Tuesday, March 12, 2024

The Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo Part 5: Ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic (the silver refinery)

A view toward the mountains through the arches next to the refining operation. In this posting, I will continue with my exploration of the ruins of Ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic. Last time I focused on the casa grande and capilla, but in this one we'll look at the aqueduct, the water wheel, the great furnaces, and the patio where the mercury amalgamation process occurred.

This hacienda had a 300 year history, beginning in the 17th century and ending in the early 20th. Most of the historical references I have found are from the 18th century. They refer to its function as a hacienda de ganado y agricola (livestock and grain). The owner, Juan Fernández de Ubiarco, used the food, leather, and livestock it produced to supply his mines and haciendas de beneficio (ore refineries). 

Then, sometime later, structures were added which transformed Mochitiltic into a hacienda de beneficio. The food and livestock operations may have continued, but that is not clear from the available information. Today, the whole operation is in ruins, but there is more than enough left to deduce how the refinery operated.


Google satellite view of the ex-hacienda. The pueblo of La Venta de Mochitiltic is to the north, or top, side of the photo. For information on how to find this site, refer to Part 4 of this series. The road through the pueblo leads down a hillside through the clump of trees in the top center. Just below the trees is an open area which contains the arches seen in the first photos of this posting. The ruins are located on either side of the road. The casa grande structures, shown in Part 4, are located diagonally across the bottom-right quarter of this photo. 

Just left of center is a large open square that was the patio of the refinery. The left side of the square is bordered by the water wheel. This was fed from an aqueduct that can be seen running from the upper left corner of the patio to the top center of the photo. The furnace room is located on the south side of the patio and the furnaces are along the south wall of this room. The capilla (chapel) from Part 4 borders the right side of the patio and furnace room. 


The Aqueduct

The aqueduct runs downhill to the water wheel from a holding pond fed by a spring. It is a rough stone structure about 1m (3ft) high for much of its length, although it gets much higher as it stretches down the hill (toward the top of the photo). You can see the trough, now full of leaves, where the water once flowed. Water was always a necessity for food and livestock haciendas, but it was also a critical element in silver refining. It provided both a source of power and a key element in the chemical process used in refining the ore. Consequently, haciendas de beneficio were always built near an arroyo, a river, or some other ready source of water.


This arch forms an opening in the aqueduct to allow people and animals to pass. At this point, the aqueduct is about 4m (12ft) high. A few meters to the left, it spills onto the water wheel, which turned the machinery to crush the ore. Aqueducts have a very long history, having been used by ancient people in the Indus Valley, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. This method of transporting water actually dates back as far as the 7th century BC, when the Assyrians built a 300 mile aqueduct to bring water to Nineveh, their capital city. 


The trough of the aqueduct is lined with mortared bricks to prevent leakage. At the point above, the aqueduct is very near where it ends at the water wheel. The wall that supports the trough was built with rough stone, probably gathered from the stream bed at the bottom of the hill. I have often found old aqueducts (although not this one) which are still carrying water even when the rest of a hacienda lies in ruins. They were built to last, which indicates their importance. 


The Water Wheel


The huge water wheel turned between two high walls. A friend took this shot of me as I photographed the interior space between the two walls. It is not my most flattering pose, but it does show the opening through which the wheel could be inspected as it turned. The wheel is long gone, but it must have been very large, given the height of the walls and the depth that the turning space extends into the ground

Harnessing the power of water through the use of wheels also has a very ancient history. The earliest-known water wheels were invented in Mesopotamia in the 4th century BC. The basic concept didn't change until the mid-19th century when engineers discovered they could produce electricity through water power. Modern hydro-electric dams still use water power to produce electricity by turning turbines.


Interior of the water wheel's support structure. As the wheel turned, water flowed off its paddles and out through this spillway to the stream below. The two walls stand about a meter apart and the slot extends into the ground about 2 meters below the opening through which I was looking. Even after a couple of centuries, the walls still appear to be solid and relatively smooth. As I said, the colonial engineers built to last.


The support base for the equipment powered by the water wheel. The axis of the wheel would have extended out from the opening in the wall to the ore-crushing machinery mounted on the base. Originally, the machinery would have been made of wood and leather and seated on the stone foundation. This would have included a grind stone to crush the ore. The metal base you see above is a product of the late 19th or early 20th centuries. It probably supported a generator to  transform water power into electric power. 


The Patio

The doorway of the north wall, viewed from inside the patio looking out. Like the casa grande, the lower part of this wall was made with rough stone, while the upper was made with adobe. The door was trimmed with brick. The whole structure was once covered with plaster, the remains of which can still be seen on and around the door frame. This wall borders the north side of the patio. A few meters on the other side of the door is the set of arches I have shown previously.

Today, the ground slopes upward toward the north wall, but the area within the patio was originally level. The slope was likely created by erosion from uphill which swept earth and debris down into the patio. This was an area where one of the most important stages of silver ore refining occurred, called "the patio process"


View of the northeast corner of the patio. The patio's area is approximately 30m (98ft) square. After it was extracted from the mine, the ore was broken up into smaller pieces, sometimes by women and children. It was then hauled down to the hacienda de beneficio by pack-trains of mules. Once here, it was further crushed by the water-wheel's machinery. This gave the ore a consistency that was somewhere between fine gravel and a coarse powder. It was then spread out in the patio in the shape of a huge pancake a few centimeters thick.

Next, mercury was sprinkled over the pancake along with a salt-water brine. This was mixed into the pancake using the feet of horses or mules. Even human feet were sometimes used. The highly toxic nature of mercury was not known at that time, so both animals and humans no doubt suffered negative health effects. However, the life-spans of workers and draft animals in the mining industry were already short due to accidents and the effects of mine dust. It is possible that the cumulative effects of mercury poisoning were not that noticeable in those days.

The Furnaces

Vinnie and I inspect the lower end of the ruins. Vinnie (left) is not only a fellow Hacienda Hunter, but my next door neighbor and an excellent photographer. The arch you can see over Vinnie's shoulder is the opening of one of several furnaces that were used as part of the refining process. The long wall extending behind me is part of the capilla seen in the Part 4 of this series. (Photo by unknown Hacienda Hunter).


The south wall of the furnace room, showing one of several chimneys. The walls on this end of the ruins are 4-5m (12-15ft) hight. A few meters behind me when I took this shot is the stream into which the water wheel once emptied. Thorny underbrush covers much of this part of the refinery ruins. We had to move carefully through here while taking photographs lest we get thoroughly scratched.  I have often found the thorny plants in Mexico to be actively hostile. Consequently, I always advise participants in these adventures to wear long pants and boots. 



View of one of the furnaces. Like water, heat was important to the process of silver refining. In the very early days, heat was used to melt silver from ore. However, this only worked well with high-grade ore and, as that was exhausted, silver production began to decline. Then, in 1554, a man named Bartolomé de Medina immigrated to Nueva España (Mexico). He brought with him a new refining process called amalgamation, which used mercury and salt brine on lower-grade ore and allowed it to be refined into high-grade silver.

After it was mixed into the pancake, the mercury and silver amalgamated and then sank to the bottom where it could be recovered. Next. the amalgam was heated to evaporate the mercury, leaving nearly pure silver. Over time, this "patio process" revived the colonial mining industry and allowed the re-opening of mines that had been closed as unprofitable. However, the heat process continued well into the 18th century at some of the haciendas de beneficio around Hostotipaquillo


Vent hole in the wall between two of the furnace openings. The furnaces, chimneys, and a good part of the south wall are made of bricks. This means that they were built fairly late, probably in the 19th century. Before then, bricks were too expensive to be used on a large scale. This fits with the hacienda being converted from an agricultural and livestock operation to a refinery in about that time frame. However, this is only my informed speculation, based on my knowledge of what building materials tended to be used in different periods.


Furnace Room

Jim B explores the furnace room. The door behind him faces the wall with the water-wheel. The room is one-story with a tall ceiling. I concluded this from the absence of a line of rafter holes in the walls. Such holes are always present when a room had two or more stories. The triangular windows above the door are unusual. I don't recall seeing any like this before. The wall behind Jim B and the one on the right are still mostly covered by the original plaster.

The silver-mercury amalgam would have been recovered on the patio and brought into this room to be heated. After the mercury burned off, the molten silver would be cast into ingots. When they cooled, the ingots would then be loaded on to mule pack-trains for shipment to Guadalajara and then on to Mexico City. From there, it would have either been shipped to Vera Cruz and on to Spain, or to one of Nueva España's Pacific ports for shipment to Manila and from there to China. Ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic was one part of an international trade network.


An eerie face is carved into the window support on the south wall. Somehow, I missed this odd feature while photographing the furnace room. Two of my fellow Hacienda Hunters each spotted it and took their own shots, one of which appears above. The face seems vaguely pre-hispanic, but how it ended up in this room remains another of Mochitiltic's mysteries. Perhaps it was a piece of old pre-hispanic masonry that was lying about. It also could have been the product of some 19th century mason's sense of humor. (Photo by Bette Brazel)


Jim B, his exploration finished, mounts the stairs leading to the patio. Notice how thick the walls are in the doorway. Across the patio you can see the door in its north wall that I showed previously. The walls here are constructed of large unfinished stones, indicating that this part of the furnace room may have been constructed in the 18th century or even the 17th. In that case, the room may have originally had some function that preceded its use for silver refining.



A curious horse came over to inspect our group. He was very friendly and obviously happy for a break in his usual routine. This shot was taken during my first visit in 2016, when several horses were present. When we visited in 2023, none were around, although they may have been somewhere else at the time. Behind the horse you can see part of the aqueduct.

This completes Part 5 of my Hostotipaquillo series and the last part of my two postings on Ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic. I hope you have enjoyed visiting this old site. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim




































 

Monday, March 4, 2024

The Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo Part 4: Ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic (main house, chapel and arches)


Two Hacienda Hunters walk away from some ruined arches. Jim B and Catherine are two of my fellow hacienda addicts. The arches are the first clear indication that you have reached Ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic (Mo-chi-til-tic). In March of 2023, I guided a group of friends to this site, but I had previously visited in May of 2016. While most of the photos will be from the 2023 trip, a few are from the earlier adventure. 

In this posting, I will focus on the casa grande (big house) and its capilla (chapel). In the next posting, I will show the remains of the aqueduct, the waterwheel, and the patio where the silver ore was processed. Unfortunately, my information about this old site is somewhat limited. I will have to fill in the blanks with what I already know about how these haciendas de beneficio functioned during the colonial period and early Republic . (Photo by  Anne Kilroy)

Overview:

How to get there. Take the Chapala-Guadalajara carretera north to the Macrolibramiento (a toll road) and head west until you connect with the 15D cuota (another toll road). Again head west until you reach Magdalena where you exit and take Highway 15 (a free road) through town. Continue on Highway 15 past the turnoff to Hostotipaquillo. About 10km (6.2mi) past the turnoff, you will reach the small pueblo of La Venta de Mochitiltic

Look for a store on the left selling Corona Beer and one next to it called "Minisuper Las Cuates". Pass the stores and take your next left (a dirt road called Lopez Mateos). If, while still on the highway, you come to a small bridge over an arroyo, you have missed your turn. Follow Lopez Mateos 1.5 blocks until it forks. Take the right fork (a dirt road called Francisco Villa) and follow it downhill to the arches. The ruins are on both sides of the road as it heads down the hill.  

La Casa Grande

The casa grande sits back from the road on the left, across from the arches. To reach it, you have to pass through a gate. Unless the gate is already open, please close it behind you. The two-story structure is long and fairly narrow and the outer walls are all that remain. This photo only captures the middle section of the house. There are wings extending off to the left and right. All the rooms inside are full of underbrush and nothing remains of the original furnishings.

Hacienda Mochitiltic was founded during the 1600s, but I have very little information about its early history. However, sometime during the first half of the 1700s, it was acquired by Juan Fernández de Ubiarco. He and his two brothers, José Maria and Francisco, began as merchants and then invested in mining. They also extended loans to other miners, acted as purchasing agents for buying mercury, and became public officials. Juan and his brothers typified the entrepreneurs of their time.


The casa grande, viewed from the right wing. You can clearly see the materials used in the outer walls. The lower part of the structure was constructed with rough stone. The second story, primarily made of adobe, has brick trim around the windows and doors.  These materials indicate that the construction was probably done in the 17th or early 18th centuries. It is likely that there was originally a balcony or a porch under the upper door. 

The following are some examples of Juan Fernandez de Ubiarco's multifaceted activities. In 1712, he purchased mercury for Capitán Nicolás de Zertucha, owner of the Hacienda de beneficio Santa Maria, (see Part 2 of this series). Then in 1714, he loaned Zertucha 4000 pesos to purchase the mine called Nuestra Señora de los Remedios. Later, in 1733, he loaned 21,000 pesos to the Capitán's widow Josefa María Leal so she could finance the various mining operations she had inherited.



An empty doorway looks out onto the countryside. This door once led into a room in the left wing of the casa grande. All the interior structures of the room are gone, leaving only this view. The tree-line in the background borders the Rio Mochitiltic. The mountains beyond were once full of silver mines. The doorway itself is trimmed with brick, while the walls around it are made of adobe.

Fernández de Ubiarco found another lucrative opportunity by acting as a fiador (co-signer) for other miners at various times. In 1734, using the profits from his mercantile operations, as well as all of the fees and loan interest he collected, Fernández de Ubiarco bought a half interest in a mine called San Nicolas Obispo. Eventually he came to fully own several mines and haciendas de beneficio, as well as other haciendas de ganado y agricola (livestock and grain) besides Mochitiltic.


Ruins of the end of the right wing of the casa grande. When the casa grande was built, probably at the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century, brick was expensive. Consequently, it was usually reserved for architectural trim. Adobe is building material made from earth mixed with straw or dung. All these materials were free and readily available in colonial times. The earth was mixed with water and the binding material. The adobe was then packed into wooden frames and left out to dry in the sun. It is still made this way today.

When Fernandez de Ubiarco acquired Hacienda Mochitiltic, his object was to supply his mining and refining operations with grain, meat, leather, and mules. He turned this into one of the area's largest haciendas de ganado y agricola and integrated its operations into his growing business empire. Some of the agricultural products and livestock produced at this hacienda were also sold to the owners of other mines and haciendas de beneficio.


Another empty doorway leads into a room in the center of the casa grande. When visiting some of these old sites, it is necessary to use my imagination to visualize what they may have looked like when they were functioning. I have visited more than a hundred haciendas in various states of repair, from intact to complete rubble, so I am usually able to figure out what I am looking at and how it fits into the overall layout. 

Juan Fernández de Ubiarco entered the mining business in 1712 and retired in 1754. After his retirement, he occupied various public offices in Guadalajara, including alcalde ordinario (municipal court justice) and aguacil mayor (sheriff). However, even during his retirement, he continued to be involved in mining until he became ill and finally died in 1786. This extraordinary span of activity over 74 years is unequalled in the history of Hostotipaquillo's mining business. 

The Casco wall

A high adobe wall once surrounded the casco. The casco is the center of operations of a hacienda and usually includes the casa grande, capilla, stables, and the bodega where the most valuable products are stored. The casco wall protected these facilities from raids by bandits, hostile natives, and rogue military units.


View out of the carriage gate of the casco wall. I was looking out from the yard in front of the casa grande when I took this shot. Notice the remains of the gate's arch, which covered an opening big enough for a horse-drawn carriage. Until the advent of railroads in the last half of the 19th century, the hacendado would often travel by horseback. When traveling a long distance, or accompanied by his family, a carriage was used. 


La Capilla

A long narrow capilla is attached to the side of the refining facility. A capilla (chapel) is a standard feature at most of the haciendas I have visited. Usually they are attached to the casa grande or are closely adjacent to it. However, in this case, the capilla is next to the work area. The capilla was primarily for the use of the hacendado, his family, and the employees who lived on the property. If the hacienda was in a remote location, a priest might be one of its residents.


A cross on the wall revealed the room's purpose. When I first visited, I didn't pay much attention to this room. On my second visit, one of our party remarked upon the cross and I immediately checked it out. The dimensions of the room and the cross almost certainly mean that this was the old capilla. The fact that the room is in ruins is a bit unusual. In many ex-haciendas, even if the rest of the structures are in ruins, the capilla will usually be intact. Local people often keep them neat and tidy and continue to use them for religious purposes. 



Peter, one of my fellow Hacienda Hunters, walks by the arches. These are the same ones seen in the first photo. Just beyond the arches, you can see the metal bars of a modern corral. The grounds of ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic are now used to hold livestock. On my first visit we saw some horses but they were not around when we came the second time.

This completes Part 4 of my series on Hostotipaquillo and its silver mines. In the next part, I will continue with ex-Hacienda Mochitiltic, focusing on the industrial parts where the ore was refined. I hope you enjoyed this posting and, if so, will please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below, or email me directly.

Hasta luego, Jim


















 

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

The Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo Part 3: Ex-Hacienda Labor de Guadalupe

The Casa Grande and Capilla overlook a small but attractive PlazaThe bell on the roof is rung by the rope hanging down from it. A mural of the Virgen de Guadalupe can be seen through the arch of the arcade, just under the bellWhile the Big House and its Chapel appear to be in good shape, the structures behind them are in ruins. 

The remains of Ex-Hacienda Labor de Guadalupe and the Plaza sit on a slope just above the main road that passes through the pueblo. They are another example of the many haciendas de beneficio (silver refining operations) that once dotted the rugged mountains around Hostotipaquillo

In the previous two parts of this series, I showed you other haciendas de beneficio and outlined the organization of the colonial mining industry. I also explained the refining processes and described a number of the problems afflicting miners in this tough and unforgiving frontier country. In Part 3, I'll tell you about the owners of the mines and refining operations and how they acquired their properties. But first, I'll tell you how to find this old hacienda.


Route from Hostotipaquillo to the haciendaFor the route to Hostotipaquillo, please refer to Part 1 of this series. As you approach the outskirts of Hostotipaquillo, the road splits. In the middle of the fork is a statue of the Virgin Mary with the pueblo's name beneath it in colorful letters. Take the right fork and drive approximately 800m (875yds) to another fork. Again, go right until you reach the "T" intersection with Camino Hostotipaquillo

Turn right and follow the Camino approximately 6.7km (9mi) to Labor de Guadulape. Follow the road into the town and over a small bridge. After a short distance, you will encounter the Plaza, marked by a line of trees on your right. Park and walk up a stairway and you will find the casa grande and its capilla just above the Plaza. For an interactive Google map of the area, click here.



The Casa Grande, viewed from the right. There are two campanarios (bell towers). The right one, over the Capilla, was used for religious purposes. The one on the left was for announcing the workday's beginning and end. Either one or both might be used for emergency alerts in case of fires or bandit raids. At the top of the left end of the Casa Grande is a bastion with gun slits and another sits atop the right end. Today, in more peaceful times, the Casa Grande is occupied by several local families.

The mines and haciendas de beneficio originally belonged to prospectors who arrived in the early 17th century. They discovered the ore and built the facilities to refine it. The chronicles of Real de Etzatlán, a nearby mining district, describe such early prospectors as "unscrupulous and eager for wealth." The ore they discovered was at or near the surface and easy to mine. However, as this ore ran out, they found it necessary to dig deeper. This required costly equipment, especially when they reached the water table and flooding occurred. As a result, many mines were abandoned or were taken over by men who had the necessary investment capital.


Two calendars hang in the zaguan (entrance foyer) of the Casa Grande. Cowboys and deep religious faith are part of the culture of Jalisco, especially in rural areas. Mexican cowboys (vaqueros in Spanish) long pre-date those in the US. In fact, key elements of cowboy culture, such as cattlemen's associations, livestock brands, and long distance cattle drives originated in medieval Spain. The second calendar displays the Virgen de Guadalupe, who is the patron of Mexico and particularly of its poor and indigenous people. The hacienda and the pueblo which grew up around it were named for the Virgen de Guadalupe.

Merchants were the largest investors in Hostotipaquillo's mining industry. Many small merchants, as well as a few larger ones from Guadalajara, set up shop at the mines and haciendas de beneficio to sell the mine owners and their workers everything they needed. In spite of all the silver production, actual cash was always in short supply. The merchants offered credit and the debts the mine owners incurred often resulted in foreclosures. Direct investment was another avenue to merchant ownership. By the 18th century nearly every merchant in Guadalajara was involved in the mining business.


Behind the Casa Grande, we encountered these old ruins. A set of steps leads up to a second story made of plaster-covered adobe. Near the base of the steps is a square opening that may be part of a wood-fired oven. The structures located behind the Casa Grande are all in ruins and their original functions are hard to discern. The Casa Grande's  architecture is from the 19th century. However, it may have been built later than the ruined buildings behind it. It is possible that this ex-hacienda originated in the 18th or even 17th centuries, with remodeling occurring in later periods. My information is too limited to say for sure. 

Many of the great estates around Hostotipaquillo and other parts of Jalisco originated from the work of a merchant who set up shop at a mine. Often the merchant would establish a monopoly on goods sold at the property through special arrangements with the owner. The merchant might also arrange to buy silver ingots directly from a hacienda de beneficio's owner at a discount and then resell it at a profit. This allowed him to accumulate capital which could then be loaned or invested in barras (shares) of the mine. Over time, he would establish full ownership. 

Next, the merchant/miner might purchase a hacienda de beneficio to avoid paying someone else to refine the ore from his mine. Having integrated these operations, he would then buy a hacienda de ganado y agricola so that he could supply his other operations with food, leather, and mules. Some of these mules would power his machinery and pumps and others would haul the ore from the mine to the mill and then take the ingots to Guadalajara. With all parts of his organization supporting each other, the owner could profit mightily, as long as the silver veins held out and he could obtain the mercury to refine it.


More of the ruined structures. The walls in the foreground are of brick, covered with plaster. Because of their cost, bricks weren't widely used in rural Mexico until the 19th century, so this structure was probably built in that time period. The brick wall is up against another structure made of rough stone, which is probably from the 18th century, or even the 17th. The structures follow the rise of the slope behind the Casa Grande

Church organizations and individual clerics were also heavily involved in the mining business. This was in spite of a royal decree in 1642 explicitly forbidding it. The Crown was worried about the Church amassing too much economic and political power. However, this prohibition was widely ignored because Crown officials were far away in Guadalajara or Mexico City. In addition, many of those officials were related to the clerics who became mine owners, or had ties to Church organizations with mining interests.

In the absence of a formal banking system, convents and other ecclesiastical organizations often functioned as investment banks. If the owner of a mine or refining operation defaulted, the Church became the owner. Ownership was also achieved through donaciones (gifts) or through the wills of mine owners who were apparently attempting to buy themselves a "stairway to heaven." A individual cleric who obtained a mine ownership through a family inheritance was expected to divest himself of it over time, but many did not. 


A spiky agave grows in the middle of what was once an adobe room

Other owners/investors in the silver mining industry were government officials. Like members of the clergy, officials were forbidden by Crown decree from participation in mining. And, like the clergy, many officials ignored the prohibition. Their public duties resulted in direct contact with owners of mining businesses and official decisions could have significant impacts those businesses. For example, some officials acted as agents for the sale of mercury, vital to the refining process. Others were assayers of silver quality. Still others were tax agents for the Royal Treasury.

In the performance of their duties, government officials could grant favors, overlook transgressions, and affect the course of lawsuits. In return, they might receive a donación, such as a part ownership of a mining property. In some cases, when the favor was great and an owner was particularly wealthy, they might even receive a whole mine. Nepotism was also a factor. Officials would often obtain jobs in the mining business for their relatives or friends. All this was expressly prohibited by the royal decree, but it was impossible to enforce given the distances involved and the greed of the officials.


Firewood stacked against an adobe wall. While electricity and natural gas are available in much of rural Mexico, cooking and heating with firewood are still used in many households. Although it requires more work, firewood is cheaper than the other two energy sources. It is sometimes said in Mexico "things are expensive, but labor is cheap."

Members of the military were yet another important group of owners/investors. A study of Hostotipaquillo's 18th century mining industry shows that at least 38 military officers were owners of mining properties. These included 3 colonels, 31 captains, and 3 sergeants. In many cases, it appears that these military men were primarily doing business with each other rather than with outside parties.

How did they acquire their mining properties? Of the 38 military men, 20 received ownership through donaciones. What may have been given in exchange for these "gifts" is not clear. By contrast, existing records show that only 5 properties were directly purchased by someone in the military.  Another 3 were obtained through herencia (inheritance),  embargo (foreclosure), or denuncio (claiming an abandoned property). The method of acquisition is unknown for the remaining 15 properties.


A rough shed stood next to the firewood. I have always admired how rural Mexicans use whatever is at hand to solve a problem, often with considerable ingenuity. In this case, the shed's builder eschewed cut lumber or some other manufactured support in favor of a forked log. No doubt the lower fork will be useful when the owner of the shed wants to hang something to keep it off the floor. Except for the corrugated metal roof covering the rough branches used for rafters, this could have been a structure from early colonial times.

The merchants, clerics, government officials and military men did not usually run their mining operations themselves. They each had their own professional duties to perform, so they employed relatives or professional administrators to operate the business. In some cases, they simply rented out the properties. The resulting income, whether it was direct or through rentals, enabled the owners to live comfortable lives in Hostotipaquillo or even as far away as Guadalajara.


I found this old stone trough inside one of the ruined buildings. It is impossible to say whether this is an artifact of a bygone era or a more modern creation. Such troughs have been in use for watering animals for hundreds of years and still are. I didn't see any livestock in the ruins, but it is possible that they were somewhere else at the time.

This completes Part 3 of my Hostotipaquillo series. I hope you have enjoyed it. Please leave any questions or thoughts in the Comments section below. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim











 

Friday, February 2, 2024

The Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo Part 2: Ex-Hacienda de Santa Maria

 

A row of columns bisects the ruins of the old hacienda. The column in the foreground has fallen from its base. Ex-Hacienda de Santa Maria is one of numerous haciendas that dot the former Real (mining district) of Hostotipaquillo. 

This hacienda de beneficio (ore refining operation) was established in 1680 to service mines in the area. It also functioned as a hacienda de ganado y agricola to produce livestock and agricultural products for the mining community. 

In 1712, Hacienda Santa Maria was owned by Nicolás Zertucha, a military officer. Two years later, in 1714, he bought the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios mine to provide ore for his refining operation. It was not unusual for the same person or family to own a mine, a refining operation, and a food and livestock property.

In this posting, I will show you the ruins of ex-Hacienda de Santa Maria and tell you a bit about colonial silver mining and some of its problems. I'll also introduce you to some of the current residents--human and animal--of this picturesque site.

Overview

The route from Ajijic to the Ex-Hacienda de Santa Maria. From Ajijic, you head east and take the Libramiento (free road) to the highway that links Chapala to Guadalajara. Just north of Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos, you head west on the Macrolibramiento (a toll road). Continue on the toll road until you connect with the 15D cuota (another toll road). 

Then, you head west, past Tequila to Magdalena. Exiting at Magdalena, you continue west through the  town on Highway 15 (a free road). About 2 km past the western outskirts of Magdalena, a road branches off to the right at the sign for Santo Domingo. Follow this road until you reach the third road branching off to the right. There is no sign for Santa Maria so the turn is easy to miss. 

The road to the pueblo of Santa Maria heads to the top of a hill where you reach the outskirts of the pueblo. The main road curves sharply to the right, but you should continue straight on a side road on the left that heads down hill. Turn left at your first intersection and you have reached the hacienda's ruins. Click on this Google map for the final stage of the journey.


Before touring the ex-hacienda, I briefed our group on colonial silver mining. The ruined adobe structures on the left are part of the hacienda complex. The search for silver and gold were top priorities for the Spanish conquistadors. At the time of the Spanish arrival, precious metals were obtained through simple panning methods, but those sources were quickly exhausted. In the 1540s, after the fall of the Aztecs, the Spanish found major deposits in Zacatecas and then in Guanajuato and Taxco


The flood of silver (and to a lesser extent gold) had massive world-wide effects. Spain, then a part of the Holy Roman Empire, became rich overnight. The money funded a series of European dynastic wars, as well as further conquests in the Americas. All this made Spain a world power. The silver monetized the European economy and international trade, helping launch the early stages of capitalism.


The silver flowed toward Asia as well as Europe. The Spanish established a trading post in the Philippines and used the silver to obtain Chinese silks, fine ceramics, and other luxury items. The famous Manila Galleons carried these goods to Acapulco and San Blas for trans-shipment to Spain. Mexican silver also helped monetize the Chinese economy. The search for new mines soon became intense. Then, at the start of the 17th century, silver was discovered in the rugged mountains around Hostotipaquillo.  



Hacienda de Beneficio Santa Maria

Remains of the gate post at the old entrance of the hacienda. There would have been a massive gate here to protect the refining operation and its store of newly poured silver ingots. Only one of the two gate posts remains. Although mining could be immensely profitable, there were a number of problems that had to be surmounted in order for these operations to pay off.

In the early days, rich deposits could be found near the surface. As time went on, however, this "low-hanging fruit" became exhausted. Mines had to be dug deeper to follow the veins. As the depth grew, so did the danger of cave-ins. Even worse, when the water table was reached, massive flooding could occur. This often caused mines to be abandoned. Only those mine owners with the ability to pay for pumping could continue.

Until the invention of large steam pumps in the 19th century, the only recourse was to winch up buckets of water by mule power. The equipment, the mules, and the men to operate the system were expensive. Mules were also needed to haul the ore down to the haciendas de beneficio and to then haul the finished ingots to Guadalajara. Producing a steady supply of mules was one of the functions of the haciendas de ganado y agricola.



This high adobe wall once surrounded the operation. On a hacienda, the structures within such a wall were called the casco. This translates as "helmet" and the term is apt since those structures were the nerve center of the hacienda. The walls protected the valuables and the people inside from attackers. Who were these attackers? Their identities changed over the centuries, but they always presented a danger.

During the early days, the Chichimeca were the primary threat. The name is a catchall for several different nomadic tribes who had inhabited northern and western Mexico for centuries. They were fierce warriors and, having no fixed villages, were extremely difficult to find and conquer. Attempts to use them as slaves in the mines usually failed because they simply refused to work. Chichimeca raids finally ended when peace was negotiated at the end of the 17th century.


Peter walks through the ruins. Peter and his wife Marilyn have become regulars on our Hacienda Hunts. He is surrounded by some interesting features, including the columns seen before, some circular pits on the left and an oven with an arched top on the right. We will examine these features in some detail a bit later.

Bandit gangs were a problem that grew during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. Until the start of the 18th century, ordinary people did fairly well. Full-blooded Spaniards had the most social and economic opportunities, of course. However, the great die-off of the native population in the 16th and 17th centuries (almost 90% in many areas) created a severe labor shortage, so the mestizos (mixed blood) and the surviving natives could generally live decently and even prosper.

However, when the population recovered, cities grew and productive land became more valuable. As a result, life for ordinary people became progressively worse. Haciendas expanded, squeezing small mestizo farmers and native villagers off their lands. The tiendas de raya (company stores) on the haciendas turned workers into debt-slaves. The increased availability of mine labor also meant stagnant wages and worse working conditions. As a result, many young men turned to banditry. 


An old grindstone was set upright in the ground. It was not clear whether the stone was used to grind ore or possibly agave in the tequila-making process. It may also have served to grind corn or wheat into flour. Possibly the grindstone served all of these purposes over the centuries.

When the War of Independence broke out in 1810, the danger to haciendas like Santa Maria soared. Either insurgent forces or those of the royalists might show up and demand food, horses, conscripts, and silver. If either side thought the other might get control of the area, a hacienda de beneficio's equipment might be destroyed. As the war ground on for a decade, many insurgent bands became little more than gangs of bandits who often raided haciendas

Following the end of the Independence War in 1821, internal warfare continued through most of the 19th century. This included an almost unending series of military coups and uprisings, civil wars, and foreign invasions. The effect on haciendas was similar to what happened during the Independence War. After the French occupation ended in 1867, things did settle down a bit. However, the demobilized soldiers often joined or formed bandit gangs, which continued as a threat to haciendas.


This is one of a series of open ovens along the base of a wall. As with the grindstone, it is not clear whether these ovens were used in the ore refining process or to cook ground up agave to make tequila. One use may have succeeded the other as the economics of Santa Maria changed over time. Both the fuera and azoque processes for refining silver used heat (see Part 1 of this series). 

Still another big problem was with the refining itself. While the fuera process was sufficient for high grade silver, that quality of ore eventually ran out. The ore dug from deeper levels was of lower grade and often unprofitable, causing some mines to be abandoned. The azoque (mercury amalgamation) process was developed in Europe and brought to Nueva España in the late 16th century. By the 18th century, it was widely used to produce high quality silver from low grade ore.

The problem with the azoque process was that the Spanish Crown held a monopoly on mercury. This was very profitable to the Crown but expensive for mine owners. In addition, from the 16th through the early 19th centuries, Spain was embroiled in a series of European wars which often included naval blockades. These, in turn, periodically inhibited the transport of mercury to Nueva España. Lack of mercury prevented refining and this to led mine shutdowns. 


We found a number of circular pits that had been used for making tequila. Over the centuries haciendas changed, or added to, what they produced. When they arrived, Spanish conquistadors observed that the native people used the wild maguey plant to make a mildly alcoholic beverage called pulque. The Spanish Crown had another monopoly on liquors like rum and brandy, so local Spaniards began to distill the juice of the maguey to make a hard liquor. 

At first, the liquor was only made for those living on remote haciendas where rum and brandy were too expensive and difficult to obtain. However, by the beginning of the 18th century, the maguey liquor had became so popular that haciendas began to produce it commercially. During this time, José Cuervo began large-scale planting of agave azul (a cultivated version of the wild maguey) on his hacienda near the pueblo of Tequila


This ruined structure is made of adobe covered with plaster. The arched doorway is partially bricked up so that animals can be penned up inside. Notice the nopal cactus growing on the top. It is not uncommon to find this on old buildings because adobe is just dirt mixed with straw. The original use of this structure is not clear. It may have contained machinery for crushing ore or possibly it served administrative purposes.  


An old water channel runs along the base of an adobe wall. This was part of the aqueduct that provided water for the mining operation and later for tequila distillation. Water was always a key consideration in decisions about where to establish a hacienda. Both livestock and cultivated products need it and water is also essential to many industrial processes such as refining and distillation. Litigation between haciendas over water rights, or between them and native villages, was common in the colonial court system. 


This structure is partially underground. The brick building uses a natural rock formation for part of its foundation, with the entrance cut directly through the rock. The semi-subterranean nature of the building was puzzling to me at first. Then it occurred to me that this would be a good way to maintain a stable temperature. I believe that this structure may have been used to store barrels of tequila. However, this is only speculation, since the structure was completely empty when I visited.


The Current Residents

Some members of the family who live on the former hacienda de beneficio. The little girl on the right was too shy to show her face, but her mom and siblings seemed to enjoy being photographed. There were several more kids, along with a matriarchal abuela (grandmother), but I didn't get good photos of them. 

We never encountered any adult males, but they may have been working elsewhere. The family was curious but easy-going about our visit, which is not unusual in rural Mexico. To show we appreciated their tolerant and hospitable attitude, we left some money with the abuela "for the kids", which she gravely accepted.


Just inside the casco wall, we encountered this beautiful horse. Mexican horses are generally very well cared for, even in the poorest pueblos. Although I am no horse expert, this one appeared to be in very good condition. The horse culture runs very deep in the state of Jalisco, which is the birthplace of the charro (Mexican rodeo performer), and charrería (rodeo). Almost any day, you may encounter vaqueros (working cowboys) driving a herd of horses or cattle.


A goat came out to greet us. He was very curious and not at all frightened by our sudden appearance in his small world. Goats are very hardy and can eat a wide variety of plants, including some that other animals wouldn't even consider. Consequently they are very common in rural Mexico. From them, Mexicans can obtain meat, hides, and milk. A popular rural dish is pozole, a stew made with the meat of a cabrito (a kid or young goat). It's quite tasty!


A Mexican brahman stands in front of a bricked up oven. This was one of two that I saw during our visit. Brahman cattle were imported to Mexico from India during the 19th century. They were sought because of their ability to withstand hot humid weather and resistance to insects and disease. The cows are very fertile and are good mothers to their calves. They also produce milk under conditions that are unfavorable to European breeds.


This turkey wandered about with a rather disdainful attitude. He seemed to think he owned the place. Turkeys are native to the Americas and are one of the few animals that were domesticated by the indigenous people of pre-hispanic Mexico. Horses, goats, and cattle were all imported by the Spanish. 

This completes Part 2 of my Hostotipaquillo series. I hope you enjoyed it and, if so, that you will leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question in the Comments section, please include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.

Hasta luego, Jim