The Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo Part 7 of 10: Ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás (the casa grande)

 

View of the casa grande, courtyard, and a large pond. This section of Ex-Hacienda Santo Tomás is the most intact. In the previous posting (Part 6 of the series) we looked at the fortifications surrounding this old hacienda de beneficio (silver refining operation). The walls and bastions protected the casa grande and other structures within it that related to the production of silver and tequila. 

In this posting (Part 7) I will show you the casa grande, including its arcades, dining room, kitchen, and bedrooms and game room. Along with the photos, I will tell you about the daily life typical of people who lived in places like this. For directions to the pueblo of Santo Tomás and its hacienda, please refer to Part 6.

The entrance and zaguan of the casa grande

Entrance gate and back wall of the casa grande. The covered arcade along the back overlooks a cobble-stoned work area where a key part of the silver refining process was conducted. From the arcade, the hacendado (owner) and his mayor domo (administrator) could sit comfortably in the shade and supervise the work. The iron gate opens into the zaguan, a large hallway that leads to the central courtyard. Zaguans were typical features of casa grande architecture.

Hacendados often did not live on their rural properties, visiting only periodically to examine the books and to consult with the mayor domo about significant problems that may have arisen. Instead, they lived in comfortable mansions in nearby towns or even in more distant locations such as Guadalajara or Mexico City. 

The mayo domo's job was to administer the hacienda in the hacendado's absence. He was an experienced professional who sometimes became a hacendado in his own right. The mayor domo would either live in one of the rooms of the casa grande or, in the case of an important property like Hacienda Santo Tomás, he would be provided with his own residence within the casco walls.

Inside the zaguan we found two carriages, one with four wheels and the other with two. Although they were lined up one behind the other, the zaguan was wide enough for them to stand side-by-side. The gate in the upper right opens onto the interior arcade and the courtyard.  The four-wheeled carriage, equipped with a canvas roof and luggage rack, appears to be intended for longer distance traveling. The two-wheeler in front was probably intended for short trips around the estate or to visit neighboring haciendas. 

Until the last quarter of the 19th century, Mexico lacked rail networks and the roads were often little more than trails. This was particularly true in rugged, mountainous country like that around Hostotipaquillo. Most of these areas were accessible only by horse, mule, or burro. The carriages shown above would have been restricted to the few roads in a condition to handle them. In the late 19th century, a railroad spur was extended as far as Etzatlán, 89km (55mi) west of Guadalajara. This shortened the first leg of a rugged road journey to Santo Tomás from 2-3 days down to a few hours in a comfortable rail coach. 

However the last leg of the journey, from Etzatlán to Santo Tomás, is another 44km (27mi). This would have required a very long day's travel by wagon, carriage or horseback. Unless there was extreme urgency in returning to Santo Tomás, it is likely that the journey would have been broken up by visits to one or more of the several haciendas situated along the route. Such neighborly visits were a normal part of the hacendado lifestyle. The hacendados and mayor domos of these haciendas would have welcomed their visitors and the news they brought from the outside world.

A poster announcing upcoming bullfights hangs on the wall of the zaguan. The poster informs us that the Gran Corrida de Toros will feature six toros (bulls) and names the three bullfighters who will face them. There is another painting of a matador facing a bull in the hallway leading to the game room and the head of a large bull is mounted on the wall. Bullfighting was imported to Nueva España (colonial Mexico) during the early days of the Conquest. The first bullfight was held in Mexico City on August 13, 1529, only eight years after Hernán Cortéz led his conquistadors to victory over the Aztecs. 

Pope Pius V tried to ban the sport in 1567, but it was wildly popular in Europe and the ban was largely ignored, especially in far-away Mexico. Bullfighting has continued in Mexico up to recent times. However, public opinion has begun to turn against the cruelty of the sport. Recently, a poll showed that three quarters of Mexicans would like to see the sport banned and several Mexican states have done so. However, Mexico City's ban was recently lifted by a court order.

The courtyard arcade and its portales

View from the exit of the zaguan down the arcade facing the courtyard. The arches are called portales and are another typical feature of casas grandes and other hacienda structures. Much of life on a hacienda occurred outdoors and often involved lounging, socializing, or dining on a shady arcade like this. Beyond the portales is a grassy, tree-shaded central courtyard, with a large pond in one corner (see first photo). The pond may have been a swimming pool at some point.

Hacienda Santo Tomás was founded in 1668 by Francisco de la Isla Solórzano, who claimed the land through a denunció, which meant that it had been abandoned by the previous owner. When Francisco died in 1682, his sons José and Juan took over the property. They appear to have been absentee owners, because they hired Francisco de Mazariegos to be their mayor domo. He must have been one of the ambitious administrators because, by 1700,  he was listed as the owner. By then it was one of the three most important haciendas de beneficio in the Real de Hostotipaquillo real (mining district). 

View the north wing of the casa grande's arcade and part of the courtyard. Notice the flying buttresses supporting the west side. That is an architectural feature dating back to the Middle Ages. The part of the casa grande seen above contains the dining room and kitchen and an area to which we didn't have access but that probably contains offices. There is a corner at the far end of the arcade where it takes a right-angle turn. This east wing contains bedrooms with a game room at one end.

Francico Mazariegos died in 1704 and his wife and son became the new owners. However, they decided not to operate it themselves. Instead, they rented out the property over the next thirty-three years to a variety of mine owners. In 1737, Eugenio Francisco de Castro bought the hacienda for 1,700 pesos ($53,282 in today's US dollars). For most of the next fifty years, the hacienda de beneficio refined ore primarily extracted from the Copala mine, some distance away. However, ore also came from several nearby mines, including the Santa Efigenia, Nuestra Señora de Zapopan, Nuestra Señora de Santo Tomás, and the San Javier. 

Our group takes a break to chat in the arcade. There is a hat rack made of bulls' horns hanging on the left wall. The stairs behind the people lead up to the east wing, which forms the border of the courtyard along that side. The rust colored tiles on the floor of the arcade, resemble those I have found in many other haciendas. Tiles like this are easy to sweep or mop, an important consideration due to the dirt and mud that would have been regularly tracked in by those who lived and worked here. 

A will probated in 1787 lists the owner of Hacienda Santo Tomas as Francisco Antonio de la Brena and states that the property was a fully-functioning hacienda de beneficio. In researching its history, I have been unable to find further information. Because the hacienda has survived relatively intact, it must have continued to operate through the revolts, coups, and foreign invasions of the 19th century and even into the 20th, with its Revolution and Cristero War. At some point, silver refining and tequila production stopped, but why and when are currently unknown to me.

The Dining Room

The large dining room contains a table capable of seating ten. Families in the colonial period and the early Republic were large. In addition, there would often have been guests at dinner. These might have included people from one of the other haciendas in the area. Other possibilities include traveling government officials, clerics, merchants, or foreigners visiting from the United States or Europe. The description below describes hacienda life in the later 19th or early 20th centuries.

"The hacendado, his family, and staff ate an early breakfast. Bells clanged for a Mass at 6:00 or 7:00 A.M. (before or after breakfast), depending on the weather...By 2:00 or 2:30 P.M...(they) enjoyed a meal at the long table set with imported or hacienda linen, elegant china, cut glass, and Mexican and European silverware. Barefoot maids served...The butler may have worn white gloves. In the spacious, beamed, windowed room, cool in summer, warm in winter, the menu was varied."*

*Haciendas of Mexico, An Artist's Record, by Paul Alexander Bartlett, University Press of Colorado, 1990, pp. 43-45

A beautiful cabinet full of glassware stands in a corner. This is an example of the sort of furniture that would have been imported, or at least brought in from someplace like Guadalajara or Mexico City. In the earlier centuries, such elegant furniture would not have been found in most casas grande. What furniture that existed would have been heavy, rustic, sparse, and would have almost certainly been made by a local native carpenter, perhaps one of the peones acasilados. 

George Lyon, an English traveler of the early 19th century, described the furnishings he found in one country estate. "The owners of the largest and most attractive hacienda, which provided them with an income of $100,000, were content with lodgings and comforts that an English gentleman would hesitate to offer to his servants."* 

Stylish furniture had to be imported, and would have been far too expensive to waste on working estates far out in the country. A hacendado who possessed such furniture would have reserved it for his mansion in the city. In the late 19th century, when railroads were well established, more expensive items could be brought to outlying properties. The bigger haciendas even had their own train stations, although Santo Tomás never did. 

*Daily Life on the Haciendas of Mexico, by Ricardo Rendón Garcini, Fomento Cultural BANAMEX A.C., 1997, p.56

These shelves display an interesting variety of crockery. The bottom shelf contains four stone metates, along with their rollers, which are called manos. These devices are used to grind corn into masa (dough) which is then flattened into thin circular shapes. When cooked on a griddle, they become Mexico's famous tortillas. Manos and metates originated in very early pre-hispanic times, but they are still used in many Mexican kitchens. 

Some technologies appear to be universal among human cultures. When I visited the Ancient Egyptian section of the Louvre Museum in Paris, I was astonished to find stone devices that are almost identical to Mexican manos and metates. In addition, I saw small statues of Egyptian women using them in exactly the same way as portrayed in pre-hispanic Maya paintings. Ancient Mexicans and Egyptians both used small disks called spindle whorls to spin thread, backstrap looms to create cloth, and built stepped pyramids as tombs for their rulers. 

The Kitchen

A large kitchen contains some modern appliances. The cooks and kitchen help may have eaten some of their meals here, but the peones acasillados would have eaten in the huts they were provided as part of their wages. Other workers would have eaten their breakfast and the day's final meal in their villages after their work day finished. Refrigerators like those above would not have existed in a casa grande's kitchen until well into the 20th century, when electricity was finally extended to rural areas. But before then, food preservation was necessary, particularly for meat. The methods commonly used dated back centuries.

"(Meat) was cured with smoke or salt, or processed as sausage. Toward the same end, other foods were pickled. Fruit that was harvested from the orchard was turned into sweet preserves...whose preparation was to become a family tradition.The bread was...made in the adobe ovens that were present on all haciendas. During the early years. bread from wheat was only eaten by Spaniards...but eventually (it was) part of the diet of the workers on the hacienda, especially on those where wheat was grown..."*

The hacendado's desayuno (breakfast) would have included fruta (fruit), huevos (eggs), meat dishes, frijoles (beans), tortillas or pan (bread), café (coffee), chocolate, té (tea), and pulque or cerveza (beer). The main meal, served in the mid-afternoon, was called comida. It typically started with soup, then a meat dish like beef, chicken, pork, lamb or wild game like venison, turkey or rabbit. Dessert consisted of flan (custard), cajeta (caramelized goat's milk), cake, or fresh fruit and cheese. Comida would have finished with coffee, tea, wine, liquor, horchata (rice drink), jamaica (tropical drink), or chocolate. 

*Daily Life on the Haciendas of Mexico, p.269

The kitchen viewed from another angle. Again, modern appliances like gas stoves were a 20th century innovation. Wood fires were the rule for the first 400 years after the Conquest. Keeping a constant supply of cut wood for fuel, as well as enough food for the hacendado's family, staff, and guests, required the efforts of a number of workers. 

For the workers, desayuno would have consisted largely of tortillas and water. Comida would have included tortillas, frijoles y arroz (beans and rice), and occasionally a little meat. Seasonal fruits served included mangos, aguacates (avocados), naranja (oranges), bananas, or berries picked in the wild. Corn tortillas had been the dietary staple of ordinary people since pre-hispanic times. From the 16th through the last part of the 18th century, most haciendas provided their workers with a corn ration as part of their wages. This ensured a stable workforce in a era of labor shortages.

However, labor shortages eased after the great population decline of the 16th and 17th centuries. By the late 18th century, the hacendados no longer needed to worry about finding and keeping enough workers. They found that a little money could be saved by curtailing, or even eliminating, the corn ration. This directly impacted the diet of the workers and their families, causing great resentment. This anger contributed to the explosion of violence against hacendados at the beginning of the War of Independence in 1810.  

The east wing of the casa grande

A stairway to the left of the zaguan leads up to the east wing of the casa grande. The arcade is decorated with a bullfighting scene and a crucifix, two symbols important to hacienda life. This wing includes several bedrooms and a large room at the far end which was set aside for games and entertainment. 

One of the casa grande's several bedrooms. The brass bed frame is definitely from the 19th century. In earlier centuries, it is likely that the beds would have been framed with rough wood. Instead of metal springs, leather straps would have supported the mattress. Hanging over the bed is a painting of the Virgen de Guadalupe and on the wall at the foot is a bulls' horn hat rack from which a sombrero hangs. The floor has the same rust colored tiles found throughout the casa grande. The chair and side table were probably imported or at least brought from Guadalajara.

The same bedroom contains a small writing table and swivel chair. A vanity table and mirror can be seen along the left wall. The couch along the wall under the painting looks to be the same style as the chair in the previous photo. A thick-walled passage leads to another bedroom. Because of the adjoining bedrooms, this may have been a family suite. In geographical areas plagued by mosquitos, netting over each bed would have protected sleepers. 

I named this the "game room" because of the covered pool table in the right center. This room is found at the far end of the casa grande's east wing. It is where the hacendado's family and guests would have entertained themselves in the afternoons and evenings. Equipale tables where guests could sit and watch the pool game are scattered about. In the back corner is a full bar. Since Hacienda Santo Tomás produced tequila in the 18th and 19th centuries, it is likely that the "house brand" would have been served.

The bar occupies the back corner, complete with stools and stocked with liquor. On the wall to the left of the bar is a counting device to keep score in the pool games. In addition to tequila, pulque ("pool-kay") may also have been served. Pulque is a mildly alcoholic beverage made from maguey plants. Its origin goes way back into pre-hispanic times. The Aztecs strictly regulated its use and to become drunk risked stern penalties.

During the early colonial period, the Crown maintained a monopoly on European drinks like rum and brandy. This made them expensive and difficult to obtain. Soon, many haciendas began to look for a way to produce their own alcohol. Noticing that the natives made pulque from the maguey sap, the early Spaniards experimented with distilling the sap and thus invented tequila. In the 18th century, tequila became popular enough that haciendas like Santo Tomás began to sell it commercially. 

Bullfighting was a popular form of entertainment in rural Mexico for centuries. I have found mounted bulls' heads similar to the one above in many of the haciendas I have visited. Some of them raised fighting bulls for profit. Although it was originally a sport confined to adult males, women have become matadors too. In 1949 Conchita Citrón was badly gored in a bullfight. Remarkably, before going to the hospital, she returned to the ring to kill the bull that injured her. In 2010 a 12-year-old boy killed a bull in Mexico City's Plaza del Toros, becoming the youngest person to win the title of matador. 

I found this among a group of family photos on the game room wall. It occupied a prominent position among the other photos. I was startled, at first, by the image of Fidel Castro sharing a moment with a young member of the hacendado's family. I shouldn't have been. People in Mexico view the various revolutions that have occurred in the 20th century very differently than do people in the United States. 

The city hall of Zapopan, a wealthy suburb of Guadalajara, contains a large mural of 20th century revolutionaries. Honored are Mexico's own Emiliano Zapata, but also Che Guevara of Cuba, Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam, and Vladimir Lenin of Russia. Mexicans remember that the U.S. Ambassador conspired in the overthrow and murder of Francisco Madero, the first President of Mexico after the 1910 Revolution, and the U.S. intervened militarily in 1914 and 1917. This has led them to respect the revolutionary struggles of other people. In fact, Fidel Castro launched his revolution from Mexico, where he gathered his forces while in exile from Cuba.

This completes Part 7 of my Silver Mines of Hostotipaquillo series. In the next part, we will check out the remains of the mayor domo's house and the tequila distillery near it. I hope you have enjoyed this part. If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave them 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 can respond in a timely fashion.

Hasta luego, Jim