Valladolid Adventures Part 9: The Walkway of the Friars

The Calzada de los Frailes begins at Los Cinco Calles. A "V" is formed by the intersection between Highway 180 and the Calzada de los Frailes (Walkway of the Friars). This intersection is known locally as Los Cinco Calles (The Five Streets). The Calzada proceeds off to the left, in the direction where the Volkswagen is pointed. A four block walk takes you to the massive Convento de San Bernardino de Siena. That was the headquarters for Franciscan evangelization in eastern Yucatan from 1552 to 1755. The Calzada was created for the use of the Convento's friars when they visited Valladolid.

The house above once belonged to Don Marcial Vidal, a merchant and owner of the nearby Hacienda San Gregorio. He was a hero of the "First Spark", the name given to an uprising in Valladolid on June 4, 1910. That spark was snuffed out after four days of bloody fighting. It actually pre-dated the formal beginning of the Mexican Revolution, which erupted on November 20, 1910. It is not clear what happened to Vidal after the defeat. If he was not one of those killed in the fighting, he either escaped with his life and little else, or he was captured. If captured, he almost certainly would have faced an immediate firing squad. 

The route from Parque Principal to Convento de San Bernardino de Siena. At the southwest corner of the Parque Principal (upper right) you can see a small cross. This marks the location of Templo San Servacio. From there, proceed west along Highway 180 for two blocks to Los Cinco Calles. The left fork is Calzada de los Frailes, which takes you directly to the Convento (see red pointer).

In this posting, I will show you the Calzada and relate some of its history through the eyes of people who walked it over the centuries. Some were Franciscans and some were visitors passing through the area. All of them wrote down their impressions and these illustrate some of the changes to the Calzada de los Frailes over a period of 400 years.

Plaque on wall of Don Maciel Vidal's house. This was placed on the wall more than 100 years before Sr. Vidal's heroic role in the First Spark and long before his family owned the house. Its purpose was to commemorate the reconstruction of the Calzada in 1801. The plaque contains the names of several high public and Church officials. The last person at the bottom is a Captain of Artillery named D. Ygnacio Ribaz, who supervised the construction of the road. 

It seemed odd to me, at first, for an Artillery captain to be in charge. However, it occurred to me that such officers needed to be good mathematicians to set ranges for their weapons and to have the engineering skills to build gun emplacements. Building a road would have been a fairly simple exercise for Capitán Ribaz. The laborers who did the actual work would have included native Maya from Sisal and possibly some Ladinos (mixed Maya and Spanish) from Valladolid. It is unlikely that any self-respecting Spaniard would wield a shovel.

The Calzado is lined with mansions built in the colonial-era and the 19th century. Some are now boutique stores and fashionable restaurants. The yellow building on the right is one of those former mansions and now houses Restaurant Calzada, which specializes in ice cream and pasteries. Directly across the street is a mansion which is still a private home. It has a plaque stating that this is "La Casa de Mamá Chelly" (Mama Chelly's house).

While this has became a fashionable neighborhood in the 21st century, the original 16th century pathway was a dirt track and there were no houses lining it. The land on either side would have been dotted with Maya farms. The Convento, at the far end of the Calzada, was situated in the Maya village of Ziiz-há, a name that refers to the cold water of the nearby cenote. The Spanish version of the village's name became "Sisal". The village was outside, but not far from, the ancient city of Zaci, which was renamed Valladolid in 1545 by the conquistador Francisco Montejo el Sobrino. 

Another former mansion.  This one appears to have been broken up into a couple of apartments, with a fashionable women's clothing store in between. Most of the old mansions in Valladolid are single story buildings with flat roofs. It is hard to say how large any of these houses are, since they may continue back from the street for a considerable distance and might even contain an open courtyard. 

In 1549, ownership of the village of Sisal was awarded to a Spaniard named Baltazar Callejo de Montenegro, for his service as a conquistador. Thirty years later it was still owned by one of his descendants, Baltazar de Montenegro. In 1606, Baltazar de Gallegos was listed as the owner. It is not clear if he was part of the same family or just shared a popular first name. By the end of the 18th century, the town had become the property of the Spanish Crown. In spite of all these Spanish owners, as late as 1805 only Mayas lived in Sisal. Up to then, it was still a separate, indigenous village village outside Valladolid's city walls.

This old mansion stands about a block from the Convento. The cross over the door on the right might indicate a connection with the Convento complex, or it might just be a statement of religious reverence by a current or previous owner. During our walk along the Calzado, I noticed several other buildings with elaborately painted crosses over their doors. Sometime before this shot was taken, the mansion above was divided into several apartments. 

In 1588, a Franciscan historian named Antonio de Ciudad Real (1551-1617) wrote about the area. His description shows that the Calzada hadn't changed much during the previous 36 years. He wrote that "from the convent to the town there leads a road, closed on both sides with ceiba trees, which are tall and thick and resemble the black poplar of Spain." 

A food vendor on a tricycle cart shelters in the shade of a ceiba near the Convento. In the mid-17th century a Franciscan named Diego Lopez de Cogolludo (1613-1665) visited. His description shows that the Calzada had been graded and paved. "To go to the convent from town, one has to take a road of eight varas wide (note: approx. 22 ft), made of stone and lime, with a parapet and bordered on both sides with trees called ceibas which are very tall and thick and provide shade. In spite of being far, the convent is visited often by the inhabitants (of Valladolid) who are followers of our saintly religion." 

By 1841, there had been major changes to the Calzada de los Frailes. That year, American explorer John Lloyd. Stephens described "a long street with great mansions along both sides, leading directly to the house of Don Pedro Baranda, one of the largest and best in the city." Baranda was a 19th century business man in Valladolid who set up the first steam-powered factory in Mexico. His house is the same one later owned by Don Marcial Vidal, hero of the First Spark. Since Stephens makes no mention of the tall ceibas, they must have been cut down by the time he and his English partner Frederick Catherwood passed through.

 

Convento de San Bernardino de Siena, viewed from its north end. At this point, you have reached the end of the Calzado de los Frailes. The street curves to the right and becomes  Calle 49. From this direction, the Convento didn't look as large as it had been described. At first, I was not certain if we had found it. That turned out to be an optical illusion, as you will see in the next posting. Historical markers are off to the left, just out of sight. It is always useful to consult signs like those because they often contain hard-to-find details and are often in both Spanish and English, as these were.

Today, the Calzada appears much the same as when Stephens described it. It is still lined with single-story colonial-era mansions, although many are now restaurants or boutique stores. There are no ceiba trees until you reach the Convento grounds. Modern day visitors can join a guided walk along the Calzada de los Frailes to see a light show at the Convento. It is held on Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 PM.

This completes Part 9 of my Valladolid Adventures series. Parts 10, 11, and 12 will focus on various aspects of the great Franciscan Convento. I hope you have enjoyed this posting. 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 can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim 

Valladolid Adventures Part 8: Cenote Oxman at Hacienda San Lorenzo

 

Swimmers frolic in the cool waters of Cenote Oxman. A cenote ("sen-oh-tay") is a freshwater sinkhole in the limestone crust that forms the base of the Yucatan Peninsula. This is one of many cenotes in northern Yucatan, including several within or very close to the city of Valladolid. This one has become a very popular tourist destination for several reasons. 

Among these are its location, only about 5 km (3 mi) from the center of the city. In addition, the site is within the grounds of the beautifully preserved Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman (see Part 7 of this series). The cenote is also on the tourist bus route coming from the ancient Maya city of Chichen Itza. 

In this posting, I'll show you how to get to the cenote and take you deep inside it, all the way down  to the the water's surface. I'll also explain the origin and nature of cenotes and the roles they played in the lives of people from pre-hispanic times, through the colonial period, and up to the present day.

The cenote is in the southwest corner of the hacienda (see red pointer). You will find a map and explanation of how to reach Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman in Part 7 of this series. From the highway, you approach the hacienda along the smoothly-graded dirt road seen at the bottom center of the photo. Drive to the parking area in the upper right quadrant. 

The entrance to the property is along the walkway that begins next to the orange-roofed structure at the top of the photo. Walk down this to the casa grande (center), then past the swimming pool. A short distance beyond it is the entrance of the tunnel leading down into the cenote. Before entering the tunnel, walk over to the barrier along the edge and take a look at the impressive depth of this sinkhole.

Entrance to Cenote Oxman. Notice the small sign to the right of the door. It warns you that there are 73 steps down to the bottom. Those with mobility issues should take notice. When I was there, there was no ramp for wheelchairs, but that was several years ago and things might have changed. The hours when the cenote is open are 10 AM to 5 PM. If you would like a tranquil experience, it is best to arrive in the morning because the tourist buses from Chichen Itza pull in about mid-day and disgorge a flood of visitors.

The price of admission, just to swim in the cenote, is $150 pesos ($7.50 USD). You also have the option of paying $250 pesos ($12.50 USD) for a package. This includes access to the cenote, a $200 peso credit ($10.00 USD) toward a meal at the on-site restaurant, and access to the swimming pool. Keep in mind that everything is "cash only," which means pesos only.

The tunnel has flat areas as well as various flights of steps. It is fairly gloomy in places. The tunnel is bright here only because of my flash. Speaking of cameras, one of my sources bemoaned the fact that he neglected to bring an underwater camera, because he found the views below the surface to be wonderful. I wasn't planning to swim, so my Nikon was just fine for my purposes. I didn't notice whether underwater cameras were available for sale at the hacienda, but the proprietor is missing a bet if he doesn't stock them. However, you can always bring your own or pick one up inexpensively in Valladolid before you come.

Mineral-filled droplets of water have created stalactites from the overhanging walls. There are many of these along the path and some are quite impressive. The whole Yucatan Peninsula is a thick, flat crust of limestone. It was created when the area was at the bottom of a shallow sea. Over millions of years, tiny creatures in the water died and their remains sank to the bottom. These gradually built up into the limestone crust. The crust is on, or just under, the surface in most places. The subsurface limestone is covered by a shallow layer of earth built up from decaying vegetation. 

Light and easily worked, limestone has been the most plentiful building material on the Peninsula for thousands of years. Another important feature of limestone is its porosity. This means that rainwater doesn't stay on the surface for long but seeps down until it meets a level it can't penetrate. At that point, it forms underground lakes and rivers. Some cenotes are connected to each other by these rivers. Some of the underwater caverns are extensive. One has been mapped for a length of 376 km (234 miles)!

Stalactites are not the only thing hanging down in the cenote. Above-ground plants and trees send down roots seeking water wherever they can find it. Both the seeping water and the action of the roots tend to widen existing cracks that let in more water. This causes weaknesses in the limestone. Cenotes are underground pools whose roofs have collapsed because of  these weaknesses. Scientists have found limestone sinkholes in many places around the world and have long understood how they were created. However, the presence in northern Yucatan of as many as 10,000 cenotes puzzled researchers for a long time. 

The connection between the Chicxulub crater and Yucatan's cenotes. In the 1970s scientists discovered the Chicxulub crater, just off the northwest coast of Yucatan. They  believe it was caused by the meteorite strike that occurred 66 million years ago, killing off the dinosaurs and much of the rest of life on earth. In the 1990s, twenty years after this discovery, NASA scientists decided to plot out the location of northern Yucatan's cenotes. An interesting pattern then emerged. Many of the cenotes are concentrated along a ring marking the trough of the Chicxulub crater. Apparently, the impact caused weakening along the edge of that trough, leading to the creation of those cenotes. (Graphic from Wikipedia)

Another view of the roots extending down from the surface. The lack of surface-level water in northern Yucatan means that cenotes have been vital to human habitation since paleo-indians first arrived in the area. In 2001, archeologists found the skeleton of a human female under the water of a cenote. They called her "Eve of Naharon" and carbon-dated her remains to 13,600 years ago. The cenotes were natural gathering places for humans seeking water and also hunting animals who were coming for a drink. In fact, the Spanish word for cenote derives from the Maya ts'ono'ot, which translates as "location with accessible water".

The ancient Maya began their transition from a hunter-gatherer culture to one based on agriculture around 2,500 BC. Permanent settlements appeared around 1,800 BC. Since farming requires a substantial and readily available source of water, the areas around cenotes naturally developed first. Valladolid's predecessor, the ancient city of Zaci, had twelve of these sinkholes within a relatively short distance. Two of them are within a few hundred yards of the site of Zaci's pyramid, which once stood in the middle of what is now Valladolid's Parque Principal. 

"Ah...at last a cool drink of water". Roots suck up water from the surface of the cenote's sparkling, clear water. The clarity of the water is caused by the filtering process. This occurs as the liquid travels down through the limestone, depositing its impurities along the way and sometimes creating stalactites. Cenotes generally contain less life than other bodies of water, but various fish have been found in them, including mojarras, mollies, guppies, catfish and small eels.

While the pre-hispanic Maya viewed cenotes as important for drinking water and crops, there was also a religious dimension. They believed that cenotes were the domain of the Rain God Chaac, their most important deity. These dark and mysterious places were also seen as entrances to Xibalba (the underworld). Offerings and sacrifices, sometimes including live humans, were thrown into cenotes sagrados (sacred cenotes). These include one at Chichen Itza and another in the ceremonial center of ancient Dzibilchaltún, just north of Mérida.

Non-sacrificed humans enjoying a swim in the cenote. A rope is suspended 27m (90ft) down from the rim to the water's surface. A very popular activity is to swing from a platform out toward the middle and drop into the water. The person on the right appears to be trying to see the bottom. Good luck with that! The water's depth is 45m (148ft). In order to keep the water clean and clear, swimmers are required to take a shower before entering. This helps prevent body lotions from polluting the water.

When the Spanish arrived, they took note of the cenotes and built their haciendas, conventos, and other important buildings adjacent to them. No doubt this caused some hostility from the Maya, who had freely used these water sources for millennia. The Spanish were motivated by easy access to water but, like the Maya, they also had religious reasons. They were no fans of Chaac, or the other native deities, and did everything they could to stamp out what they saw as "devil worship". This included preventing offerings and sacrifices at the cenotes sagrados. It was all part of the "Spiritual Conquest".

Two other swimmers hang onto a rope stretched across the surface as a safety measure. Both wear life vests, which are available at the hacienda. These are mandatory for anyone wishing to swim in the cenote.  This might be a product of government regulations, but I'm betting the property owner is glad to enforce the rule. Reports of drowned swimmers would not be good for business.

At first, the Spanish followed the native practice of bringing water up in jugs. However, they soon constructed mechanical ways of lifting the water, using using animals or windmills for power. You saw the windmill at Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman in the last posting. In a future posting, I will show an example of 17th century Spanish hydraulic engineering at the Convento de San Bernardino de Siena in Valladolid. There, in 1613, they built an animal-driven noria (water wheel) over another cenote named Sis-há.  

A view from the water level up to the rim. Notice the safety barrier. It was probably erected after some careless or overly-adventurous tourist fell over the edge. That is probably not historically unusual. Scientists found the skeletons of 120 people at the bottom of another cenote. None of them showed evidence of sacrifice, so they may have just fallen in over the centuries. The opening to the sky lets in shafts of sunlight that create a serene and mystical feeling. As I mentioned before, you are more likely to enjoy this feeling in the morning, when the place is not overrun with noisy tourists and screaming children.

Some cenotes are probably still used by Maya farmers for their water needs, primarily in remote areas. However, many cenotes in easily accessible locations are now used as tourist attractions. With the recent completion of the tourist train around the Peninsula, I expect this to increase substantially. While I hate to see pristine places overrun by hordes of tourists, I fear that is the future of Yucatan, Campeche, and Quintana Roo, the three states within the Peninsula. However, the Maya people have long struggled with poverty and under-development, so it may be that some will benefit economically.

This completes Part 8 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you have enjoyed it. 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 can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim

Valladolid Adventures Part 7: Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman

 

A two-wheeled carreta stands in front of the hacienda's casa grande. Carretas were the "pickup trucks" of Mexico from the colonial period well into the 20th century. They were usually pulled by a pair of oxen. I still occasionally see one when I travel along the back roads in rural areas. The hacienda's 18th century casa grande has been transformed into a boutique hotel, but has preserved many of its original architectural features. This posting will focus on the hacienda itself, while the next one will take a look at its cenote, which has become the property's main tourist attraction.

Historical information about Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman is surprisingly scarce. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it raised livestock and cultivated maiz (corn). However, in the mid-19th century it became a hacienda henequenera. This was the name given to haciendas in Yucatan that grew the sisal plant. Henequen fiber was extracted from the sisal leaves in order to make rope and twine. In the posting below, I'll explain what brought about the great boom in henequen production and why this "green gold" created huge fortunes as well as great abuses.

Overview

The leaves of the sisal plant are stripped to produce henequen fiber. Notice the plant's trunk where leaves have been cut in previous harvests. The use of this fiber dates back very far into pre-hispanic times, possibly even into the early days of human habitation in Yucatan. Sisal is native to Yucatan and the Maya utilized it to make cord, sandals, bags, and clothing. The sharp end of the leaf was used as a needle and the Maya also produced an alcoholic beverage by fermenting the pulp inside the trunk. 

When I first researched Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman, some sources mentioned that agave was its primary crop, but other sources mentioned sisal. I am very familiar with the agave azul that is grown in the state of Jalisco to make tequila. I therefore assumed that both henequen and mescal (similar to tequila) were produced at the hacienda. Later, I discovered that sisal is formally known as Agave sisalana and is a distant relative of Jalisco's agave. However, unlike the Jalisco plant, Yucatan's Agave sisalana was used by the hacienda's owners to produce henequen fiber. (Photo from Wikipedia).

Google map with the route to Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman. From the Parque Principal (Valladolid's main plaza) take Highway 295 south about 3 km (1.8 mi). Take your next right after the sign pointing toward Mérida. This will put you onto Highway 180, the Libramiento Sur de Valladolid. Drive about 2 km (1.2 mi) until you see a sign on your right for "Cenote Oxman". 

The sign doesn't mention San Lorenzo, probably because most visitors come for the cenote. Turn right on a smoothly graded dirt road and proceed for approximately 300 m (328 yds) to the parking area. Access to the hacienda is free, but there are charges to swim in the cenote. There is also a restaurant on the property restaurant. Click here for information about the cenote.

The hacienda's entrance

The main gate forms the transition from the parking area to the hacienda's grounds. The gate opens onto a broad walkway that leads to the casa grande, which can be seen in the background. A number of years have passed since our visit and recent internet photos show that both the gate and the casa grande have been repainted to other colors. However, the basic structures appear to be the same. The broad, open, lawn area between the gate and the back of the casa grande was most likely the work area where sisal leaves were transformed into henequen fiber and then into string and rope. 

When the hacienda was founded in 1746, large scale production of henequen was still far in the future. The property was initially used to raise livestock. As in the rest of Nueva España (colonial Mexico), the native population had crashed during the first two centuries after the Conquest. This created a labor shortage and cattle required far fewer workers than farming. As the population recovered, increased labor availability enabled large-scale maiz (corn) production. Valladolid and Mérida would have been the hacienda's primary markets for both cattle and maiz. However, at the beginning of the 1830s, things began to change.

A visitor walks his bicycle up toward the casa grande. People arrive at the  hacienda in a variety of ways. Some come on bikes, a few on foot, and others by car. In recent times, a lot of folks have been arriving by tour bus after visiting the ancient Maya city of Chichen Itza. This means that in the mid-afternoon, mobs of tourists show up, eager to cool off in the sparkling water of the cenote. If you want to avoid the crowds, the best time to arrive at the hacienda is during the morning. The hours are 8 AM - 5 PM, seven days a week. 

The beginning of the 19th century was full of turmoil in both Mexico and Europe. The Mexican War of Independence lasted from 1810 to 1821. Europe had been almost continuously at war from the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789 through the defeat of Napoleon in 1815. Sea trade had suffered greatly during this period. During the decade of the 1820s, trade was beginning to recover and, with it, demand for ships. In those days, sailing ships required large amounts of good strong rope for rigging. Shipbuilders looking for this essential product discovered Yucatan's henequen. A market soon developed.

The Casa Grande's work area

The ruins of a building stand off to the right of the walkway. The structure is made of limestone, the most plentiful building material in Yucatan. Notice the old wheel leaning against the front wall. It is probably a remnant of a carreta or a four-wheel wagon. 

There is nothing to indicate what the building was used for, but it was almost certainly involved in the henequen operation. One possibility is that this was a supervisor's office. It is certainly too small to fit all of the machinery needed for processing henequen fibers. 

In addition to space for a supervisor, it might also have contained the tienda de raya (company store). That was where workers were paid, usually in script or coinage produced by a hacienda. This "money" could only be spent for goods sold in the tienda de raya. Thus, a highly profitable closed system was developed, one which was widely employed among the haciendas. An additional benefit of this closed system is that it helped stabilize the labor pool, for reasons I will explain below.  

A doorway opens into one of the ruined structure's rooms. Plaster still coats the interior walls. The rooms were empty of furniture or other remains. If this was a tienda de raya, it would have contained the daily necessities for a worker and his family. Since he was paid very little, he soon had to rely on credit to make his purchases. The tienda de raya would have kept the records of his pay and any debts owed. Most of the workers were illiterate and had no way of knowing whether or not these records were accurate.

A worker could not legally leave the hacienda while owing money. If he ran away, the rurales (rural police) would hunt him down and return him to the hacienda. Once back, he might be flogged and/or thrown into the jail that many haciendas maintained. If the worker became disabled or died while owing money, the debt passed to his wife and children. This kind of debt-slavery helped maintain a stable work force. Altogether it was an excellent and profitable arrangement, as long as you were on the right end of it.

A sisal worker struggles under the crushing weight of his burden. This painting is part of a series of murals in the Palacio Gobierno (Government Palace) in Mérida. The various murals highlight the oppression experienced by the Maya in the colonial period and later, during the henequen boom. In the mural, a heavily muscled worker strains to lift the bale of henequen, while shadowy figures reach their hands toward it. Perhaps these are the ghosts of former workers trying to help him in his struggle.

While hacendados (hacienda owners) began to cultivate sisal in the 1820s to meet the demand for ship's rope, the real boom was launched in 1831. In that year a blacksmith in the US named Cyrus McCormick invented his famous McCormick Reaper. For millennia, wheat had been harvested by teams of men wielding hand scythes in the fields. McCormick's machine cut, thrashed, and bundled the wheat, and tied it in sheaves. This reduced the time required to produce a bushel of wheat by 95%, from slightly over 3 hours down to 10 minutes. Instead of a field full of workers, only two men and a team of horses were required.

A row of machines turn henequen fiber into twine. Large numbers of machines like this would have filled much of the work area. The early versions were probably hand-cranked, then later driven by steam engines. Toward the end of the 19th century, electrical power was introduced. The work area would have swarmed with men and bustled with activity from dawn to dusk. (Photo from Yucatan Living website)

Twine was the connection between the haciendas henequeneras and the farmers in the US who were avidly adopting the McCormick Reaper. However, a major problem emerged when the Reaper was first put to use. Metal wire for binding the sheaves was tried, but it proved too stiff. Twine made of mixed fibers was also attempted, but it had weak spots and tended to bunch up in the machinery. Also, mixed fiber twine could be damaged by weather and insects. The men working with the Reapers soon discovered that twine made from the henequen was smooth, strong, didn't bunch, and was resistant to insects and weather.

A carreta stands on the lawn near the casa grande. Carretas were so ubiquitous a feature of Mexico that B. Traven (author of "Treasure of the Sierra Madre") gave one of his books the title of "The Carreta". It was about a young man who left the hacienda where he was born to make his way in the world. He eventually acquired a carreta and became a transporter of goods. Unfortunately, back at the hacienda, his father fell ill. Because the father was heavily indebted to the tienda de Raya and couldn't work, the young man had to give up his promising business and return to the hacienda to work off the family debts.

The McCormick Reapers were the beginning of industrialized agriculture, resulting in massive farms operating numerous Reapers. All those Reapers required huge amounts of henequen twine. Yucatan's haciendas were transformed from sleepy local operations into economic powerhouses, reaping millions of dollars for their owners. Splendid mansions in Mérida still display the opulence of that time. Of course, the tens of thousands of Maya workers saw barely a trickle of all that wealth. Hennequen demand resulted in more seizures of Maya land. Labor shortages led to one of the most shameful chapters in Mexican history.

Yaqui people being marched into slavery at the haciendas henequeneras. Yaquis were the last indigenous tribe to be conquered in Mexico. Their homeland is in the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwest Mexico. The Yaquis had resisted conquest from their first encounter with the Spanish in the 16th century until their final defeat by the Mexican government in 1927. During the regime of the dictator Porfirio Diaz (1876-1911), the government pursued a policy of enslavement. The owners of the henequen haciendas were eager for cheap labor and Yaqui men, women, and children were sold to them at 60 pesos per head. By 1908, at least 5000 had been sold, in spite of the abolishment of slavery in Mexico back in 1829. 

While I can't definitely say that Yaqui slaves worked at Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman, their use was widespread at henequen producing haciendas throughout northern Yucatan. After all, what hacendado could pass up something as cheap as slave labor when demand for henequen was so high? The Yaquis were forced to work from dawn to dusk in harsh tropical heat to which they were unaccustomed. They were given little food and locked up at night. They were trapped far away from their homeland, so escape was almost impossible. Two-thirds of the Yaquis died in their first year of captivity. (Photo from the Palacio Gobierno)

Casa Grande

View from the back terrace of the casa grande toward the main gate. Several staircases like the one above lead up from the broad lawn where the work area once stood. Carretas full of harvested sisal leaves once passed through the gate in one direction. Others full of finished twine would have passed through in the opposite direction, on their way to the port of Sisal on Yucatan's north coast.

On June 4, 1910, only two years after the peak of Yaqui enslavement, an insurrection broke out in Valladolid against the Porfirio Diaz dictatorship. It has been described as "the first spark of the Mexican Revolution", which didn't formally begin until five months later on November 20, 1910. Over the previous 35 years, Diaz had held a series of rigged elections which he always won. Those who opposed him rallied behind the Anti-Reelection Party. In Valladolid, this was led by Maximiliano Bonilla, a Yucateca (non-Maya Mexican). 

The back terrace and rear side of the casa grande. This terrace would have provided additional space for work as well as a good place to view the operations being performed below. The rear side of the casa grande is rather plain. There are doors on either side which lead into two wings, each having two stories. The two arched openings in the middle lead into an arcade which opens onto a terrace facing out into the front yard of the building.

Although Maximiliano Bonilla and the other leaders were Yucatecas, the Maya laborers on the haciendas surrounding Valladolid rallied to the cause. It is very likely that some of them came from Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman. As I have shown, the Maya on the haciendas had been brutally oppressed for centuries. However, they also had a long history of resistance against their oppressors. The Caste War (1847-1915) had been going on for more than 60 years by 1910. Most of eastern Yucatan (now the State of Quintana Roo) had been under Maya control during that time. The Maya around Valladolid were more than ready to act.

View through one of the arched openings toward the front staircase. The arcade and its terrace run along the front of the casa grande and the staircase leads down to the front yard. The architectural floor plan of this casa grande is unusual. I have never encountered one like it among the several I have seen in Yucatan nor in any of more than 100 that I have visited elsewhere in Mexico. 

Initially, the revolt was a success. The Anti-Reelectionistas seized the city, tore up the railroad tracks to Mérida, and entrenched themselves. Luis Felipe de Regil, the chief local politician, was killed along with several soldiers. Porfirio Diaz saw the revolt as a dangerous development, so he sent 600 troops to Valladolid to crush the uprising. In spite of their superiority in numbers and armament, it took Diaz' troops four days to recapture Valladolid. The untrained Maya fought bravely, although most were armed only with machetes. They were finally defeated, leaving dozens of Maya fighters and Diaz soldiers lying dead in the streets.

View of the front side of the casa grande. While the back side has no windows, the front does. The upper parts of the structures on either side of the central arcade have two windows each, with balconies. Below the windows on each side are what appear to be bricked up doors, or possibly floor-to-ceiling windows. Why they were closed up is a mystery to me. I am assuming that the upper floors contain bedrooms. The lower floors may contain a kitchen and dining room and possibly a salon, but I could not determine that at the time.

After Valladolid's Anti-Reelectionista revolt was crushed, things settled down in Yucatan for several years. However, in the rest of the country, they were heating up. Within a year Porfirio Diaz was defeated and driven out of the country. This was followed by several years of conflicts among the revolutionary leaders. During this period, a young man named Salvador Alvarado steadily rose in rank from captain to general. In 1915, after Venustiano Carranza consolidated power and became President of Mexico, Salvador Alvarado was sent to Yucatan as Military Governor. Along with him, the Revolution arrived.

General Alvarado was a true social revolutionary, unlike many of his contemporaries who were essentially opportunists out for themselves. Alvarado was from Sonora, in northwest Mexico, and knew little about Yucatan. So, he spent his first six months studying the situation and consulting with people of all social classes. His first act was to liberate the Maya from serfdom. He cancelled their debts, outlawed debt-slavery, set minimum wages,  and established laws for health, safety, and child labor. Alvarado's goal was to end the feudal system under which the haciendas had operated for centuries.

In a far corner of the front yard is a large well. It stands near the entrance of the tunnel that descends into the cenote. Over the opening of the well there is a rusty mechanism that contains a wheel which probably functions in some way to bring up water. As I have mentioned previously, water is a critical issue in northern Yucatan. Without above ground rivers or lakes, the only sources are the cenotes and the wells dug following the Spanish Conquest. Hacienda San Lorenzo Oxman has the benefit of both.

Salvador Alvarado also set up a system of military courts to mete out justice swiftly and fairly. He legalized unions and halted abuses of the Sedition Law, historically used against workers who questioned their working conditions. Agrarian Committees were set up to oversee land reform and farm worker issues. Government agents were appointed to report abuses against common people by the landed class. Education became mandatory, secular, and free. Schools for agriculture and the arts were set up, along with a free institute for teaching law. The list of reforms is long. Amazingly, Alvarado did it all in under three years!

Presidente Carranza recalled Alvarado in 1918 for another assignment. After he left Yucatan, one of his supporters named Felipe Carrillo Puerto carried on the work. Carrillo Puerto, was of mixed Maya and Yucateca blood. He  become Governor of Yucatan in 1922 and gave his first speech in the Maya language. During his tenure, he returned land to the Maya that had been illegally seized by hacienda owners, promoted new farming techniques, gave women political rights, started family planning programs and opened 417 public schools. Unfortunately, Mexico was plagued with revolts in the 1920s. During one of them, Carrillo Puerto was captured by rebels and, in 1924, was executed by firing squad.

Above the well is a large windmill tower. The windmill provides the power for lifting water from the depths of the well. It wasn't apparent to me whether this windmill mechanism was still functioning. There may have been a more modern system somewhere out of sight, but I didn't see it. Fortunately for henequen growers, sisal required very little water since it is native to Yucatan and grew in the wild before it was ever cultivated for profit.

Both Salvador Alvarado and Felipe Carrillo Puerto attempted to reform the hacienda system, while still keeping the henequen business functioning. However, decline set in when some hacienda owners abandoned their properties rather than accede to reforms. Others had borrowed and over-invested and went out of business in the 1929 Depression. The end of the haciendas henequeneras came in 1937 when Presidente Lazaro Cardenas initiated land reforms which turned the haciendas over to ejidos (farmworkers' collectives). The final blow to the henequen business itself came when synthetic fibers replaced henequen in the 1940s.

This completes Part 7 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you enjoyed seeing this old hacienda and learning about the role it played in the henequen business. 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 can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim

Valladolid Adventures Part 6: Mesón de Marqués, once a Spanish colonial mansion, now an excellent hotel

Entrance to Hotel Mesón de Marques. A mesón is a colonial-era mansion. Marqués refers to a rank within the Spanish nobility, second only to a duque (duke). The mansion, built in the 17th century, once belonged to a very important man among the colonial-era Spaniards of Yucatan. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to identify exactly who this person was. However, I do know something about the Spanish nobility in colonial Mexico.

While some men were already members of the nobility when they arrived from Spain, others were elevated from the status of commoner. This would happen after they had performed an important service for the Spanish king. In fact, Spanish commoners often emigrated to the New World in hopes of gaining a fortune and a title. So, while the hotel's Marqués could have been a noble when he got to Mexico, if he was a commoner any service provided would have had to be extraordinary to be given that rank.

After the 1810-21 War of Independence, much of the Spanish elite class, including members of the nobility, were expelled from Mexico. It is likely that the Marqués and his family departed at that time. The méson was then acquired by a wealthy Mexican family who passed it down from generation to generation until 1967, when the old mansion was converted into a hotel. 

Foyer of the hotel. While Mesón de Marqués has many modern amenities, much of its original colonial character has been maintained. Upon entering, we were greeted by a lovely woman dressed in traditional colonial fashion. The floor's stone tiles and the rough wooden rafters are both original features. The arch in the background leads into the restaurant, which surrounds what was originally the méson's courtyard. 

When the hotel was first established, it had only six guest rooms, a kitchen, and a courtyard. Today, the hotel has ninety rooms and a restaurant. Carole and agree that this is one of our all-time favorite hotels in Mexico. That's saying a lot because we have stayed in many of them. Hotel Méson de Marqués is centrally located, has great charm and architectural beauty, is efficient and comfortable, has an outstanding restaurant, and is reasonably priced. We could hardly ask for more.

Colonial-era painting of an angel holding a palm frond. Many antique furnishings and decorations can be found in the part of the hotel that was once the colonial mansion. This old painting hangs on the wall of the foyer. The unnamed angel holds a palm frond, which is a symbol of peace. As far as I can tell, only archangels like San Miguel were given names. I searched the internet for images of angels with palm fronds, but could find none that were named. This fellow must be a rank-and-file angel, the type who just runs heavenly errands.

The formal dining room has rough rafters like those in the foyer. The far wall contains a painting of Mexico's Patron, the Virgen de Guadalupe. She has been widely revered since the 16th century. This room was probably used by the early hotel to feed the guests. Today, it is reserved for private dinners or meetings. When the méson was used as a residence by the Marqués and later by the family that bought it in 19th century, every seat would have been filled by their large families.

In addition, special guests would have been invited to dine with them. These would have included officials of the government and the Church, wealthy local merchants, and important travelers passing through through the area. The conversations around the table would have included local political news, the progress of Yucatan's many wars and uprisings, and upcoming fiestas.

A charming display of local produce stood in one of the hallways,  Included are locally grown pineapples, papaya, watermelon, pumpkins, and chiles. Overhead, dried gourds hang in a bundle, ready to be used as containers. Produce like this depends upon the availability of water, which is scarce in much of Yucatan. In the northern part of the Peninsula there are no above-ground rivers or lakes. Water can be found in underground in aquifers, but these can only be accessed from cenotes and wells. Cenote Zaci, located near the hotel, was once the main water source for the pre-hispanic city of Zaci, Valladolid's predecessor.

The hotel restaurant is called Hostería del Marqués. Diners include not only those from the hotel but also from the local community. One of the nice amenities offered by the hotel to its guests is a free breakfast each morning. Upon check-in, you get a series of tickets according to the number of mornings you will be here. The Hostería's tables line both sides of the arcade that surrounds what was once the courtyard of the colonial-era méson. Diners can enjoy fresh air with their meal, while being protected from the sun or rain. 

The columns of the arcade support arches called portales. In the center of the Hostería's courtyard is a fountain, surrounded by a lush garden. I noticed that all three people in the foreground appear to be completely absorbed in their electronic gadgets. I have been guilty of this upon occasion, but I try not to do it except when I am alone. When others are present, I generally put my iPad or smart phone away.  The social impact of electronics, especially smart phones, seems very detrimental to interpersonal relations. I also find it annoying when people in a place like this talk loudly into their phones, acting as if they are alone.

In the rear, another courtyard is surrounded by guest rooms rising four stories. On the roof is an open deck with a panoramic view. The original méson had only one story. Sometime later, probably in the 20th century, four stories of rooms were added in back. Thankfully, the builders maintained a colonial style of architecture. This includes arcades with portales along each floor and balconies with french doors on the rooms overlooking the courtyard. The courtyard itself has trees and a garden, as well as a pool. At the rear of the hotel, secure off-street free parking can be accessed from Calle 37 (37th St).

The balcony door is framed by artfully-carved cantera stone. Cantera is a light stone that has been quarried since pre-hispanic times because it can be easily carved. The wooden balcony has only enough room to stand on, but it still would be nice to have one of these attached to your room. We have learned through long experience to avoid rooms that face onto the street. There is often far too much noise at night, particularly if you are overlooking a plaza, or are near one. A room will tend to be quieter if it faces an interior courtyard, like this one, or faces out from the rear of your hotel, . 

Our room was attractive, comfortable, and functional. We were charmed to find the towels on the bed arranged into the form of a swan. There are rooms with a greater level of luxury in this hotel, but this one had all we really require. A comfortable bed, plumbing that works, hot water, and a functional TV remote is enough to make us happy. 

We don't spend a lot of time in hotel rooms, except to sleep, or change clothes. To us, it makes no sense to spend a lot of money on luxurious extras that we barely use. Our real purpose is to explore the outside world, not hang out in our room. This being the case, an in-room safe is another essential item to us. We use it to safeguard important documents like passports, all of our money except what's needed for that day, and our camera and iPad. Each room at this hotel is equipped with a safe. 

A couple of guests chat by the courtyard's pool. The presence of a pool can cool down an area when the weather is overly warm, even if you don't use it to swim. This would be a nice spot to sip a cup of coffee in the morning or enjoy a glass of wine on a balmy evening. We only visit Yucatan during the winter, because we find the summer weather to be humid and hot. In addition, although mosquitoes are not completely absent during winter, they are less bothersome in that season.

This completes Part 6 of my Valladolid Adventures series. I hope you enjoyed it. 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 fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim