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

The Casa Grande and Capilla overlook a small but attractive Plaza. The 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 bell. While 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 hacienda. For 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

 

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