in 1514. In the early days of colonial occupation, Bayamo
passed through the same period of trials and tribulations that afflicted
nearly all of the early settlements in Cuba.
Historically it has never been prominent as the birth-place of struggles
in which the natives of Cuba endeavored to throw off the yoke of Spain.
It was the home of Cespedes, the first revolutionary President of the
Island, who freed his slaves in 1868, and with a small force of men
raised the cry known as the “Crita de Baire,” that started the Ten
Years’ War.
Again, in February, 1895, General Bartolome Maso with his son and a few
loyal companions left his home in the city of Bayamo, and at his farm
called “Yara” declared war against the armies of the Spanish Monarchy,
never surrendering until Independence was eventually secured through the
defeat of Spain by American forces in 1898. The city, although boasting
only of some 5,000 inhabitants, is located in the fertile plains of
the Cauto Valley, known throughout the world as the largest sugar cane
basin ever placed under cultivation. The Cuban National Hymn had its
origin in this little city and is known as the “Himno de Bayamo.”
[Illustration: ON THE CAUTO RIVER
The Cauto River, traversing Oriente Province, is the largest stream in
Cuba, and is of inestimable value for navigation, for water supply, and
for drainage. It is the salient feature of many fine landscape scenes,
ranging from the idyllic to the majestic.]
Holguin, located in the northern center of the Island, among picturesque
hills and fertile valleys, is the most important city in northern
Oriente. It was founded in 1720, receiving its charter in 1751, and
boasts of a population of about 10,000. The harbor of Gibaro,
twenty-five miles north, with which it is connected by rail, is the
shipping port of the Holguin district. The country is very healthful and
long noted as a section in which Cuban fruits acquire perhaps their
greatest perfection. Americans living in this city, within the last ten
years, have established splendid nurseries, known throughout the Island.
Victoria de las Tunas, a small city located on the Cuba Company’s
Railroad, some 20 miles from the western boundary of the Province,
acquired celebrity in the War of Independence owing to its capture after
a siege of several days by the Cuban forces under General Calixto
Garcia, in the fall of 1897.
It was in this engagement that Mario Menocal, then Chief of Staff with
the rank of Colonel in the insurgent forces, distinguished himself
through a brilliant charge made at a critical moment, in which he led
his Cuban cavalry against the well equipped forces of Spain. Colonel
Menocal was wounded in this engagement, but as a reward for intelligent
and courageous action he was shortly afterward made Brigadier General,
and given command of the insurgent forces in the Province of Havana,
which he held up to the time of the Spanish surrender in 1898.
An incident indicative of the character and discipline of the Cuban
forces took place at the capture of Victoria de las Tunas, when General
Calixto Garcia, after caring for the Spanish wounded, furnished an
escort to protect his prisoners and non-combatants who wished to leave
the city, in a march overland to the town of Manati, where they were
delivered into the safe keeping of the Spanish authorities, as the
Cubans were unable to keep prisoners owing to shortage of food. General
Calixto Garcia was a native of Holguin, owing to which fact, perhaps,
much consideration was shown to both persons and property in the
surrounding district, where he had both friends and relatives.
The sugar industry, of course, as in all provinces but Pinar del Rio, is
the chief source of wealth in Oriente. The entire northeastern half,
including the great valley of the Cauto River, as well as the rich lands
in the valley of Guantanamo, and the basin surrounding the Bay of Nipe,
are devoted almost entirely to the production of sugar. The European War
of 1914 gave a great impetus to this industry, owing to the demands made
by the allies for this staple food product. An illustration of this may
be found in the increased acreage of cane in Oriente between the years
of 1913 and 1918. In 1913 Oriente was producing 3,698,000 bags, while in
1918 the sugar crop reach 6,463,000 bags. Forty-two large sugar centrals
are in operation in Oriente at the present time, with a marked increase
each year.
Next in importance to the production of sugar ranks stock raising.
Thousands of acres that cover the plateaus, foothills, mountains, parks
and valleys, supplied as they are with an abundance of fresh water and
splendid grass, furnish strong inducements to the stock grower of
Oriente, who has nothing to fear from cold, snow, drought or storm. The
profits of stock raising where the business is conducted under
intelligent management, are certainties, which is true of all sections
of the Island adapted to this industry.
Coffee, as in the provinces of Santa Clara and Pinar del Rio, owes its
introduction into Cuba to the French refugees who, driven by revolution
out of Santo Domingo, fled to Cuba and settled there in the first years
of the nineteenth century. The large profits that have resulted from
the cultivation of sugar cane have undoubtedly drawn capital from the
coffee industry, and unless a sufficient amount of cheap labor can be
secured, the gathering of this crop is not always profitable. In spite
of the rather heavy tariff, and the excellent quality of the bean, it is
compelled to compete with the imported article from Porto Rico and other
countries. It is quite probable, too, that through years of neglect in
cultivation, the habit of prolific bearing has deteriorated.
The rich, narrow, deep soiled vales among the tangled mountains that
cover the eastern extremity of the province are especially adapted to
the growth of cacao, but in spite of most satisfactory returns most of
the farmers of Cuba seem to prefer life in the open potreros, with its
cultivation of sugar cane and care of live stock, to that of comparative
retirement, imposed upon those who devote themselves to coffee and cacao
in the mountainous districts. Cacao, nevertheless, owing to the more
extensive manufacture of chocolate in all parts of the world, is in
increasing demand, and it is practically certain that the near future
will bring immigrants from mountainous countries, who will find the
cultivation of both coffee and cacao to their liking, as well as to
their permanent profit.
But very little tobacco is grown in Oriente, aside from that which has
long been cultivated on the banks of the Mayari River. In the
neighborhood of the little village bearing that name, considerable
tobacco of an inferior grade has been grown for many years, The German
Government up to the blockading of her ports in 1914, consumed almost
the entire Mayari crop, the soldiers of that country seeming to prefer
it to any other tobacco.
More valuable timber grows in the interior of Oriente than in any other
part of Cuba, and much of it will probably remain standing until more
economical methods are introduced by which logs can be conveyed to the
coast for shipment. Large amounts of cedar and mahogany are exported
every year from Oriente, especially from the valley of Sagua de Tanamo,
which empties into Tanamo Bay on the north coast.
Several American colonies have been located in the different parts of
this province, most of them devoting their energies to the growing of
fruits and vegetables that are shipped to northern markets from the
terminus of the railroad at Antilla, on Nipe Bay. Some of them, too,
have built up stock farms that are giving splendid results.
Owing to the size of the province, and its comparatively few
inhabitants, greater opportunities for colonization are found here than
in the western end of the Island. Thousands of acres of magnificent
lands, at present owned in huge tracts, are still available for purchase
and division into small farms. These would furnish homes for families
that might be brought from Italy and the Canary Islands greatly to the
profit of the Republic itself as well as to the immigrants. People of
this class are especially desired in Oriente, and every effort is being
made by the Government to encourage their immigration, since energy,
combined with a fair degree of intelligence, on the rich lands of this
section of Cuba, can result only in success.
The mineral wealth of Oriente is undoubtedly greater than that of any of
the other provinces. Although both iron and copper have been mined here
for many years, the mineral zones of the Island have never been fully
exploited, or even intelligently prospected, by men familiar with the
mining industry. Copper was discovered by the early Spanish conquerors
and mined at El Cobre, in the early years of the 16th century. The ore
deposits of this mine have never been exhausted, and are still worked
with profit. The same mineral has been discovered in other sections of
the province, but owing to lack of transportation facilities, but little
effort has been made towards mining it. The Spanish Iron Company, for
more than a half century, has been taking iron ore from the sides of
the mountains on the coast, just east of the city of Santiago de Cuba,
and shipping it from the port of Daquiri.
These mines are in the form of terraces, that are cut into the sides of
the mountains, so that the ore can be easily withdrawn and shipped to
the United States for smelting purposes. These properties have recently
changed hands, and with the investment of greater capital will soon be
put into a still higher state of production.
Perhaps the most profitable iron mines in the Republic are those owned
by the Bethlehem Steel Company, in the Valley of the Mayari, some
eighteen or twenty miles back from the coast. The mineral here is easily
removed from the surface, and sent by gravity down to the large reducing
mills on the shore of the Bay, where most of the waste material is
washed out with water. The iron ore of Oriente is of a very high grade
and is impregnated with a sufficient amount of nickel to add greatly to
its value.
The recent demand for chrome, brought about by the enormous increase in
the consumption of steel in the United States, brought the chrome
districts of the world, including those of Cuba, into considerable
prominence. The great shortage of tonnage, too, made it inconvenient to
bring chrome from Brazil. Recent investigations made in Cuba, however,
demonstrated the fact that this Province alone, with the investment of a
few hundred thousand dollars in road building, can supply the mills of
the United States with all the chrome and manganese needed for the
development of the steel industries. Several manganese mines are being
worked at the present time, most of them on the northern slope of the
Sierra Maestra, whence the ore is conveyed by rail to Santiago de Cuba
and shipped to Atlantic ports, where the demand is greatest.
The development of the mining industry in Oriente has hardly begun, but
with the enormous amount of iron and copper that will be needed for
building purposes throughout the world in the near future, there is
every reason to believe that this province will have an opportunity to
open up and to work many of her mines, with very satisfactory returns on
the capital invested.