OAXACA
The road to Oaxaca leads through a great amphitheatre of lofty and
mighty mountains with rushing water at the base and flecks of green
fields and beautiful foliage sweeping out into the distance. This
State is known as the cradle of the patriots. The influence of the
native land of the president has been felt throughout the republic,
for no State has furnished such brilliant men, such valiant soldiers,
financiers and able statesmen. The echoes of history resound with the
brave deeds of Benito Juarez, Porfirio Diaz, Romera and Mariscal.
Oaxaca, one of the largest of the Mexican States, has an area of over
sixty thousand square miles. It lies between the States of Puebla and
Vera Cruz on the north and the Pacific Ocean on the south. The lower or
eastern end of the State is part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Here,
as in most other Mexican States, there are three distinct zones of
vegetation. In the mountains, of which there are several ranges, and on
the higher plains, the crops and timber are similar to those of the
northern United States. Below the foothills, corn, cotton, sugar and
tobacco are the principal crops and in the very deep valleys and toward
the coast the vegetation is purely tropical.
More than one-third of the population, estimated at about one
million, are pure blooded Indians, mostly belonging to tribes of the
Zapotec nation. These people are great fighters and delight in war;
notwithstanding, during the administration of President Diaz, they
realized the benefit of peace and order and the charm of industry.
Great herds of cattle are the main support in the central parts of the
State. It has long been the custom to drive the exportable surplus of
these cattle to Mexico and Puebla, the trip consuming three months,
but since the railways are finished the profits of the ranchmen have
increased by the easier transportation.
Two main lines now serve parts of the State. One, the Mexican Southern,
runs from Puebla to Oaxaca, and the other, the Tehuantepec, crosses the
foot of the State.
The hospitality of Oaxacans is well known. It is sufficient to knock
at any door in that charming State to have it opened with offers of
shelter, food, and friendliness, without money and without price. Until
within a few years, inns and hotels were unknown, the hospitality among
the private houses doing away with the need of such accommodations.
The friendship and affection of the Oaxacans for one another are
proverbial. Social reunions are constantly held, and there is much
gaiety and light-heartedness in consequence.
From its geographical position, geological formation, fuel and water,
means of communication and climate, the State of Oaxaca is a veritable
paradise for the prospector and capitalist seeking investment in mining
properties. Two vast mountain ranges traverse the State from north to
south, whose peaks in many cases rise to an altitude of from ten to
twelve thousand feet.
These mountain ranges, which are the culminations of the Rocky
Mountains of the United States and the Sierra Madre of Southern Mexico,
are highly mineralized throughout their length and breadth.
The principal metals found in these hills are gold, silver, copper,
lead, and iron, either free or in various combinations and with one
another. The veins carrying free gold are those most extensively worked
and although comparatively few mines have been opened up, those which
have been are producing large quantities of exceedingly rich mineral.
The whole State is practically an unexplored field, only a few
districts have been superficially prospected.
[Illustration: STATUE OF BENITO JUAREZ.]
Oaxaca is a maritime State and extends farther south than any other in
Mexico. The great chain of the Mexican Andes crosses the State giving
it some of the most magnificent scenery in the entire republic. Chains
and ridges make a surprisingly picturesque and beautiful variety to the
country. The most remarkable summit is that of Zempoaltepec, in the
district of Villata, which rises to an elevation of eleven thousand
five hundred and forty-two feet, and from the top of which may be had
magnificent views of the country, with glimpses of both the Atlantic
and the Pacific Oceans. The climate of Oaxaca is in general very
salubrious, for, although it is nearer the equator than other states,
its high mountainous altitudes give it healthful breezes. Besides its
vast mining resources the agricultural possibilities of Oaxaca are
practically limitless. All the products of the temperate zone are
raised in great abundance, while the more profitable ones of the torrid
zone abound. The cacao raised here is the best in the world, while the
annual yield of cochineal is about five hundred thousand pounds. The
cultivation of fruit is one of the most profitable enterprises. There
are various fibrous plants such as maguey, ramie, and the sisal hemp.
These plants require no care, some of them being used as hedges to
divide fields or estates. The government encourages foreign enterprise
and favors colonists in every way, including exemption from taxation
for a period of ten years; freedom from import duties on all goods,
machinery, building material or cattle coming into the country for
their use, and exemption from military service.
Waterpowers are countless. The many in use driving large factories or
producing electric light and power for the cities and mines.
Before the Spanish rule, Oaxaca was the source of much mineral wealth,
the native records indicating this region as the principal source of
the precious metals.
Many of these old workings have been reopened in the last few years, a
smelter has been erected in Oaxaca City and many reduction works have
been built in the mining country. The ores contain gold and silver,
copper and silver, and copper.
Although Oaxaca is practically an agricultural state, there are a great
many manufactures.
The State and especially the Valley of Oaxaca and its tributaries are
rich in subjects for research and have never had the attention their
importance demands.
The city is two hundred and eighty-eight miles south of the capital of
the republic and a mile above sea level. It was founded in 1486, under
the name of Huaxyacac and fell under the Spanish rule in 1528. It has
a rapidly increasing population of forty thousand. The streets are
regularly laid out, wide and spacious, and the houses are handsome and
substantial. The principal buildings are the Cathedral, the Santuario
de la Soledad, and other churches and convents gorgeously decorated.
[Illustration: STATUE OF GENERAL ANTONIO DE LEÓN.]
There are also the Cabildo, or city hall, the Episcopal Palace, the
government buildings, and several handsome plazas, embellished with
flowers, trees, and fountains.
The surrounding country is remarkably picturesque, being literally
covered with flower gardens and cochineal groves. The hospital in
Oaxaca is one of the best in Mexico. The city is extremely pleasant.
Its houses are white and on the balconies every day may be seen groups
of young people well-dressed and cheerful, giving a festive air to
the whole city. The government palace is magnificent, recalling the
splendor of the edifices of the time of the viceroys.
[Illustration: FAÇADE OF THE CASINO.]
In the Plaza de Armas is a monument to the patriot Juarez, one of the
most elegant in Mexico. The park of Guadalupe is very delightful, large
and stately with flowers and groves of trees.
There are a great many schools in Oaxaca, including the Scientific
Institute, Seminary, Historical Museum, Public Library and many private
institutions. There are Official Schools for primary instruction for
boys and girls, and more than five hundred schools supported by the
government.
As always in Mexico, the churches present many points of interest. The
Cathedral, begun in 1553, and completed two centuries later, was one of
the grandest erected by the Spaniards and ranked with those of Mexico
City and Puebla. But it has suffered so many bombardments and been
looted so frequently that little of its former glory remains. Only the
façade, beautifully decorated with sculptures by unrecorded artists,
attests the original splendor. All the valuable paintings, statuary and
ornaments that once made gorgeous the interior have disappeared.
[Illustration: STAIRWAY IN THE INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE.]
The church of Santo Domingo, with monastery attached, tells a similar
tale. Built at a cost of thirteen million dollars on a most massive
scale, the strength of its walls made of it a fortress whose strategic
importance is well attested by the scars made by shot and shell. The
interior, however, has not been altogether despoiled. An authority on
ecclesiastical art, writing of this church, says, “The interior is one
of the most splendid in Mexico, the most superb example of baroque
decoration in the country. The walls and the great barrel-arched
ceiling are covered in every part with heavily-gilded ornaments and
polychrome sculpture in high relief. The effect is one of indescribable
splendor. The scheme of decoration in the domed vaulting of the
organ-loft ceiling may be compared to an enormous tree, extending
in all directions its branches and its innumerable leaves of gold,
between which appear the busts of saints diminishing in size as the
height increases until at the apex only the faces are shown.”
[Illustration: STATUE OF BENITO JUAREZ, ON THE MOUNTAIN
OVERLOOKING HIS NATIVE CITY.]
Several times when churches were being looted it was proposed by
parties in possession to scrape the wonderful decorations from this
ceiling to recover the gold used therein, but somehow the work was
never attempted, the pillagers contenting themselves with the pictures,
statuary, altar ornaments, which could be more readily seized. The
monastery itself was reduced to bare walls and is now used as a
barracks.
Other buildings worthy of inspection are the State House, Federal
Building, and the Public Library containing fourteen thousand volumes,
in which are found many old manuscripts relating to the period of the
Conquest.
These buildings and the residences of Oaxaca impress one as being more
distinctively of Moorish design than those in other cities. It would
seem as if the note struck by the early builders had been held by all
their successors. Having this impression, the modernity of the trolley
cars and electric lights brings a curious feeling of anachronism which
may easily be enhanced by a visit to the ruins of Mitla.
Not far from the City is the big tree of Tule. It is one hundred and
fifty-four and a half feet around, six feet from the ground. It takes
forty men to reach around it. It is of the cypress family and must have
been there long before Columbus touched the western shores. On the tree
is a tablet placed there by Humboldt.
Through three centuries of its history Oaxaca has grown as an interior
town, in the full sense of the term. It lies in one of the most
beautiful and fertile valleys of Mexico, or rather at the meeting point
of three valleys. It is shut off from the ocean on the south by a solid
range of mountains; it is separated from the cities of Central Mexico
on the north by a range of rough and broken country.
Next in importance to the capital among the cities of the State is
Tehuantepec, with its twelve thousand inhabitants. It is inland
about twenty miles from the Pacific Ocean and is most noteworthy
sociologically. Here was the home, the chief fastness, of the
Zapotec people and here live to-day the purest-blooded descendants
of that race. The women show a strong and noble people and they are
distinguished for beauty of face and symmetry of form. Tehuantepec was
the base of supplies for General Diaz when he was opposing the French
invasion and his fort is still one of the sights of the town. There are
some splendid hot springs of efficacy for the cure of rheumatism, and
also many interesting sights of local color.
[Illustration: SEÑOR LIC. EMILIO PIMENTEL, GOVERNOR OF
OAXACA.]
The Isthmus is that narrow neck of land in tropical Mexico which lies
between parallels eighteen degrees and sixteen degrees N., dividing the
Atlantic and Pacific waters. The shortest transcontinental railroad
on this hemisphere is built there and its trains run across in about
six hours. It is not only a magnificent and beautiful country, but has
also the most delightful tropical climate. Twice the United States
government spent a great deal of time and money making a survey across
that neck of land with a view of cutting a canal; once in 1852, and
again in 1871, when Captain Shufeldt, of the United States Navy, was
sent with a large expedition to make surveys. Again, Captain Eads spent
a great deal of time there on his plan to build a ship railway. Now
that the Isthmus is opened up by a railway and steamship communication,
that portion of Mexico, more than any other, will participate in the
wonderful progress Mexico is now making.
[Illustration: NORMAL SCHOOL FOR WOMEN.]
The distance from Oaxaca to Tehuantepec is considerably less than from
Puebla to Oaxaca. The railway connection has made this southern half
of Mexico an outlet to the Pacific. Down the cañon of Tomellin the
builders have pushed their way, solving some of the most difficult
problems ever encountered in railway construction. They not only
tunnelled to get a passage for the trains, but they bored the spurs of
the mountains in three places to give the river new channels. The bare
gray and brown and red cliffs tower two thousand feet above the track.
Tourists journey across the United States for brief half hours in cañon
scenery; on the Mexican Southern Railway the traveller rides half a day
through awe-inspiring gorges. The train reels down and then staggers
up grades which are only a fraction below the legal limit of four per
cent. The route is through masses of rock; in some places the boulders
are so poised that it seems that a slight jarring would dislodge them.
The traveller, when the train starts down these curves can look ahead
and see the route and the stations an hour in advance of the schedule
time.
The completion of the Tehuantepec Railway and its opening to traffic
have attracted much attention. The construction of the railway was
a matter of national importance. It was carried out by the Mexican
government at its own cost by the advice of President Diaz, who
recognized its strategic value.
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec can boast of advantages unequalled in the
commercial world. It is connected by the Tehuantepec Railroad with the
Atlantic and Pacific Ocean steamship facilities, making connection with
every large market in the world. The Mexican government has expended
over eighty millions upon the construction and equipment of the
Atlantic port, Coatzacoalcos, now Puerto Mexico, and the Pacific port
of Salina Cruz. Steamers, drawing over thirty feet of water, enter both
ports and discharge their tremendous cargoes in an incredibly short
time by means of great modern electric cranes and the best docking
facilities, which the government has installed.
[Illustration: CORRIDOR OF THE INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCE.]
Travel throughout the state is remarkably free from danger, the
officials are uniformly kind and considerate in their treatment of
strangers, gladly welcoming the investor, who they know, in seeking to
better his own condition, cannot fail to improve those with whom he is
thrown in contact.
The State of Oaxaca is notable for having been the stronghold of the
Mixtecas, a race of Indians who emigrated many centuries ago from the
north, and displacing the Chochones, occupied the state, together
with Puebla and Guerrero. They were an intelligent and progressive
race and were governed by independent chiefs. The Aztecs afterward
subdued some of the Mixtecas but those of Oaxaca remained independent,
and many of them still are found in parts of the State. Remains
of their former cities, temples and fortresses show that they had
considerable intelligence. They believed in a heaven called Sosola,
and had sacred caves in the mountains. Probably they had something to
do with the original Mitla. They had a distinct language with several
dialects. A Mixtecan grammar was published in 1593 and there are still
existing religious treatises printed in Mixtecan in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries. The Mixtecans of to-day are well-bred and quiet
citizens.
After the Conquest, Oaxaca, on the arrival of the first Viceroy, was
elevated to the category of an intendency which character it retained
until 1821.
On the 31st of January, 1824, it was raised to the rank of a federal
entity, and since then it has formed an integral part of the Mexican
Confederation.
It now forms one of the twenty-seven states that compose the Mexican
Republic; free and sovereign in so far as refers to its interior
management, but in union with the other parts of the republic in
accordance with the Political Constitution of the republic of the 5th
of February, 1857, together with all the additions and amendments
thereto.
The governor of Oaxaca, who may be considered the advance agent of its
prosperity, has done much to attract to it the attention of foreign
investors. Señor Don Emilio Pimentel is a native of Oaxaca and was
educated in its public schools, its state institute and its college of
law. Sent to Congress for several terms he became a leader, and for a
number of years afterward practised law in Mexico City, of which he
was finally elected Mayor. His broad intelligence and grasp of the
problems confronting the nation early attracted the notice of President
Diaz, whose confidence he has since enjoyed. He has been sent to Europe
on government missions and represented Mexico in the Latin-American
Congress at Montevideo. At one time he was offered a portfolio by
President Diaz, but at that time his health had been broken by overwork
and he was obliged to decline. In his law practice he represented
several of the most important financial interests in the republic.
Thus, was he fitted peculiarly to be of service to his native State
when elected as its governor in 1902. Now serving his third term in
that office he bends every effort to the promotion of the State’s
welfare. Practically, all the foreign capital now employed in Oaxaca
was invested there at his solicitation.
He has endeavored to give impulse to everything that means progress and
prosperity by granting advantageous concessions to men of enterprise.
To him is also due the development of railways in the State, the
increasing network of tramways in the city, and the railway company
to San Felipe. The capital city is also indebted to him for many
improvements. All branches of public administration receive his special
attention. He has organized new schools and charities and has appointed
a commission to study the laws of primary and normal instruction. The
public treasury has, under his able and correct administration, paid
all the expenses and the State is out of debt. Governor Pimentel has
organized the rural police force and has attended to all sanitary
affairs in the capital. He has a clean political career which promises
him a brilliant future. Oaxaca will place his name on the golden page
of its great benefactors.
[Illustration: THE PORFIRIO DIAZ HIGH SCHOOL.]
[Illustration: THE CITY OF ORIZABA.]
[Illustration: THE PEAK OF ORIZABA]