SOUTHWESTERN CHIHUAHUA--DESCRIPTION OF ONE OF THE RICHEST SILVER
REGIONS OF THE WORLD--MINERAL WEALTH OF THE SIERRA MADRES--THE
BATOPILAS DISTRICT.
After leaving Cerro Colorado, with its undeveloped possibilities,
the trail leads southwestward through the broken barrancas toward
Batopilas. This portion of the trail has been so improved by the
energetic mine owners, and was so broad and smooth, that our mules
could often take up a trot, which seemed doubly fast after our
laborious plodding through the rough, unbroken portion over which we
had passed. This trail had been built along some of the steepest
cliffs and most rugged mountain sides, and must have been a work of
great expense, for after every rainy season, lasting from June till
September, these are badly washed out and require continuous repairs.
The usual Mexican method is to abandon a badly washed trail and strike
out in a new direction. Thus one finds all sorts of paths in the
mountains, and it is necessary to have a good guide who knows the way
thoroughly, or bring up suddenly on the washed-out ledge of an unused
trail and then retrace your steps to its junction with another. Long
before we reached Batopilas we came upon some of the massive work being
constructed at that point, and were in a measure prepared for the
energetic American activity, but not for the castle-like structure, the
hacienda of San Miguel and San Antonio, as the home of ex-Governor
Shepherd, the part owner and superintendent of those famous mines is
called. Entering through a massive stone archway, we passed by some
of the principal offices within the inclosure, and then on to the
residence portion of the great conglomeration of buildings. Here our
welcome was of the heartiest description, and everything possible was
done for our comfort and pleasure. The great buildings were lighted
by electricity and furnished with all modern conveniences, including
hot and cold water, steam baths, and, an unusual luxury, an immense
swimming pool, formed by a slight deflection of a portion of the
Batopilas River. The many comforts of this place made us loath to leave
it for the mountain trail.
I shall try and give my readers some slight idea of the wealth of
this portion of a country so famous in early Spanish conquest. In
those great, broken barrancas, leading out to the westward from the
heart of the Central Sierra Madres, I found myself in the richest
mineral district of America, and probably the richest in the world.
The fact that this is not generally known (and, to tell the truth,
but very little has ever been published in the English language about
so rich a district, and that little is very old) would make it easy
to write a book on this region alone, and still leave a great deal
unsaid. One of the late cyclopedias says of Mexican mines, "Almost
one-half of the total yield [of silver] is derived from the three
great mining districts in Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and Catorce." Like
most cyclopedias, this one was a little late in its information when
printed, although it had an inkling of the truth in saying: "The
State of Sinaloa is said to be literally covered with silver mines.
Scientific explorers who visited the Sinaloa mines in 1872 reported
that those on the Pacific slope would be the great source of the supply
of silver for the next century." The fact is that the center of the
greatest source of supply has moved even north of Sinaloa, to about the
boundary line between the States of Chihuahua and Sonora, and about
one-third of the way from its southern end. Taking either Batopilas or
Urique as a base, and with a radius of 180 or 200 miles, that is, a
diameter of 400 miles on them as a center, there is no doubt that the
resulting circle will include the richest mining district in America,
and probably in the world, both in a present and prospective sense.
From within that circle comes a little over one-fourth the bullion of
the whole of Mexico, although this area is insignificant compared with
all the territory of that celebrated republic.
In 1864 a report of the mines of Mexico was expressly made for Napoleon
III. by Dr. Roger Dubois, the French consul. He said as follows of
those of Western Chihuahua: "Of all the States of the Mexican Republic,
Chihuahua is, without contradiction, the richest in minerals, and we
count no less than three thousand different leads, the greater part
of which are silver." Probably three or four times that number could
be added to Dr. Dubois' estimate of just a quarter of a century ago
to bring it up to the present date, all of the new mines being in
the Sierra Madres, where not one in a hundred can be worked unless of
fabulous richness. One of the new railways projected into this part
of Mexico made a most thorough examination of this mining belt to see
what could be depended on for freight, and their chief engineer told
me that no less than two thousand mines of silver that do not pay now
could be made to do so by the cheap transportation of a railway. If
one will reflect that there are now in the whole of Mexico but 1247
mines being worked (gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, and cinnabar),
it is easy to see that my statement of this being the richest mining
district of Mexico, and therefore of America, will admit of no doubt,
and especially in a prospective sense. Already, in anticipation of a
railway, many large companies are prospecting their concessions, while
the individual miner is also to be found with pickax, pan, and shovel
on his back, making for this El Dorado, so old in many ways, and yet so
very new.
Mr. H. H. Porter, the prospecting engineer of the Batopilas Mining
Company, told me, and showed me the various specimens to verify
his statement, that in one little area three hundred yards square,
there were found twelve veins of silver running from three dollars
to seventy-eight dollars to the ton. The reader unacquainted with
mining may understand this by my saying that any silver mine of over
twenty dollars to the ton is a fortune to its owner if on or near a
railway. There are over five hundred veins in the Batopilas concession
of sixty-four square miles, and should any new railway running near
by justify further research, it could probably be made five thousand
without much trouble.
The history of the big Batopilas Mining Company, about the center of
the district I have spoken of, and which stands head and shoulders
above all the surrounding mining companies, is a fair example of all in
this part of the country where my travels were cast.
Batopilas, or Real de San Pedro de Batopilas, as it was originally
named, is said to have been discovered in October, 1632. Like Urique,
its discovery is to be ascribed to the "adelantados" sent out shortly
after the conquest to explore the country and enlarge the possessions
of Spain. It is surmised that the rich mineral finds made near the
capital, and which subsequently extended far into the interior, led
to the progress of the "adelantados" further north, and inspired the
expedition into the Sierra Madres which gave rise to the discovery
of Batopilas. Tradition has it that upon their descent to the river
bottom the "adelantados" were struck by the luminous appearance of
the rocks, which were covered in many parts by snowy flakes of native
silver. Hence the name "Nevada," signifying "a fall of snow," which
was applied to the first mine worked in the district. The news of
the discovery spread far and wide, and, as the evidence of its great
richness multiplied, it soon became one of the most famous mines of
New Spain. The first miners of the new discovery made a magnificent
present to the viceroy, composed entirely of large pieces of native
silver, the richness of the ore being unprecedented. I have now in my
possession ore from Batopilas that runs from six thousand to eight
thousand dollars to the ton, and that looks like a mass of solid silver
ten-penny nails imperfectly fused together; so I can readily see how
the present of solid native silver could have been made.
In 1790 a royal decree ordered the collection of all data for a history
of New Spain, and a special commission of scientists was ordered by
the viceroy and Royal Tribunal of Mines to report upon the Batopilas
district. There is but one copy of the report extant, which I traced to
the city of Chihuahua. The commission states that the silver extracted
from Batopilas in a few years amounted to fifty million dollars, not
including that which was surreptitiously taken out to escape the
heavy imposts levied by the crown, and which must have been enormous.
The most famous period of "bonanza" for the Batopilas district was
during the last fifty years of the eighteenth and the first years of
the present century. During this time the famous mines of Pastrana, El
Carmen, Arbitrios, and San Antonio were discovered, and yielded the
fabulous returns which have been variously estimated at from sixty
million to eighty million dollars. From the outset of the Mexican
Revolution in 1810 a period of decay set in, which reduced Batopilas
greatly and almost caused its ruin. The many revolutions, together with
the wonderful discoveries of very rich gold and silver mining districts
adjoining this one, depopulated it to such a degree that it counted
but ten resident families in 1845. From this time the reaction which
has made Batopilas the richest silver district in the world may be
said to date. The old mines were again opened and new ones discovered.
The measure of success did not compare with that attained in the time
of the Spaniards, however, owing to the lesser energy displayed, but
proved amply sufficient to repay the timid efforts of the native
speculators.
Not until the year 1862 did American enterprise direct its efforts
in so promising a direction. A purchase was effected by an American
company, composed principally of gentlemen interested in Wells, Fargo
& Co., whereby the property embracing the famous veins of San Antonio
and El Carmen passed into their hands. They operated with great
success in the face of many difficulties until the year 1879, when the
property again changed hands, and was acquired by a stock company,
which has held and worked it to the present day. The American companies
in this, the richest mining district in the world, are: The Batopilas
Mining Company, the Todos Santos Silver Mining Company, and the Santo
Domingo Silver Mining Company. The Mexican mining companies are quite
numerous, as may be supposed, but I shall not detail them, as it would
require too much space. Many of them are very important, as the Urique
and Cerro Colorado companies. Altogether there are over a hundred in a
greater or less degree of active operation in this rich district, all
contained within a radius of four miles. Of these the Batopilas Mining
Company owns and operates over sixty. It is without doubt one of the
most important American mining ventures in Mexico. It is also a mining
company that has had great difficulties to contend with. Its isolation
in the establishment of a business of such magnitude in the heart of
the Sierra Madres in so short a number of years is an accomplishment
suggestive of great energy. This company owns nearly all the famous old
mines in this district which, in the times of the Spaniards, yielded
those fabulous bonanzas that caused the astonishment of the world. It
has had to repair the follies which, from a scientific standpoint,
were committed by several generations of inexpert and short-sighted
Mexican mine owners. It has had to clear the old mines of immense
masses of rock and dirt which had accumulated during many decades
of abandonment, "gutting and scalping," as the miners say. Recently
over one hundred miles of openings have been made. The most important
is the great Porfirio Diaz tunnel, to be 3-1/2 miles in length when
completed--one of the longest and most important mining tunnels in the
world, cutting over sixty well-known veins at the river's level. No one
can look at the great mills, the aqueduct of enormous masonry (eight or
nine miles long, and that will take up all the water of the Batopilas
river), or the town of Batopilas (a most active place of six thousand
people) without respecting the energy that has accomplished all this.
The history of Batopilas is only the history of many other mining
districts throughout this country, and the fortunes taken from these
mines, and those still behind in them, seem unreal and bordering on
romance.
There is one mine near the city of Chihuahua, the Santa Eulalia, which
in days gone by built the fine cathedral at that place at a cost of
eight hundred thousand dollars. This was done by simply paying a tax of
about twenty-five cents on every pound of silver mined, which was ample
atonement for any or all sins that the owners could commit.
From Batopilas, north or south, the mighty range of mountains lowers in
height, while the big barrancas do not cut so deep into their flanks
anywhere else as here, giving the finest Alpine scenery to be found in
this part of the continent.
Some of the outside facts regarding the mines are really more
interesting than the mines themselves. The miners work in the hot
interiors bare to the skin, except their sandals and a breechcloth.
Even these have to be examined when they emerge from the mine after
the work is over. The sandals are taken off and beaten together, while
the breechcloth is treated in the same manner if the examiner demands
it. Of course the miners are usually known to the examiner, and his
searches vary with the supposed honesty of the different workmen. In a
mine where pure silver has been known to be cut out with cold chisels
by the mule load, and sent direct to the retorts for smelting, the
temptation was very great to purloin a little with each departure from
the mine; and accounts of the sly efforts of some of the thieves appear
more like the yarns in detective stories than cold facts. Ventilating
tubes, small as gas pipe and covered with wire gauze, have been used to
transfer the metal from the interior to the exterior of the mine for
quite long distances. Imitation kits of tools have been made of drills,
hammers, etc., all of which were hollow and used for stuffing in stray
bits of solid silver. Even candles and candle holders were made hollow
and thus used for stealing. I could give a dozen other most singular
means employed by these miners in their pilferings.
The tunneling of the old Spaniards was very slow compared with that
now done by machinery. In some places there were evidences that they
had heated the stones by fire and had then thrown water thereon,
shivering the front by sudden chilling, a method yet employed in
Honduras and Guatemala, according to an engineer at Batopilas who had
recently arrived from those countries.
One of the most singular things connected with prospecting in this
particular portion of the mountains is the means by which large
deposits of silver near a tunnel can be located. If an iridescent,
smoke-like appearance spreads over the rocks at any point of a new
tunnel or drift at the end of a week or two, the engineers always
drift for it and generally strike silver. This stain is called by
them "silver smoke," and is said to be unknown in any other mines. I
was given a half dozen theories in regard to it, mostly of a chemical
character, but the mere fact that such a strange condition exists
to help man pry into nature's secrets is more interesting than any
explanation.
From the garden of the hacienda, surrounded by banana and orange groves
and all kinds of tropical plants and flowers, one can look up the steep
sides of the mountains, which rise abruptly on both sides, to the oaks
and pines beyond, and, while sitting on the veranda sipping ices or
drinking cool and refreshing drinks, and vigorously using the fan,
realize that only a mile above, on the cumbra or crest of the steep
mountain, the ice water flows freely in the little mountain streams and
the heaviest flannels only would be comfortable.
My stay at Batopilas was somewhat prolonged in waiting for a party
that was soon to descend with bullion to Chihuahua. I had originally
intended to continue my course toward the Pacific, but the hot weather,
more severe in May and June than during July and August, owing to the
rainy season tempering the latter, and the fact that I could find a
more interesting trip through the Sierra Madres by another trail than
that by which I had entered, determined me to turn my face eastward and
keep on the high plateau with its grand equable climate. In leaving
Batopilas the large pack train carrying the bullion was given two days'
start, and we were to ride and join them after they had made the cumbra
or crest of the mountains. This trail took me well to the southward
of the one traversed on entering the mountains, and gave me a new and
interesting country.
On the high mountain crest between Urique and Batopilas I had gained
my furthest point west. The Sierra Madres break more abruptly on
their westward slopes, and from the crest we could make out the great
plains of Sinaloa and Sonora stretching far away toward the Gulf of
California. The country to the west in Sonora and Northern Sinaloa is
one of the most fertile in Mexico. The valleys of the Fuerte, the Mayo,
and the Yaqui are as rich as any river valleys in North America, and
perfectly susceptible of sustaining a dense population, or will be when
all the Indian troubles of that region are definitely settled. Most of
the crops are of the kind, however, that need cheap transportation
to compete with less favored districts in the markets of the world,
and are now restricted in amount to what is necessary for a mere local
consumption. Here wheat yields enormously to the acre, and the fields
are so dense that it is next to impossible to wade through them. Cotton
grows more luxuriantly than anywhere on the North American continent.
Cotton is planted here oftentimes only once in many years, and large
fields are seen four, five, and even seven years old, yielding two and
three crops annually. In the same field can be seen plants in blossom,
pods, and ripe cotton being picked. It will be one of the leading
cotton districts of the world when a railway cuts through it so that
the producer can have some show to compete with other districts. Corn
is very prolific, coffee produces well, tobacco is of fine flavor,
and oranges, guavas, bananas, and plantains are plentiful and of rich
flavor; but transportation on a pack mule for 100 or 200 miles is too
uncertain as to condition of delivery, and too certain as to exorbitant
price, to encourage their cultivation beyond local needs of a limited
amount. The Fuerte (in Spanish meaning "strong") is a strong-flowing
river with enough water--as its name would indicate--to irrigate both
sides of its course for nine or ten miles in width. The Mayo is but
little inferior, and the Yaqui is even greater.
[Illustration: INDIAN WOMAN GRINDING CORN.]
The Pacific ports of this fertile belt are Mazatlan, Guaymas, and
Topolobampo. At the latter point an American colony was founded some
years ago, of which the reading public heard considerable, not very
favorable to that country as a colonization district, and with a
great deal of aspersion thrown at the colonizers. There was so much
crimination and recrimination by the two sides that I do not believe
anybody ever obtained a clear idea of how matters stood there. The
fact is about this: A colony was put in a part of an extremely rich
country with the ultimate expectation that a railway would be completed
from that point to the Rio Grande and to Eastern connections. Had the
railway been finished, every colonist with enough gray matter in his
brain to know his way home would have made a competence at least,
and probably a fortune. This is just as sure as that fortunes have
elsewhere been made through the development by railways of new, rich
countries. But with its failure there was no halfway ground to stand
on, so that in this instance there arose such an amount of misty
accusation and rejoinder that many people in an indefinite way laid all
the blame on the country; a most erroneous conclusion. When a railway
is completed through this country there will be the usual amount of
money made that such circumstances justify, but only by those who have
selected the right time for it.
[Illustration: A CIVILIZED TARAHUMARI COOKING.]
As I have already said, the main portion of the large pack train
was started ahead to give it an opportunity to rest a little before
attempting to climb the steep mountain trail, and, after reaching
the cumbra, or crest, another breathing spell before starting on
their long journey. It was now nearing the rainy season, and even if
we made haste we would only just escape this unpleasant and rather
dangerous time in the high sierras, for there the floods pour down and
often carry out large portions of the trail on the steep and narrow
mountain passes. Our pack train consisted, all told, of about seventy
or eighty mules, twenty to thirty of them loaded with silver bricks for
Chihuahua, the rest of the train being the pack and riding mules of the
various drivers and attendants of the "conductor," as the principal
personage in charge of the bullion is called.
This person was an immense quadroon, a person of unusual executive
ability in that position, and thoroughly trusted by the superintendent,
ex-Governor Alexander Shepherd. He had under him a half dozen able
assistants, all Mexicans, and was accompanied by three or four
"valiantes," as they are called, men of renowned prowess, who have at
least "killed their man," and who could be relied on to protect the
train in case of attack by robbers. As this large cavalcade moved off
up the narrow barranca or cañon it presented a motley and picturesque
appearance from its gayly dressed and heavily armed attendants, well
mounted on their sturdy mules, to the Indian drivers, with only a
blanket apiece for covering and a stout stick to help them over the
ground. Even the most civilized of these Indians think nothing of such
a walk, two or three hundred miles, resting every night as they do when
in attendance on a large pack train and sharing in the good food
supplied them by the owner. Indeed it is really a treat to them. Among
the Indian drivers were two or three who had never seen a railway,
nor had they ever visited a city as large as Chihuahua, and they were
looking forward with feverish anxiety to this great event of their
lives. They had heard of the wonderful Mexican Central Railway and the
great trains of cars that moved so fast, but their minds seemed filled
with unbelief until they could really take it in for themselves. The
semi-civilized or civilized Tarahumari Indians are the best natured
people imaginable, and there is nothing they are not willing or anxious
to do for you if in your employ. They possess the same docile obedience
and fondness that a dog exhibits for his master, and are constantly
anticipating little wants and looking for little favors they can do
you, and this too without expecting any reward whatever.
[Illustration: A GOATHERD'S CACHE IN THE MOUNTAINS.]