Sonora and Sonora Land Speculators seeking Annexation.--Sonora and its
Attractions.--The Abundance and Purity of Silver in Sonora.--Silver
found in large Masses.--The Jesus Maria, Refugio, and Eulalia Mines.--A
Creation of Silver at Arizpa.--The Pacific Railroad.--Sonora now
valueless for want of personal Security.--The Hopes of replenishing
the Spanish Finances from Sonora blasted by War.--Report of the
Mineria.--Sonora.--Chihuahua.
LAND TITLES.
It has been said in another chapter that the Apaches had extended their
depredations beyond the first tier of States, and had entered Durango,
Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, and even Guanajuato, making this second
tier of states their stamping ground, while Sonora, Chihuahua,
Coahuila, over which they now rode without opposition to a country more
abundant in plunder, are left as political waifs to any who may choose
to take possession of them. As in all abandoned countries, there are
inhabitants here incapable of getting away, and too poor even for the
Indians to notice; and there are a few miserable villages still
existing, with a fragment of their former population. All the
inhabitants of these wretched hamlets have their eyes fixed on the
United States as the only hope of relief from their Indian plunderers.
The proprietors of estates, extending over vast districts, too cowardly
to defend their claims, which exceed in extent European principalities,
are sitting quietly down at a respectful distance, anxiously looking
forward to the time when their claims will rise in value from a few
dollars to as many hundred thousands by an annexation to the United
States. Mexican operators in grants have not been idle. They have
ascertained what the United States courts call a title, and have been
providing themselves with the necessary parchments,[79] while American
operators, in connection with them, have been equally busy.
Chihuahua and Sonora are the States or Departments to be affected by
our Pacific Railroad. Sonora is the most valuable of the two, not only
on account of its inexhaustible supply of silver, but also on account
of its delightful climate and agricultural resources. It is like the
land of the blessed in Oriental story. California does not surpass it
in fertility or in climate. With industry and thrift, it could sustain
a population equal to that of all Mexico. The table-lands and the
valleys are so near together that the products of all climates flourish
almost side by side. Food for man and beast was so easily procured that
the descendants of the early settlers sunk into effeminacy long before
the breaking out of the great Apache war of the last century. Drought,
however, makes the formation of artificial lakes and reservoirs
necessary to the full development of its agricultural wealth.
CHIHUAHUA AND SONORA.
But it is the remarkable abundance of silver which distinguishes it
above all other countries except Chihuahua. I have described, in a
former chapter, the long and laborious processes by which silver is
produced from the ore in the southern mines, and also the great depths
from which it is raised. In Sonora, silver is most commonly extracted
from the ore by the simple process of fusion. But in the district of
Batopilos, it is, or rather was, found pure. If we should adopt the
theory that veins of ore extend through the entire length of Mexico,
then I should say that they "crop out" in Sonora, or, rather, that the
silver _lodes_ which are here above the surface dip toward the city of
Mexico, and also northward toward California. The mountain chain which
traverses California under the name of the _Sierra Nevada_ appears to
be only a continuation or reappearance of the mountain chain here
called _Sierra Madre_ (Mother Range), which forms the boundary between
the departments of Sonora and Chihuahua.
On the western declivity of this mountain range, the most remarkable
illustration of this fact of cropping out is found at Batopilos,
already mentioned. This town is in a deep ravine. The climate is, like
that of the California gulches, intensely hot, but remarkably healthy.
Here the _lodes_ of silver ore are almost innumerable,[80] with crests
elevated above the ground. The mine of _El Carmen_, in the times of the
vice-kings, produced so immensely that its proprietor was ennobled,
with the title of Marquis of Bustamente. This was the beginning of the
family of Bustamente. A piece of pure silver was found here weighing
four hundred and twenty-five pounds. I should like to continue in
detail to enumerate the rich surface mines in the southern portions of
these two States, but, lest I should weary my reader, I must omit them,
and refer those who wish to learn more to the translations from the
last official reports of the _Mineria_, entitled Chihuahua and Sonora,
which are embodied in the Appendix.
"The 'Good Success Mine' (_Bueno Successo_) was discovered by an
Indian, who swam across the river after a great flood. On arriving at
the other side, he found the crest of an immense _lode_ laid bare by
the force of the water. The greater part of this was pure massive
silver, sparkling in the rays of the sun. The whole town of Batopilos
went to gaze at the extraordinary sight as soon as the river was
fordable. This Indian extracted great wealth from his mine, but, on
coming to the depth of three Spanish yards (_varas_), the abundance of
water obliged him to abandon it, and no attempts have since been made
to resume the working. When the silver is not found in solid masses,
which requires to be cut with the chisel, it is generally finely
sprinkled through the _lode_, and often serves to nail together the
particles of stone through which it is disseminated."[81]--"The ores of
the _Pastiano_ mine, near the _Carmen_, were so rich that the _lode_
was worked by bars, with a point at one end and a chisel at the other,
for cutting out the silver. The owner of the Pastiano used to bring the
ores from the mine with flags flying, and the mules adorned with cloths
of all colors. The same man received a reproof from the Bishop of
Durango when he visited Batopilos for placing bars of silver from the
door of his house to the great hall (_sala_) for the bishop to walk
upon."[82]
The next mine of interest in our progress northward is the _Morelos_,
"which was discovered in 1826 by two brothers named Aranco. These two
Indian _peons_ were so poor that, the night before their great
discovery, the keeper of the store had refused to credit one of them
for a little corn for his _tortillas_. They extracted from their claim
$270,000; yet, in December, 1826, they were still living in a wretched
hovel, close to the source of their wealth, bare-headed and
bare-legged, with upward of $200,000 in silver locked up in their hut.
But never was the utter worthlessness of the metal, as such, so clearly
demonstrated as in the case of the Arancos, whose only pleasure
consisted in contemplating their hoards, and occasionally throwing away
a portion of the richest ore to be scrambled for by their former
companions, the workmen."
Near the Morelos is the _Jesus Maria_. Though on the western or Sonora
slope of the mountain, it is only eight leagues from Chihuahua. This,
like Morelos, is a modern discovery, and, of course, was not included
in the number of those Sonora mines which produced such an intense
excitement about a hundred years ago in Mexico, and even in Spain.
Here, within the circuit of three leagues, two hundred metallic _lodes_
were registered in one year. The story of the mine of _El Refugio_,
discovered by a fellow of the name of Pacheco, gave occasion for
anecdotes like those of the Arancos which we have just recited. A
dealer had an old cloak which took the fancy of Pacheco, and to
purchase this thing he gave ore from which the dealer realized $8000.
Three twenty-fourths (three bars) of the product of this mine netted,
between the years 1811 and 1814, $337,000. On the Sonora side of the
mountain is _Santa Eulalia_. The ores of this _real_ [district] are
found in loose earth, filling immense caverns, or what are called
"rotten ores" in California, and are easily separated by smelting. One
shilling a mark ($8) was laid aside from the silver which one of these
caverns produced, which shilling contribution constituted the fund out
of which the magnificent Cathedral of Chihuahua was built.
THE MINE OF ARAZUMA.
Proceeding northward, we come to a spot the most famous in the world
for its product of silver, the mine of _Arazuma_. For near a century,
the accounts of the wealth of this mine were considered fabulous; but
their literal truth is confirmed by the testimony of the English
embassador. After examining the old records which I have quoted, I have
no doubt that the facts surpassed the astonishing report; for in
Mexico, the propensity has ever been to conceal rather than
over-estimate the quantity of silver, on account of the king's fifth;
yet it is the king's fifth, _actually paid_, on which all the estimates
of the production of Sonora silver mines are based. Arazuma (which, in
the report of the Mineria that I have translated for this volume,
appears to be set down as Arizpa) was, a hundred years ago, the world's
wonder, and so continued until the breaking out of the great Apache war
a few years afterward. Men seemed to run mad at the sight of such
immense masses of virgin silver, and for a time it seemed as if silver
was about to lose its value. In the midst of the excitement, a royal
ordinance appeared, declaring Arazuma a "creation of silver" (_creador
de plata_), and appropriating it to the king's use. This put a stop to
private enterprise; and, after the Indian war set in, Arazuma became
almost a forgotten locality; and in a generation or two afterward, the
accounts of its mineral riches began to be discredited.
We have the following record in evidence of the masses of silver
extracted at Arazuma. Don Domingo Asmendi paid duties on a piece of
virgin silver which weighed 275 lbs. The king's attorney (_fiscal_)
brought suit for the duties on several other pieces, which together
weighed 4033 lbs. Also for the recovery, as a curiosity, and therefore
the property of the king, of a certain piece of silver of the weight of
2700 lbs. This is probably the largest piece of pure silver ever found
in the world, and yet it was discovered only a few miles distant from
the contemplated track of our Pacific Railroad.
I might continue enumerating the instances of mineral wealth brought to
light in these two states, Sonora and Chihuahua, if I supposed it would
be interesting to my readers; but as they have heard enough of silver,
I may add that rich deposits of gold were found at Molatto in 1806, and
a still greater discovery of gold was made a few years ago. In this
latter discovery, the poor diggers suffered so much from thirst that a
dollar was readily paid for a single bucket of water, and at length, by
reason of the drought, this rich _placer_ had to be abandoned.
FUTURE OF SONORA.
Such is Sonora, a region of country which combines the rare attractions
of the richest silver mines in the world, lying in the midst of the
finest agricultural districts, and where the climate is as attractive
as its mineral riches. But its richest mineral district is near its
northern frontier, and is almost inaccessible, and can never be
advantageously worked without an abundant supply of mineral coal for
smelting; nor can any of its mines or estates be successfully worked
without greater security for life and property than at present exists.
The capitalists of Mexico will not invest their means in developing the
resources of Sonora, and in consequence, the finest country in the
world is fast receding to a state of nature. I found in the Palace at
Mexico a copy of the last report of the Governor of Sonora upon the
state of his Department, in which he mentions, among many other causes
of its decadence during the last few years, the extensive emigration of
its laboring population to California.
Extravagant as are these statements of the mineral riches of Sonora,
they probably do not come up to the reality, as the largest of them are
founded on the sums reported for taxation at the distant city of
Mexico, when it was notorious, as already stated, that a large portion
of the silver was fraudulently concealed in order to avoid the taxes.
Such concealment could be successfully carried on in a region so
distant and inaccessible as Sonora was in the time of Philip V., for it
was in the reign of that idiot king, before the liberal
mining-ordinances of Carlos III., that the Sonora mining-fever broke
out.
A hundred years have passed since the once formidable Apaches swept
over northern Sonora like a deluge, blotting out forever the hopes
which the Spanish court had conceived of retrieving the fallen finances
of their empire from this _El Dorado_. But Providence had ordered it
otherwise. The Spaniards had done enough to demonstrate its
inexhaustible wealth, and then they were driven away from this
"creation of silver,"[83] and the whole deposit held for a hundred
years in reserve for the uses of another race, who were destined to
overrun the continent.
I should have but half performed my task should I omit to speak of the
excellent bay and harbor of Guaymas, in the southern part of Sonora.
After San Francisco, it is the finest harbor on the Pacific, and is the
natural route through which our commerce with the East Indies should be
directed. The long experience of Spain taught her that a western route
to the East Indies was so much superior to the one by the Cape of Good
Hope as to compensate for a transhipment of all of her East India
merchandise upon mules' backs from Acapulco to Vera Cruz. Much more
advantageous must it be to us, when a railroad from El Paso, passing
through the midst of the silver district I have described, shall
transfer our commerce with Japan and China to the Pacific side of our
continent. Here the very silver necessary for the purchase of tea is
nearly as abundant as tin in some of the European mines, and, as in
California, the prospects held out to the farmer are equal to mineral
attractions.
It would be folly for our government to acquire Sonora without first
providing for connecting it with our country by railroad, and equally
foolish to acquire it without making provision, in the treaty of
acquisition, for reducing all land-titles to the size of a single
township, in consideration for the superior value given to the property
by the annexation, and for annulling all land-titles under which there
is not an actual occupancy. The Spanish courts concede to government
this power over private rights, and for this reason a treaty of
acquisition from Mexico would prevent the confusion that now exists in
California, and enable American settlers to locate understandingly at
once. All titles should continue to be subject, as they now are, to the
right of the miner to enter in search of precious metals, thus no
conflicts in relation to the rights of land-owners and miners could
arise. The principle on which the Mexican mining laws and the
California mining customs are established should be recognized by the
United States. But that right of entry would not arise until the
construction of a railroad should afford the means of actually reducing
the country to possession, which Spain never has accomplished, and
Mexico never can accomplish.
[79] When I was first at the city of Mexico, Governor Letcher
introduced to me a son of the late emperor, who had a claim for
land in California which he had not located before the
annexation. I advised him, without a fee, that our courts did not
recognize foreign "floats," and that, by his own _laches_, he had
lost his claim, which he now spread along the Sacramento River
for 400 miles. Finding out, after an expenditure of several
thousand dollars, the defect, he got a new claim from the late
President Lombardini of thirty miles square, which he will
probably now pin tight in Sonora. The defect of our two last
treaties with Mexico was in not having a clause inserted reducing
all titles to land to six miles square, as a consideration for
the enhanced value by the annexation.
[80] I would not like to make such extravagant statements on my
own authority, however satisfactory the testimony might be to
myself, for the abundance of silver in Sonora is beyond the
belief of most men. But, fortunately, I have, in Ward's "Mexico,"
an authority that can not be disputed. The work is accessible to
all my readers. The author was charged by the British government
with an examination of the mines of Mexico.
[81] Ward, vol. ii. p. 578.
[82] Ibid.
[83] I do not know exactly how to translate the Spanish idea
attached to the words _creador de plata_ unless by saying
that it is a spot where baser substances are supposed to be
converted into silver by some unknown process of nature.
APPENDIX.
A.
MINERIA REPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF SONORA.
Among the five-and-twenty states and territories that compose the
Mexican confederation, there is no other which contains in its
respective territory the like wonderful mineral riches which abound in
the state of which we treat. This would appear almost fabulous; but
there is proof enough from the testimony of many residents of that
state, and from the assertion of travelers, from the evidences which
the archives of the various missions exhibit, and from the royal
registry of mines (_reales de minas_), and, lastly, from the
indubitable fact of the production of great quantities of gold and
silver from the mines and _placers_ of this state, considering the
small amount of forces, and its isolation from all the principal
settlements of the republic by reason of the distance which separates
it from them.
In fact, many metals of universal estimation, such as gold, silver,
mercury, copper, and iron, in a pure state, in grains, in masses, or in
dust, as well as mixed with other metals, superficially or in veins,
are found in the extensive territory of Sonora; lead, or combinations
of lead, for aiding in extracting metals by fire, and for the
construction of munitions of war, amianthus or incombustible crystal,
divers ores of copperas, exquisite marble, alabaster, and jasper of
various colors, as well as quarries of stone of _chrispa_ and magnetic
stones, muriate and carbonate of soda, saltpetre or nitrate of potassa,
are, in enumeration, the mineral productions which are found in
abundance in the territory of the state of Sonora, which comprehends
the region from the river of Fort _Monte Clarasal_ at the south to the
Gila at the north, and from the Sierra Madre at the east to the
Colorado at the northwest.
To the disgrace of the nation, these authentic and exact notices of
the marvelous riches of this remote state have availed nothing in
determining speculators (_empresarios_) to resort to those places in
pursuit of a fortune so certain, or at least to have avoided, by the
means of colonization, the loss which is _feared_ of this inestimable
jewel.
The territory of the state of Sonora lacks nothing but security [from
incursions of Indians] in order that the hand of man may be profusely
recompensed for his labor. Virgin soils, where the agricultural fruits
of all climates not only flourish, but many of these improve in
quality; navigable rivers, which contribute in part to the easy
transportation of the products to the ports of the Pacific for
exportation and consumption; mines and _placers_ of precious metals, in
many of which there is no necessity of capital to explore and collect
them--are not these stimulants enough to attract there a population
thrifty and civilized? In order to ascertain the mineral riches which
the nation may lose in a short time, we call attention to the mineral
statistics which follow, although they are imperfect and diminutive.
As already we have said, the whole of Sonora is mineral; but as among
us we only give this name to those places in which there have been
discovered and worked a conjunction of veins, it results that the
places in this state to which for this cause has been given the name of
mineral are thirty-four. Some of the mines are _amparadas_ [viz.,
worked sufficient to confer a legal title to the occupant], and are
imperfectly in a state of operation. The names of all of these two
classes, which are sixteen in all, are Hermosillo, San Javier, Subiate,
Vayoreca, Alamas, Babicanara, Batuco, La Alameda, Rio Chico, El Aguaja,
Aigame, El Luaque, Saguaripa, La Trinidad, San Antonio, and El Zoni.
The remaining eighteen are found abandoned, some for the want of water,
and others for the want of laborers or capital, and by the fear which
the barbarous Indians inspire. The names of these last minerals are San
Juan de Sonora, that of the Sierra at the northwest of Guaymas,
Arizuma, Bacauchi, Antunes, San Jose de Gracia, El Gavilau, San
Ildefonso de la Cienequilla, San Francisco el Calou, Santa Rosa, San
Antonio de la Huenta, Vadoseco Sobia, Mulatos, Basura, Alamo-Muerto,
and San Perfecto.
In the same state have been discovered twenty-one _placers_; of these,
one is of virgin silver, in grains and plates (_planchas_), and twenty
of pure gold, in grains and dust; but as nearly all these are situated
in the mineral districts (_minerales_) already mentioned, the names of
those which are not given are the following: Agua Caliente, Quitovac,
Las Palomas, La Canaca, and Totahiqui. With the exception of three, to
which gold-hunters from time to time resort to relieve their
necessities, all the others remain abandoned.
There was only one mineral district actually in work at the close of
the last century and the beginning of the present; those now actually
in process of being worked are fourteen, and their names are La Grande,
La Quintera, El Subiate, Bulbaucda Europita, Vayoreca, La Cotera, Santo
Domingo, Noercheran, La Sibertao, Minas-Nuevas, El Tajo, Minas Prietas,
and another near La Grande.
From the mineral districts (_minerales_) abandoned there ought to be
inferred an increased number of mines, which are in the same condition,
but we do not know their names, and we have only notices of the twenty
following: Pimas, La Tarasca, Ubalama, Ojito de San Roman, Yaquis, La
Guerita, Noaguila, Las Animas, Afuerenos, Piedras-verdes Navares, La
Calera, Caugrejos, Guillarmena, San Atilano, San Teodoro, and El
Gavilau. In those in Pinas, and in one of those of the _mineral_ of San
Jose de Gracia, have been found considerable amounts of pure silver
deposited in their veins, and mineral taken from San Teodoro has
produced one half silver. In extracting the silver from the ore in this
place, we ought to mention that the greater part of these mines are
susceptible of great _bonanzas_, from not having been worked
extensively, as their proprietors abandoned them when the metals failed
to appear upon the surface, and when the exploration was a little more
costly.
There are eleven haciendas in the State of Sonora for purifying the
metals which the mines and _placers_ produce, without taking into the
account many little establishments, with from two to five horse-mills,
with one bad furnace for the fusion of metals. Three of these are
situated in Alamas, five in Aduana, one in Promontorio, another in
Tatagiosa, and the last in Minas Nuevas (New Mines). There are many
abandoned mines, as the rubbish and ruins indicate, which we have
noticed, in all the abandoned mineral districts.
The methods which they have observed in extracting the metals from the
ore are the _patio_ [by application of quicksilver in an open yard],
and that of fusion, with the aid of some metals that assist the fusion;
but from the fact that the quicksilver augments considerably the price,
the few that there carry on the business have preferred the process of
fusion to that of the _patio_, from being less costly, and because the
docility of the metals afford facilities to this process.
No machines of new invention have been introduced into that state,
either for the drainage of the mines or for facilitating the extracting
of the metals. This ought not to surprise us, in places so desert and
distant from the metropolis, unaccustomed to the vivifying movements of
commerce, and to the necessities which civilization has engendered in
the more important populations in the central parts of the republic.
That which is rare, and ought to call attention, is the exception of
some mines, where _malacatos_ [water-sacks of bull-hides, drawn up by a
windlass] are used for discharging water. In almost all those which
have thus been worked, they have not had an opportunity to exhibit
their riches, as the abundance of water in many of them was the
principal cause of their abandonment.
The greatest difficulty in the way of giving an exact idea of the
products of the mines and placers of Sonora is the scandalous
contraband exportations of gold and silver which are made from the
ports of the Sea of Cortez [Gulf of California] on the one hand, and,
on the other, the difficulties that have presented themselves to his
Excellency, the Governor of that state, for giving the statistical
notices which have been sought on repeated occasions by the Junta of
the Mineria, both of which causes have made difficult the account which
we furnish; but by those which they themselves furnished of the
production of those minerals before and since the independence of the
nation, and by the exhibits of various witnesses presented in the
remission of bars which from thence they made to the capital of the
republic, when the ports of the Pacific were sealed to foreign
commerce, the production of precious metals having yielded in divers
epochs not far from 4500 pounds of silver, without considering the gold
(abundant enough in _placers_ and in rivers), and from what is known,
the quantities of this metal extracted have been considerable, and in
more abundance than in the mineral districts of the other states of the
republic.
Attention having been much called to the ley and weight of the grains
of pure gold found on the surface in Quitovac, Cienequilla, and San
Francisco, as well as those masses of virgin silver found in Arizuma,
which wonderful riches stimulated the colonial government to despoil
the proprietors of it, and afterward the King of Spain, in declaring
that it pertained to his royal patrimony.
All those places in Sonora which are actually abandoned, as well as all
the lands of that state, are susceptible of producing great riches. The
reasons on which these assertions are founded are those which M. Saint
Clair Duport mentions in speaking of the probable variation there will
be in value of gold and silver in time, by reason of the great
extractions hereafter of these metals, particularly in California [this
was before the annexation of California] and Sonora, where, as in the
Ural Mountains, and the Altai Mountains of Central Asia, gold is
extremely abundant, and because in the _placers_ mentioned explorers
have recognized gold in dust, which they have not washed for want of
water in some, and from the difficulty that exists in others in order
to work them, such as those of Arizuma and La Papagueria.
Nothing could be said in relation to the number of operatives who are
employed in working the mines of this state, nor the day-laborers; nor
in respect to articles consumed there, as well in the digging of the
metals as in extracting them from the ores, because, as has already
been said, his Excellency the Governor has not been able to give the
notices which have been sought, and there are no other better
authorities through whom information can be procured. For in this state
there are no mining courts,[84] but the ordinary judges of first
instance are the authorities which take cognizance of matters which
occur in the department of the Mineria.
[84] The title to all mines in Mexico rests solely upon discovery
and improvement, without any regard to the proprietorship to the
land on which the mines are located; but the proof of discovery
and improvement must be made and recorded in the mineral courts,
except in Sonora, where the ordinary courts have jurisdiction.
There are no companies for the exploration of the mines in that remote
state. Some inhabitants, in distant periods, have procured the
formation of numerous caravans with the character of companies, and
with the object of collecting precious metals, which they encountered
in the placers of Arizuma and of Papagueria, but until now they have
not been able to hold with effect undertakings so laudable.
Various are the causes on account of which the riches which lie buried
through all parts of the immense territory of the State of Sonora have
not been explored. Some of these reasons have already been referred to,
but, for greater clearness, we take this opportunity to recapitulate
them all. The first, which are much noted, are the following:
1st. The absolute want of personal security.
2d. The scarcity of population, and of the means of subsistence for the
few hands that they were able to have devoted to working mines in the
immediate vicinity of hostile Indians.
3d. The irregularity and the want of experience and capital in those
who have undertaken the exploration and the extraction of metals, which
has occasioned the abandonment of this class of speculations whenever
they presented any difficulties, or commenced to be more costly by
failing to produce metals upon the surface of the earth. Some certain
speculations which have been directed with regard to the rules which
regulate mineral industry, and have been prosecuted with capital, have
well compensated the labors and efforts of the proprietors.
Gold and silver, as above said, are not the only mineral productions of
Sonora. In the part of Muchachos, situated in the Sierra Madre, between
Tueson and Tubac, and in Mogollon, a place situated in the mountains of
Apuchuria, in those of Papagueria, and near the Colorado, are found
great masses of virgin iron, and abundant veins of the same metal.
Cinnabar was discovered in 1802 in the hill of Santa Teresa, situated
in the _mineral_ of Rio Chico; and in the hills which are at the north
of the Colorado, it has been found in the past age. Copper is also
found in Antunes, Tonuco, Bacauchi, Pozo de Crisante, Sierra de
Guadalupe, Sierra de la Papagueria, and particularly in the Couanea,
from whence have been extracted great quantities of this metal, with a
great ley of gold. Metals of lead (_metales plomosos_) abound in Agua
Caliente, Alamo-Muerto, La Papagueria, Arispe, and La Cieneguilla. From
these two last points have been taken considerable quantities of them,
for supplying all other mines of the state [to aid in fusion], and for
munitions of war. Copperas, or sulphate of iron, is abundant in San
Javier, San Antonio de la Huerta, and Agua Caliente. In the first of
these placers a vein runs from south to north, from pieces of which,
dissolved in water, there results a tint which, by evaporation, forms
into grains, and produces the same effect as the tint of China. In
Cucurpe is _amianto_, or incombustible crystal, which the ancients so
much valued. Marbles of various classes and colors, as well as
alabasters and jaspers, are found in Opasura, Hermosillo, Uores, La
Campana, and other points; but we do not know as yet the place from
which the Aztecs obtained the beautiful reddish marble which they used
in the construction of their divinity of Chapultepec, which is
preserved in the National Museum, and which, according to all
conjectures and probabilities, proceeded from the quarries of marble of
that state. There are quarries of the stone of chrispa, and even the
magnet in Alamas, Hermosillo, in Sierras of the frontier, and in the
causada of Barbitas, ten leagues distant from Hermosillo, near the
route of La Cieneguilla. Muriate and carbonate of soda, saltpetre, or
nitrate of potassa, are found in the margin of the rivers which empty
into the Gulf of Cortez [of California], and particularly in the mouths
of the Colorado.
B.
REPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF CHIHUAHUA.
The statistical notices which have until to-day been received, embrace
five cantons or departments of that state, which show that there exist
in it sixteen _minerals_ [districts containing mines], of which twelve
are in working, and four abandoned in consequence of the incessant
incursions of barbarous Indians. Their names are Hidalgo del Parral,
Minas Nuevas, San Francisco del Oro, Santa Barbara, Zopago, Chinipas,
Guazapores, Batozegache, Guadalupe y Calvo, Cuacogornichie, Galeana,
Cosihuiriachic, Santa Eulalia, Barranco, and two more, without names,
in the canton Caleana.
Twenty-one mines are found in operation in the twelve _minerals_ in
action. The number of those abandoned is increasing, and is not
permanent; and the only cause referred to is that many of them are
abandoned for want of capital, and others from the hostility of the
barbarians. The products of those that were worked in the year 1849
amount to 146,818 marks of silver, of a ley of eleven _dineros_, and 7
marks, 7 oz., and 4 eighths of gold to the twenty-two quintals. The
number of haciendas and furnaces for extracting the metal from the ore
was twenty, and the processes which they use in that state are the
_patio_ and the furnace; the last is the most general. Finally, there
has been put in practice a third system, by the house of Manning and
M'Intosh, for the purpose of separating the silver by means of the
precipitate of copper. The consumptions of the last year, 1849, amount
to $544,194, notwithstanding which the notices omit the returns of
various mines, haciendas, furnaces, and water-mills. The items are
quicksilver at $140 a hundred, gunpowder, lime, wood, sulphate of
copper, salt, iron, steel, metals of aid [metals thrown into the
compound to aid the process of extracting], tallow, grease, hides,
leather, corn, straw, grain, flesh, beans, and bars of iron. The number
of operatives is not known with exactness, because the reports only
refer to certain mines and haciendas, but in these they amount to 1833,
besides day-laborers at five _reals_ (5/8ths of a dollar) a day for
half the time. The most important improvements that have been
introduced into some of these mines consist in the establishment of
pumps for facilitating draining, and in the introduction of German
ovens for fusing a greater quantity of mineral at a less cost and with
greater perfection, being so much the more interesting as the condition
of the metals presents itself more easily to this kind of benefiting.
Four companies have been established for prosecuting the labor of the
mines, Presena, Rosario, Tajo, and Prieta. The first takes its name
from Senor Delille, the second is composed of Mexicans, and the last
two are composed of Mexicans, English, and naturalized Spaniards.
Nothing is known in relation to their capitals. Besides the precious
metals, we find lead in Naica and Babisas, of the canton of Matamoros;
copper, from which only _magistral_ is taken, is found in the canton of
Mina, and sulphur and saltpetre in the canton of Iturbide. The reports
mention nothing in respect to the authorities that take cognizance of
the affairs of the Mineria; but it is presumed that, as in the rest of
the nation, the judges of first instance take knowledge of
controversies, and the courts of mines, if by chance they are
established, take cognizance of the economy and government of the
mines.
The mint of Guadalupe and Calvo coined in 1848, $720,765, and in 1849,
$665,225, of which two sums $1,027,130 were of silver, and $355,859 in
gold, the whole being the proceeds of 116,015 marks, 1 oz., and 4
eighths of silver, of the ley of eleven _dineros_, and of 2351 marks, 5
oz., 2 eighths of gold, with ley of twenty-two carats. This appears
from the reports of the mint of the capital of that state.
C.
REPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF COAHUILA.
This state, one of the least populous, and exposed, like all the
frontier states of the north, to the incessant incursions of the
barbarous tribes, offers at present very little interest to those
speculations which engender the exercise of mineral industry--that
which, besides experience and capital, requires for its development an
abundance of hands and entire security. While the publication of the
mineral statistics of the nation not only brings the idea of
manifesting the present condition of this branch of industry among us,
but also that of propagating its exercise as one of the principal
elements of riches among the Mexicans, it is necessary to speak of the
state in which the Mineria is in Coahuila, and of hopes which it makes
to spring up for the future. There are twelve mines actually
_amparadas_, or in labor, in the four _minerals_ already mentioned:
their names are unknown to us, and it is only known that their monthly
products amount to 200 marks [of 8 ounces] of silver and 150 loads of
_greta_ [litharge]. The number of operatives employed in all these
amount to 193, and the day laborers receive four _reals_ [half a
dollar] a day.
There is no exact notice of the number of mineral districts and single
mines abandoned in the State of Coahuila; but the number is
considerable, according to the information furnished from 1843 by the
deputation of Santa Rosa. Among those deserving a particular mention is
that of the Sierra de Timulco and that of Potrerillos, by the good ley
of the metals of the mines of the first, and by the uniformity of the
veins and not unappreciable richness of the second. These veins run
generally from northwest to southeast, and in the course they
encounter, scattered about, silver-bearing galena [sulphuret of lead],
lead, copper, with sulphuret of zinc. The amount of the consumptions of
the mines that are worked is also unknown; but it is known that the
gunpowder costs the operators $9 an aroba [of 25 pounds], of lead, $12
a carga of 300 pounds; that of _greta_, $6; copper, of superior
quality, $16 the hundred weight; the carga of coal, six _reals_ [three
fourths of a dollar], and wood, one _real_ a mule-load. The ruins and
the heaps of rubbish manifest that in other times there was much
activity in the labor of the mines and haciendas for separating the
metals; but to-day there are only in existence some furnaces, which are
the least costly, which the miners of Coahuila can use for their
metals. This they effect generally in ovens, and in _galemes_ in the
open plain. But this method of separating the metals, which Coahuilans
have been necessitated to adopt as the least expensive, until
quicksilver has notably fallen in price, has not remained stationary,
as in other parts of the republic. These simple inhabitants have
succeeded, by the force of experiments, in obtaining as a result the
power of fusing 25 cargas [of 300 pounds] of metal, with the
aggregation of 18 cargas of _greta_, in only one furnace and in the
space of twenty-four hours, by consuming only 45 pounds of coal for
each carga of metal.
There are three companies in that state for working the mines in the
mineral district of Ramirez, and another in that of Trinudco. There is
no notice of the amount of funds employed, but it is presumed that they
are not considerable, by considering the smallness of the fortunes of
the inhabitants of the frontier.
In government and economy of mines the Assembly of Mineria of the
valley of Santa Rosa have jurisdiction, but in litigations the judges
of first instance have jurisdiction, to whom a particular law of this
state gives authority.
In Coahuila, besides silver, there is found virgin iron in masses of
considerable volume and of extraordinary value in the Sierra of
Mercudo, in Guadalupe, and other points.
There is copper in Putula or Rios and in Guadalupe. In these mineral
districts we also encounter lead. _Amianto_ (incombustible crystal)
also abounds in Niezca and in the vicinity of Monclova, as also nitre
in San Blas, jurisdiction of San Buonaventura. In the hills of Gizedo,
correspondent to the district of Santa Rosa, are extracted sulphur and
copperas.
It is difficult to ascertain and to mention all the causes which have
led to the decadence of the mineral industry of this state, because the
reports which the authorities have remitted do not state it exactly;
but there is no doubt that they are two, viz., the want of security
occasioned by the frequent incursions of the barbarians, and the little
affection which the agricultural people that occupy that state have for
mining enterprises; that, as already said, they require recognizances,
as well as capital and hands, things which are scarce enough in the
vast territory of the frontier state of Coahuila.
D.
REPORT ON THE MINERAL RICHES OF LOWER CALIFORNIA.
The sparse population of this territory, the want of scientific
information in its inhabitants, and the difficulties which have existed
in the way of keeping up an intercourse with their fellow-citizens of
the centre of the republic, are causes weighty enough for explaining
the ignorance in which we live concerning the mineral riches of that
interesting peninsula. Without doubt, if we are permitted to judge of
it from the abundance of the precious metals which California of the
North and Sonora contain, and their contiguities, we ought to infer
that in the territory of Southern California the designated metals
should be found in considerable quantities. The official notices which
we possess in respect to Lower California fortify this conjecture.
Those exhibited by persons who lack competent instruction upon this
point contribute in part to foretell what will be the grade of
prosperity which will come in time with the developing of the mineral
industry in this territory.
Southern California, by its topographical position alone, is called to
occupy an important place, not only among the integral parts of the
nation, but even among foreign parts of America which are bounded by
the Pacific. If its first necessity is attended to, with the
augmentation of population commerce will come to give it the consequent
movement and animation, and the Mineria will come to complete the
circle of its prosperity; so that it is now difficult to perceive the
grand importance, commercial and political, which this despised
peninsula, which is called Lower California, will yet attain when the
transition of time and the sequel of events come to realize these
Utopian offspring of a patriotic sentiment; but we will occupy
ourselves with the statistical mineral notices of that territory.
There are nine mineral districts (_minerales_) which are now
recognized in California: their names are San Antonio, Zule, Santa
Anna, Muleje, Triumpho, Las Virgenes, El Valle Perdido, Los Flores,
Cuecuhilas. There is a range traversing from north to south for the
space of forty leagues in that territory, which contains also a
multitude of veins which have not been explored. In all these minerals
abound, but the irregular and inconstant labor of some of the mines
does not permit us to consider them as in action.
Explorations of some mines of gold and silver have been made in
California, but they remain in the same state with the other
_minerales_. One and another have been worked superficially, but their
possessors abandoned them when they presented any obstacle, which made
the working more costly, so that it is no exaggeration to say they all
are now abandoned. In a country almost a wilderness (_desierto_), where
the want of conveniences in exploration of the mines failed to engender
the stimulus of acquiring and preserving the proprietorship of the
discoveries,[85] and where, with the same facility with which they
abandon one known vein, they proceed to work another new vein--in a
country where the great part of the inhabitants might well be
considered as tribes that have only reached the first grades of
civilization, rather than organized societies, it is not strange that
there is a want of mineral recognizances where only the mines at which
the metals are easily procured, and not costly in extracting from the
ore, are worked.
[85] The proprietorship of mines in Mexico is acquired by proof
being made to the mining court of discovery and actual working;
and is again lost by an abandonment of four months; there is no
other source of title to mineral lands.
Notwithstanding that which has been said, there are various residents
of the mineral districts referred to that extract gold and silver
sufficient to cover their commercial transactions, to pay their
laborers and the salaries of their operatives, to procure certain
necessaries, and to enjoy certain luxuries which many of their
fellow-citizens do not enjoy. To ascertain to what value these
extractions of metals ascend is extremely difficult for the want of
data with which to aid any calculation.
The benefiting (extracting the metals from the ores) is no less
imperfectly done than the labor of the mines. There are no haciendas
for benefiting; many persons that engage themselves in mining
speculations have in that territory one, two, and even five
horse-mills, with which they grind the metal; this they mix with
quicksilver and salt--imitating the process by the _patio_--in
proportion of 50 pounds of the first and 75 of the second to 625 (25
arobas) of metal, and, proceeding by means of fusion in bad ovens, they
obtain silver. Some others obtain it by means of vases of refining with
the aid of lead.
The consumptions of the Californians in the extraction of the precious
metals consist of quicksilver, salt, and wood; the first they have
purchased in the last years at two dollars a pound, the second at
thirty-seven and a half cents for twenty-five pounds, and the third at
a quarter of a dollar a mule-load. It is to be presumed that when the
quicksilver of Northern California comes to compete with the
quicksilver of Spain in the mineral districts of the interior[86] of the
republic, the price of this principal element for conducting the
working of mines will fall greatly in all the nation, and that the
Mineria will assume a grade of prosperity never yet seen in our
country; and Lower California, by its proximity to the places of the
production of mercury, will obtain it, without doubt, at a still lower
price. The day-laborers, who work the mines of this territory, receive
for their labor from seventy-five cents to one dollar; but there is not
a fixed number, neither is their occupation constant.
[86] This term is applied to all places distant from the capital.
It is not necessary to speak of the existence of companies for
exploring mines in a country where there is such a scarcity of
population, and where there is not an accumulation of capital
sufficient in order that a part of it might be employed in the
hazardous enterprises of mineral industry. The judges of first instance
are the authorities that in Lower California take cognizance of all
accounts concerning the affairs of mines (_a la Mineria_).
In the river which passes by Muleje and Gallinas, the inhabitants of
those places collect the sands, from which they obtain small quantities
of gold in dust. In another placer, which embraces an extension of
seven leagues, they also extract some gold in dust in quantities as
insignificant as those which result from the sands of the river
mentioned.
Silver and gold are the only metals that have claimed the attention of
the Californians, because they derive an advantage from their
extraction, and not because there do not exist other metals less
valuable, but which yield proportionably greater profit to the miners
that undertake the exploration; these are lead, copper, iron,
magistral, crystal of Roca, loadstone, and alum.
E.
THE REMAINS OF CORTEZ.
The account of the disposition of the remains of Cortez, given on page
279, is the one commonly received, and contained in works of standard
authority. Since this volume was placed in the hands of the printers, I
have received a new number of the _Apuentes Historicos_, which contains
another account, which is undoubtedly the true one. According to this,
when the body of Cortez was first brought to America, it was taken to
Tezcuco, and buried at the San Franciscan convent, beside that of his
friend, King Don Fernando. In the course of the following century it
was taken to Mexico and buried in the convent of the Jesuits (the
Pro-for is probably intended). After the Revolution, it was transported
to Sicily by the agent of his descendant, the present "Marquis of the
Valley."
THE END.
End of Project Gutenberg's Mexico and its Religion, by Robert A. Wilson