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 Most of the historical references I have found are from the 18th century.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

 

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