2007 Mexico's Copper Canyon Railroad Adventure

Mexico’s Copper Canyon Roundtrip Train

8 Days - $995 (CARAVAN) Fred recorded with camcorder; Annette took photos. Narrative follows the ordedr in camcorder video. The Caravan Latin America tour included all meals, all activities, all hotels, a great itinerary, all airport transfers, and all transportation and excursions. A professional tour director, named Tony Valdez accompanied us for the entire tour. We had purified water at meals and free bottled water on the motor coach. Caravan has been in business for more than 50 years and it showed. A

Pre-trip Jan. 13, Saturday, Minneapolis

We left New Ulm in the evening. In Maple Grove we visited Kim and Tom for pizza and TV playoff football. Then we headed to Bloomington La Quinta (former Clarion) Motel. Parking fee (up to 14 days) was included in $119 price. Minneapolis Star newspaper was complimentary and we were provided with a nice breakfast.

Day 1, Jan. 14, Sunday – El Paso, Texas

We took Delta (Skymiles awards) to Atlanta and then to El Paso. Our group stayed at the Hilton El Paso Airport (now called the WYNDHAM).



Geberts and Jean had checked in earlier. We called them from our room. Don and Jean came over for a brief get-together and a photo shoot.

Temps were supposed to be in upper 50s. Rest of the trip was to have highs in the 60s. Since this was a predominantly casual tour, casual wear was suggested for sightseeing and daytime traveling. Dress code for most evenings was smart casual. Evenings would always be cool (30s) so we brought jackets and sweaters. It turned out that weather was cooler than expected. We also had much more rain than usual. Northern Mexico had just experience a seven year drought and now seemed to be catching up for the missed precipitation.

Day 2, Jan. 15 –Monday - El Paso to Creel, Mexico

Bags were put out by 6:00 a.m. Before departing at 7:00 a.m., I taped Don boarding the bus and ambling down the aisle to his seat.

The mountain that can be seen out the window in the background is the obstacle that necessitated the
pass (El Paso) around it.We crossed the Rio Grande into Mexico at Juarez. Our bus stopped while Tony
talked to border officials. As we waited for the formalities to be completed, we noticed a banner depicting Benito Juarez, from whom the city was named. All over Mexico

he is featured in monuments 

And currency.
Benito Pablo Juárez García (March 21, 1806 – July 18, 1872) was a Zapotec Amerindian who served five terms [1] (1858–1861), (1861–1865), (1865–1867), (1867–1871), and (1871–1872), as President of Mexico. For resisting the French occupation, overthrowing the Empire, and restoring the Republic, as well as his efforts to modernize the country, Juárez is often regarded as Mexico's greatest and most beloved leader. He is the only full-blooded indigenous national to serve as President of Mexico. 

As we exited the border control, we passed in full view of the mountains cited earlier as north of El Paso. The rustic and reddish Franklin Peak towers at 7,192 feet above sea level and is the highest peak in the city, which can be seen from the distance of roughly 60 miles from all directions.

After driving a distance of about 50 kilometers from Ciudad Juarez we came across the expansive pristine Samalayuca Sand Dunes.




We reached it by taking the Pan American Highway that crosses the endless Chihuahua plains. We had witnessed the plains covered with short bushes or yellowish grasslands. The flat terrain’s horizontal lines gave way to gentle curves, and the scarce vegetation ended up disappearing.

Just like dunes on a beach, these sand dunes are sandy mounds of all sizes, which have been built after thousands of years of erosion. Although many parts of Mexico have deserts, very few of them are so arid that they actually have hills of fine sand like this one.

There is the legendary challenge of people living in a desert: being lost in a labyrinth with no walls. The sand dunes of Samalayuca, like the rest of northern Chihuahua and Sonora, belong to a geographic region that extends into several western regions of the United States (mainly Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico), which is known as “basin and range”. It is formed by dozens of basins separated by small mountain ranges, which generally follow a north-south direction. This fact is comforting to know for hikers walking on the sand dunes: at any moment you can find your bearings by looking at the small sierras, which despite not being too long they stand about 500 meters above the prairie.

The irony is that the plains were made by the water we could not see anywhere. Many years ago, lakes made up a large part of the “basin and range” region and deposited sediments between the mountains. Marine fossils found under the sand prove that a large body of water once lied on the sand dunes.

The incredible thing about these large mounds is that they are made up of tiny grains of sand about a millimeter in diameter: the work of the wind, which has brought all this sand to northern Chihuahua. But, where did it bring it from? It could be that the sand was brought over thousands of years by the powerful “nortes” (storms) that pick up sand from what is now the United States. This, however, is just a hypothesis: there are no specific climatic studies that give an answer to the origins of all this sand. 

What is an obvious fact is that the sand dunes move. The Central Railroad, built in 1882, attests to this movement. In order to keep the sand from “swallowing” the tracks, two protecting lines made of thick tree trunks were stuck on the ground. These were best seen on our trip back to El Paso on the return trip. The tracks run parallel to the highway. Shortly a train cam down the tracks for the camera. Some high dunes are only a few steps from the side of the road. To see the really high ones require driving off the highway. Tony said that what appear as mountains around us are not shown on maps as mountains, but rather they are called sky islands.

Weldon Heald coined the term "sky islands" in 1967 to denote mountain ranges that are isolated from each other by intervening valleys of grassland or desert. The valleys of this basin and range country act as barriers to the movement of woodland and forest species somewhat like saltwater seas isolate plants and animals on oceanic islands. The 40 ranges of the Sky Island system may be thought of as an archipelago.

We continued through huge expanses of rangeland and occasional pecan tree orchards. Finally we approached the City of Chihuahua. Tony pointed out housing on the outskirts of the city that were built in stages over years by young couples. He also showed us more recent structures that were part of government-planned communities, whereby loans were secured for immediate occupation of finished structures.

These buildings were relatively new and attractively painted, but were really quite small compared to our standards. 

The large prominent mountain within the city was a landmark called “The Big Mountain.”

We stopped for lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Chihuahua called La Quinta (“The Country”). Our first meal in this country was a plate (set menu) of various Mexican specialties, which went over well.

We changed highways and were now on a journey through Mennonite country towards Creel. The hard-working Mennonites have transformed the desert into fertile farmland. 

We passed through vast apple orchards rigged with weather protection devices that could provide cover during inclement weather. The driver evidently ran over some wood that lodged in a wheel well which prompted him to stop the bus. We had just crossed over a bridge and had a nice view of a riverbed below. I zoomed in on two Indian women who were washing their clothes in the river. 

When we arrived in Creel we were welcomed with complimentary margaritas at the Parador de la Montana. The Parador de la Montana is the largest hotel in Creel and located four blocks west of the plaza -- well situated for exploring this small lumber and mining town. Creel, at 7700 feet, is the highest overnight stop on the tour.

A trio of Mexican musicians treated us to excellent music before dinner.
Tony joined in and contributed as if he was an integral part of the group. Obviously Annette, who had a ringside seat, fully enjoyed herself. Our dinner in Creel was served in the large seating area of the restaurant. Naturally, the fare was authentic Mexican food.

The hotel featured a restaurant, bar, and lobby with fireplace.

Our room had two double beds, high wood-beamed ceiling, central heating, and tiled bathroom. However, we were instructed to put happy paper in the wastebasket instead of in the toilet to ease the plumbing situation.

We played cribbage in our room by using the beds as chairs.













Day 3, Jan 16 – Tuesday - Copper Canyon Train, Divisadero

Before breakfast I taped the rustic wooden walkway (porch) that ran along our doorways. At the end of the building our bus was tucked away for the night. Our five-some met in the restaurant where a non-English speaking lady took our orders. My “American” breakfast consisted of two fried eggs, bacon and refried beans (covered with shaved cheese). The toast was exceptionally good (must have been made with homemade bread). On the wall was a painting of a Tarahumara Indian woman that was worth a picture.

As I waked back to my room I came across a Tarahumara Indian woman very colorfully dressed who was accompanied by a little girl. After seeking permission, I videotaped them and gave the child a couple of dollars. With free time in the morning some toured the Mission Store, a trading post that buys crafts from Tarahumara Indians and resells to visitors. All profits benefit the Tarahumara Indian hospital.

The Tarahumara are a Mexican Indigenous people of northern Mexico, renowned for their long-distance running ability. The long-distance running tradition also has ceremonial and competitive aspects. Often, the runners kick wooden balls as they run. The Tarahumara women wear the traditional brightly colored clothes they are famous for. They make and sell hand made items.






Originally inhabitants of much of the state of Chihuahua, the Tarahumara retreated to the Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre Occidental on the arrival of Spanish explorers in the sixteenth century. Current estimates put the population of the Tarahumara in 2003 at between 50,000 and 70,000 people. Most still practice a traditional lifestyle, inhabiting natural shelters such as caves or cliff overhangs, as well as small cabins of wood or stone. Staple crops are corn and beans; however, many of the Tarahumara still practice transhumance, raising cattle, sheep, and goats. Almost all Tarahumara migrate in some form or another in the course of the year.

The Tarahumara religion is a mélange of indigenous customs and Roman-Catholic Christianity, characterized by a belief that the afterlife is a mirror image of the mortal world, and that good deeds should be performed not for spiritual reward, but for the improvement of life on earth. The Devil and God are brothers (the Devil is the elder) who jointly created the human race. The Tarahumara share with other Uto-Aztecan tribes veneration for Peyote, the spirits of which are said to be mischievous and capricious.

Our bags were out at 10:00 a.m. We departed our hotel at 10:45 a.m. Next, “All Aboard” for our Copper Canyon train trip, considered one of the top scenic rail journeys in the world. The system is named after the Copper Canyon, a branch of the Urique Canyon, (1,300 m) which became famous for its copper mines. The Chihuahua-Pacifico Railway, completed in 1961, after 90 years of construction, is a modern marvel of engineering. All trains going through the Canyon use the same rails.

With Caravan we traveled both the south and the north route in a spacious air-conditioned chartered first class train car. Our first class Copper Canyon cars have been newly refurbished. Ferrocaril Mexicano operates them, exclusive owners of the Copper Canyon rail route.

Both our Copper Canyon train rides were scheduled in the daytime for the best lighting for views and photography. With Caravan’s roundtrip train ride we saw a different side of the Copper Canyon in each direction.

Caravan had reserved an entire first class train car. For our comfort, there were always more seats in our car than there were clients. For our personal safety, the seats in our train car were only available to Caravan clients and were not open to the general public. Shortly after boarding in Creel, the train circled back over itself in a complete loop known as El Lazo.

Once aboard the train, Tony gave us instructions as if he were an airline stewardess. He gave direction to the exits and the restrooms located on each side in front of our car and at both sides of the rear. I turned the camera from Tony to Jean and Annette who obviously enjoyed Tony’s sense of humor.

When lunchtime came, we headed toward the dinning car, traversing a number of cars and links between cars. The dinning car could seat only 42 passengers, so Jean, Annette and I had to eat by ourselves in the club car. We ate in style and even had coffee, a drink not available in the commoner’s dinning car.

Our train made a brief stop in Divisadero so we could use the overlook situated on the watershed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. If it were not for the heavy rain it afforded particularly spectacular views of the grandiose scenery of the del Cobre, Urique and Tararécura gorges. Most of our group stayed on the train, but Fred defied the rain and ventured off to visit the Divisadero open market.

The train was now traveling on a plateau and trees lined both sides of tracks. When the train rounded a bend I could take a shot of the engine and cars in front of us.

With an oncoming train approaching our engineer pulled our train over onto a siding. When local Indians saw us stop they approached the train with their wares.

This was to no avail because passengers could not leave the train. When the oncoming train reached us I videoed it from the open window in the link. I also taped a security officer on the train who had an automatic weapon strapped to his back. No bandido would mess with this train.

As we descended from the top of the Sierra Madre, we saw cascading waterfalls and sheer canyon walls give way to rivers, rolling hills and tropical farmlands. Then came palm, banana, papaya and mango trees.

Dinner is in the dining car. We arrived in the picturesque colonial town of El Fuerte (map) a relaxing two nights at a restored colonial mansion (map), the Posado del Hidalgo. Our bus dropped us off at the “top” of the hotel (or back door) that was close to our rooms and saved us a long uphill walk if we had been dropped off at the (bottom) entrance.

The Wulffs ventured over to the exclusive Gebert-Villwock room (or more accurately, rooms) for lively cribbage.












Day 4, January 17th – Wednesday - El Fuerte

Fred got up early this morning to explore the grounds. This beautiful hotel is a former colonial mansion built by Señor Rafael Almada in 1890 for 100,000 gold pesos. Most of the original pine beams and furniture were brought by boat from San Francisco, California. The hotel featured a swimming pool, restaurant, high ceilings with wood beams and two story balconies. Most of the rooms are air-conditioned and all have private tile baths.

The hotel layout included many courtyards (at least three) with fountains and lovely flowers.

Hummingbirds were buzzing about the breakfast area. Our gang of five ate breakfast together in the Pinata Room with “the silent one” (who eventually moved).










The rainy weather discouraged many (about half) of our groupo from taking an El Fuerte River float trip this morning. Those who did participate saw parrots, woodpeckers, kiskadees, kingfishers, doves, cormorants and other desert birds in their natural habitat. Literature we received mentioned the Mayo Indians living in the area.

The Posada del Hidalgo was centrally located for exploring El Fuerte. Tony led an expedition around the town, but Annette opted out because of the required walking We started out at the beautiful courtyard and a fountain within the hotel and then down stairs and a ramp to a large covered cave-like side exit that had painted murals on one wall. One painting depicted an early Catholic missionary to the area.

We crossed the street to the Government Building or Palace, built in the Spanish style with a large central court surround by official offices.

After a Tony Talk we walked on the cobblestone street to the charming plaza of El Fuerte or Main Square. Standing in the rain we soaked in the large central gazebo, a statue of Juarez and water fountains. Next to the Square was the 17th century cathedral.

Apparently the doors were always open and a large dog preceded us into the sanctuary.

Now to complete a full circle we were back to our hotel, which had large cactus plants on both sides of the entrance.

We went to our rooms, picked up Annette and walked over to the Meson Del General for lunch.

On the outside patio of this restaurant was a statue of a little boy peeing -- just like the famous statue in Brussels, Belgium. Fred had ordered shrimp shish-ka-bob for Annette and it proved to be a good choice for her. After lunch, the afternoon was at leisure to stroll the, center of all social life.

We returned to the entrance of the Posada del Hidalgo, walked up the lengthy ramp and entered the area by the bar. A poster by the bar announced that Zorro was going to be present before dinner tonight along with a Fiesta Mexicana.


Zorro (sometimes with the definite article: El Zorro), Spanish for Fox, is the secret identity of Don Diego de la Vega (originally Don Diego Vega), a fictional nobleman and master swordsman living in Spanish-era California. He defends the people, Robin Hood-style, from the corrupt tyranny of the Spanish governor, proving himself much too cunning and foxlike for the bumbling authorities to catch. He was created by pulp writer Johnston McCulley, and first made his appearance in The Curse of Capistrano, serialized in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly in 1919.

The character's visual motif is, typically, a black costume with a flowing Spanish cape, a flat-brimmed Andalusian-style hat, more appropriate to a California caballero than the wide sombrero the character wore in the original, and a black cowl mask that covers the top of the head from eye level upwards. (The mask covered his whole face in the original.) In addition, his favored weapon is a rapier that he often uses to leave his distinctive emblem, a large 'Z' made with three quick cuts. He also uses a bullwhip, like the later Indiana Jones. In the original story, Zorro also used a pistol. It has been noted that Zorro was actually one of the original inspirations for the creation of The Phantom and Batman, as well as many other comic-strip action heroes. Later on our trip, Tony played a Zorro DVD on the bus for us.

Cribbage occupied the gang until we moved over to the poolside for the pre-dinner entertainment.

Sure enough, Zorro appeared along with a trio of musicians (accordion, guitar and bass fiddle) and provided much merriment. Jean ordered us margaritas.

Zorro spotted Jean and the two of them gave a command performance on the dance floor, Annette clearly enjoyed the evening.

We moved from the poolside tables to the Zorro Room where young Mexican dancers donning colorful costumes performed for us.

The men wore white shoes and tapped about in Spanish Flamenco style. Margaritas were complimentary. After the show we had a wonderful fish dinner in the same room. Memorable evening!
















Day 5, 18th –Thursday - Copper Canyon Train

We put our bags out at 6 am, had a nice breakfast and departed for our chartered train car for another thrilling train ride through the Canyon. The train was not at the terminal yet. As we waited I videoed a cat perched on the roof of a humble house near the tracks. When the train approached us I caught the action, along with Don who was snapping a picture of the locomotive.

We started at sea level and climbed to 8,000 feet. Our first scenery was desert-like countryside dotted with large cactus plants.

When we reached the Sierras we followed the mountain rivers through the valleys. From the rear platform of our car I caught the view of a tunnel we had just exited and the view ahead of the next tunnel we were to go through.

The entire railroad passes through 86 tunnels and 38 bridges in the 25,000 square mile canyons of the Sierra Madre. The five major canyons are collectively known as the Copper Canyon, which is four times the size of the U.S. Grand Canyon. The Tarahumara Indians live in the Canyon. We stopped this morning in Temoris where we could see three ascending levels of the railroad. Annette, Jean and I enjoyed lunch on board in the club car again.. Our round trip train ride gave us a second chance to view the grandeur of the Canyon.

GO TO 2007 COPPER CANYON II

2007 Mexico's Copper Canyon Reverse Trip & Chihuahua

PART II

We arrived at Posada Barrancas Mirador, the only hotel in Barrancas where each room has a terrace overlooking the Copper Canyon. We were near the highest point of the canyon.

Tony had our rooms located on the first floor of the hotel, but that still entailed 26 steps because of the terrain. The rooms reflected the environment – vase-like lamp, corner fireplace (that looked like a kiln, and a wide-open balcony.

Annette busied herself working with our next-door neighbors to transfer chairs to our balcony in anticipation of our evening cribbage. game.

The canyon view below us was blocked somewhat by the heavy cloud cover. Rainwater ran off from our roof like little waterfalls. 

The view looked remarkable on clear days. 

Tony alerted us to Mexican serenade singers being scheduled before dinner. Annette felt she could not handle all the stairs and passed on this program. Fred went ahead and reserved chairs. 

The young male entertainers performed before the large fireplace in the lobby. They encouraged audience participation and one of their member pulled young ladies onto the dance floor. Marge was selected as one of his dance partners. After the festivities we moved over to the dinning area. 

The headwaiter graciously prepared and delivered dinner (mushroom soup included) to room 127 so Annette would not go hungry.

Day 6, 19th –Friday - Barrancas to Chihuahua

Breakfast was not pushed this morning because walks had been scheduled and we were not up to walking anywhere in the rain. One of our travelers had a birthday and the restaurant staff helped her celebrate with noisemakers. On the way back from breakfast I videoed the walkway to our rooms. Bags were put out at 11:00 a.m. and we departed 12:30 p.m. 

The first part of our journey was to be challenging for the driver because the roadway was unpaved and slippery from the rain. Jean and I were in the front seat and helped the driver turn the bus around on the slick clay. Eventually we reached good pavement but we still encountered cattle loose on the highway, fallen rocks on our side of the road and later road repairmen working in the rain without benefit of warning barriers.  Once out of the winding roads of the Sierras we pulled over for a restroom stop and a chance to pick up snacks. Across the highway was the old Bocoyna mission, built by the Jesuits in 1692. We did not visit it because it was not open. 

Continuing on we passed again the many apple orchards made famous by the Mennonites. To our right was a statue of a Mennonites worker with an apple branch in his hand. 

 

We continued on to Chihuahua for a two-night stay. The 17 stories Palacio del Sol was well located in the center of downtown Chihuahua just two blocks from the main square.

A pedestrian promenade was a few blocks from the State Cathedral. This hotel's location made it a perfect base for shopping and exploring the historical sites of this capital city. Chihuahua dates back to start of the eighteenth century and lies in a broad level plain with scattered peaks rising in the distance. Before dropping us off at our hotel the driver drove around the city while Tony pointed out the main attractions and their locations relative to our hotel. The Gebert-Villwock room was spacious, had three beds and room for our cribbage games.

Day 7, 20th – Saturday - Chihuahua, Paquimé Pottery

Breakfast was magnificent at this hotel. Caravan had a reserved section all to ourselves. Grand Circle Travel also had a tour group staying here and we struck up a conversation with a few of their number. We departed 9 a.m. for a full sightseeing drive of beautiful Chihuahua. 

Our first site was a statue of Mexican born Anthony (Zorba the Greek) Quinn. The bus turned the corner for a view of Mexico’s largest (3 story) gazebo, The Anthony Quinn statue can be seen again -- off to the right.

Two-time Oscar winner Anthony Quinn, a former shoeshine boy and preacher who became an international leading man with a film career spanning six decades, died of respiratory failure (June, 2001). He was 86.  He was born on April 21, 1915, in Chihuahua, Mexico, where his half-Irish father Francisco (Frank) Quinn had married a Mexican girl of Aztec Indian ancestry, Manuela, while fighting for revolutionary leader Pancho Villa.

--Both Quinn's screen presence and personal style were larger than life. The barrel-chested actor fathered 13 children and starred in 100 feature films.
--He won his first Oscar for his work in the 1952 film "Viva Zapata!'' as the brother of Mexican revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata (played by Marlon Brando).
--To many, Quinn's Oscar-nominated characterization of the Greek peasant Zorba in 1964 remained his most memorable role.
--The ouzo-drinking and bouzouki-dancing Zorba was Quinn's favorite role as well, so much so that he returned to the stage in 1983 in a revival of the musical inspired by the film.
--As a child, he shined shoes, sold papers and preached. After working as a movie extra, he met and married the adopted daughter of Cecil B. De Mille, Katherine.
--A real-life artist, sculptor and author, he studied under architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who encouraged him to take acting lessons.
--The family moved to El Paso, Texas, and three years later to Los Angeles in search of work. Quinn was raised in a poor district of Los Angeles and never forgot his past.

Across from the Government Building, or Palace, is a park dedicated to Hidalgo who was executed 

here.  Miguel Hidalgo was a criollo (Mexican of solely Spanish ancestry but born in the New World), and the parish priest of Dolores, now called Dolores Hidalgo, a small town in the modern-day central Mexican state of Guanajuato. He learned several indigenous languages, wrote texts in the Aztec language and organized the local communities in Michoacan. In the mining/farming region of central Mexico Miguel Hidalgo and other criollos of high society started conspiring for a considerable uprising of mestizos and indigenous peasants.

Alerted that his revolutionary plot had been discovered and that he would soon be arrested for his conspiring, the priest brought his plans forward. Hidalgo started the fight for independence in 1810. On September 16, 1810, in the town of Dolores, he used banners with the slogans that included "Long live religion! Long live Our Holy Mother of Guadalupe, After ringing the town's church bells, Hidalgo lead the townspeople with shouts to join his battle against the Spaniards, with a war cry of "Long live the Virgin of Guadalupe and death to the Spaniards!"

In less than a year, he had recruited two hundred thousand men, mainly indigenous and created an army. They soon marched towards Mexico City to fight the Spanish Army. Some analysts and historians pointed out that the capital was entirely defenseless because the Spanish army had left it to combat him elsewhere. As he did not have confidence in the discipline of his newly recruited army and did not feel he could control looting or useless violence, Hidalgo abandoned his plans in Cerro de Las Cruces and retreated. Nevertheless, his dreams of freedom were diminished. 

Hidalgo himself was captured, tried, held in the Federal Palace of Chihuahua and executed on July 30, 1811 at Chihuahua's Government Palace. He was decapitated and his head put on display intended as a way to scare off the insurgents. He is buried at the Rotunda of Illustrious Men in Mexico City. The state of Hidalgo in Mexico is named after him.

We then visited the government palace, home to a series of magnificent murals depicting Mexican history. Typical of Mexican government buildings there was a courtyard surrounded by rooms off of a covered walkway. 

Tony explained the meanings behind the murals starting with Cabeza De Vaca. In my classes I used him as a topic of study and example of a Christian who put principle ahead of expediency. One of the better movies about him was filmed in Mexico.

Cabeza de Vaca means "Head of the cow". This surname was granted to his family in the 13th century, when his ancestor aided a Christian army attacking Moors by pointing out a secret pass through the mountains by leaving a cow's head there. In the prologue to his great story
relating his shipwreck and wanderings in North
America, he refers to his forefather's service to the King, and regrets that his own deeds could not be as great, due to forces beyond his control.

As treasurer, and hence one of the chief officers, of the Narváez expedition, De Vaca, and eighty others, were the only survivors of the party of 600 men. The four were enslaved by various Native American tribes of the upper Gulf coast but later escaped and eventually reached Mexico City.

Traveling mostly in this small group, Cabeza de Vaca explored what are now the U.S. states of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona on foot from coastal Louisiana to Sinaloa, Mexico, over a period of roughly six years, during which time he lived in conditions of abject poverty and, occasionally, in slavery. During his travels he developed sympathies for the indigenous population. Among the natives, he lived as a slave, passing from tribe to tribe. He eventually became a trader, which allowed him freedom from his enslavement and to travel among the tribes. Eventually, after returning to the colonized reaches of New Spain and encountering a group of fellow Spaniards in the vicinity of modern-day Culiacán, he went on to Mexico City and returned to Europe in 1537. Cabeza de Vaca wrote about his experiences in a report for Emperor Charles V. It was later published in 1542, under the title La Relación (The Report). Cabeza de Vaca desired to succeed Pánfilo de Narváez but Charles V had already appointed De Soto to lead the next expedition. Cabeza de Vaca declined to travel with the expedition as second in command.

Instead, in 1540 De Vaca was appointed governor of Río de la Plata, in what is now Paraguay, Argentina and surroundings. As in North America, he was unusually sensitive and benevolent towards the Native peoples. He was the first European to behold the Iguazú Falls, among the most spectacular in the world. Political intrigue against him caused his arrest in Asunción and his return to Spain in chains, in around 1545. He was eventually exonerated and wrote an extensive report on South America, which bound with his earlier La Relación and published under the title Comentarios (Commentary).

The next portion of the mural depicted a Spanish Conquistador as a vile creature. Subsequent paintings showed natives as victims of atrocities and being enslaved to work in the mines. 

From here we saw Hidalgo as a captive being brought to Chihuahua for trial. On the next wall he was being executed. Tony then showed us a small shrine-like room dedicated to the memory of Hidalgo. Tony pretended he was going to take the plaque stationed there with him.

We continued on to paintings of Benito Juarez and Francisco Pancho Villa.

Doroteo Arango Arámbula (June 5, 1878 – July 23, 1923) — better known as Francisco Villa or, in its diminutive form, Pancho Villa — was one of the foremost leaders and best-known generals of the Mexican Revolution, between 1911 and 1920, and provisional governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua in 1913 and 1914. Villa mostly operated in the northern theatre of the war, centering on Chihuahua, in the north of Mexico. Villa is often referred to as El centauro del norte (The Centaur of the North), due to his celebrated cavalry attacks as a general. Numerous streets and neighborhoods in Mexico are named for Villa. In the United States, Villa is principally remembered for his 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico, that provoked the Punitive Expedition commanded by General John J. Pershing, although the raid itself was a fairly minor event in Villa's military campaign history.

The United States, following the diplomatic policies of Woodrow Wilson, who believed that supporting Carranza was the best way to expedite establishment of a stable Mexican government, refused to allow more arms to be supplied to Villa, and allowed Mexican constitutionalist troops to be relocated via US railroads. Villa felt betrayed by these actions and began to attack Americans. He was further enraged by Obregon's use of searchlights, powered by American electricity, to help repel a Villista night attack on the border town of Agua Prieta, Sonora on November 1, 1915. In January 1916, a group of villistas attacked a train on the Mexico North Western Railway, near Santa Isabel, Chihuahua, and massacred 18 American employees of the ASARCO Company.

On March 9, 1916, Villa ordered 1,500 (disputed, one official US Army report stated "500 to 700") Mexican raiders, reportedly led by villista general Ramon Banda Quesada, to make a cross-border attack against Columbus, New Mexico, in response to the U.S. government's official recognition of the Carranza regime. They attacked a detachment of the 13th US Cavalry, seized 100 horses and mules, burned the town, killed 10 soldiers and 8 of its residents, and took much ammunition and weaponry. Villa's forces suffered the loss of 80 dead or mortally wounded and 5 captured, mostly from US machine gun emplacements. United States' President Woodrow Wilson responded to the Columbus raid by sending 6,000 troops under General John J. Pershing to Mexico to pursue Villa. In the U.S., this was known as the Punitive or Pancho Villa Expedition. During the search, the United States launched its first air combat mission with eight airplanes. At the same time Carranza’s army was also seeking Villa. The U.S. expedition was eventually called off after failing to find Villa, and Villa successfully escaped from both armies.

Villa and Villa's ardent supporters, known as Villistas, employed tactics such as propaganda and firing squads against enemies, expropriated hacienda land for distribution to peasants and villista soldiers, and robbed trains and printed fiat money to finance Villa's cause. Villa's generalship was noted for its speed of movement of his forces by railroad, use of cavalry and artillery attacks, and recruitment of enlisted soldiers of enemy units he defeated. His elite cavalry troops and bodyguards were known as Los dorados (The Golden Ones). Villa's revolutionary aims (other than military goals), unlike those of Emiliano Zapata's Plan de Ayala, were never clearly defined. Villa spoke vaguely of creating communal military colonies for his ex-soldiers, and he subscribed to Venustiano Carranza's Plan of Guadalupe.

Despite extensive research by Mexican and foreign scholars, many of the details of Villa's life are in dispute. Little can be said with certainty of Doroteo Arango's early life. Most records claim he was born near San Juan del Río, Durango, on June 5, 1878. Doroteo was an uneducated peasant, the little schooling he received was provided by the local church-run village school. When his father died, Doroteo began to work as a sharecropper to help support his mother and four siblings. Many people who admire Doroteo claim that he came home one day to find that his sister had been raped by an hacendado's son, his detractors claim that this is a fabricated story and that Villa was nothing more than a criminal who used the revolution (and the alleged rape of his sister) as an excuse for murder. Both of these stories are severe exaggerations and are used mutually in a propagandistic manner by each side. The generally accepted story states that Doroteo moved to Chihuahua at the age of 16, but promptly returned to his village after learning that his younger sister had been seduced then abandoned by an hacienda owner's son. Doroteo confronted the man and shot him dead. He quickly stole a horse and dashed towards the rugged Sierra Madre mountains one step ahead of the approaching police. His career as a bandit was about to begin.

For several years Villa spent most of his time in the mountains running from the law. Villa had an intimate knowledge of the mountainous terrain and knew how to survive on his own in the wilderness, but by 1896 he had joined some other bandits under the control of a man named Ignacio Parra.

On November 20, 1910, as proclaimed by Madero's Plan of San Luis Potosi, the Mexican Revolution was begun to oust the Diaz dictatorship. Most people at that time assumed that the new, idealistic President Madero would lead Mexico into a new era of true democracy, and Villa would fade back into obscurity. But Villa's greatest days of fame were yet to come, and democracy in Mexico was further off than most people living in 1911 could have imagined.

Reportedly, Villa was standing in front of a firing squad waiting to be shot when a telegraph from President Madero was received commuting his sentence to imprisonment. Villa later escaped. During Villa's imprisonment, he worked to improve his poor reading and writing skills, which would serve him well in the future during his service as provisional governor of the state of Chihuahua.

A short time after Madero's murder, Huerta proclaimed himself as provisional president. Venustiano Carranza then proclaimed the Plan of Guadalupe to oust Huerta from office as an unconstitutional usurper. The new group of politicians and generals (which included Pablo González, Alvaro Obregon,
Emiliano Zapata and Villa) who joined to support Carranza's plan, were collectively styled as Constitutionalist Army of Mexico. Villa's hatred of Huerta became more personal and intense after March 7, 1913, when Huerta ordered the murder of Villa's political mentor, Abraham González. Villa later recovered Gonzalez's remains and gave his friend a hero's funeral in Chihuahua.

Villa joined the rebellion against Huerta, crossing the Rio Grande into Ciudad Juarez with a mere 8 men, 2 pounds of coffee, 2 pounds of sugar, and 500 rounds of rifle ammunition. The new United States president Woodrow Wilson began to support Carranza's cause. Villa's remarkable generalship and recruiting appeal, combined with ingenious fundraising methods to support his rebellion, would be a key factor in forcing Huerta from office a little over a year later, on July 15, 1914.

As governor of Chihuahua, Villa raised more money for a drive to the south by printing fiat money. He decreed his paper money to be traded and accepted at par with gold Mexican pesos, under penalty of execution, and then forced the wealthy to trade their gold for his paper pesos by decreeing gold to be counterfeit money. He also confiscated the gold of banks, in the case of the Banco Minero, by holding hostage a member of the bank's owning family, the wealthy and famous Terrazas clan, until the location of the bank's gold was revealed.

The new pile of loot was used to purchase draft animals, cavalry horses, arms, ammunition, mobile hospital facilities (railroad cars and horse ambulances staffed with Mexican and American volunteer doctors, known as Servicio sanitario), and food, and to rebuild the railroad south of Chihuahua City. The rebuilt railroad transported Villa's troops and artillery south, where he defeated Federal forces at Gomez Palacio, Torreon, and Zacatecas.

Villa's colorful personality and success in battle during this period made him a celebrated media figure in the United States and the subject of several movies. Villa's keen eye for publicity (and offers of money, Villa signed an exclusive contract with the Mutual Film Corporation for $25,000 payable in gold specie) led to some movie scenes being filmed on location with Villa's troops. US journalists and photographers such as John Reed followed Villa and filed reports and images from the battlefront for publication in US newspapers and magazines.

I then proceeded to the second floor on my own to view the number of statues located there. Here I found Poncho Villa, Benito Juarez and Carranza. Venustiano Carranza Garza (December 29, 1859 – May 21, 1920) was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted.His father, Jesús Carranza, had been a colonel in the army of Benito Juárez
and a staunch supporter of Juárez's liberal party.

Venustiano Carranza was an early supporter of Francisco I. Madero's efforts to overthrow the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship, and when Madero came to power he appointed Carranza Secretary of War and of the Navy. After Victoriano Huerta's overthrow of the Madero regime, Carranza became one of the leaders in the opposition revolt against Huerta. Carranza's forces were known as the Constitutionalist Army, as he advocated reinstatement of the liberal Constitution of 1857.

Carranza assumed the presidency on May 1, 1915. He introduced an independent judiciary, greater decentralization of power, and land reform under the ejido system. Carranza was a man of great intelligence with wide knowledge of Mexican conditions and history. He was strongly built, wore round glasses and a large grey beard, giving him the appearance of a benevolent father figure. In September 1916 Carranza saw the need for a new Constitution and called for a Constitutional convention. On March 11, 1917 Venustiano Carranza was elected the first president under the new Mexican Constitution of 1917. Fighting continued with factions who would not accept Carranza's rule, ranging from reactionary landowners and conservative Catholics to the forces of Emiliano Zapata and Francisco Villa for whom Carranza's reforms were too modest. Carranza ordered a bounty put on Zapata's head, leading to Zapata's assassination.

Our next stop was the baroque cathedral of Chihuahua. While Tony gave us background information I took video from inside the bus of the Cathedral. Before entering the cathedral our Caravan group assembled in front of the church for a group photo. Inside the church I taped the ceiling of the dome and the chancel area. Before getting on the bus I went to the corner of the block for a close-up of a yellow Chihuahua statue covered with numbers. 

From here we went on to the Museum of the Revolution, former home of Pancho Villa, hero of the Revolution.

This was an excellent stop. Villa’s home consisted of a number of rooms surrounding a courtyard. The first room we visited was his bedroom. 

Then I stepped outside into the courtyard. Our group proceeded to an outside shed that housed the 1922 Dodge Touring Car that Poncho had been riding in that fateful day of his assassination in 1923.

Just off to the left was a little room that had his death mask on display. A close-up of the forehead shows where he was shot point blank twice in the same spot. His bullet-ridden body was already lifeless, but the bounty hunter made sure of his endeavor. Wealthy people who sought revenge had placed a price on his head. The same room held the actually mold that had been made from Poncho Villa’s head. 

Photos on the wall included one of the driver of the touring car sprawled out over the car ‘s side door and a photo of the deceased Villa laid out on a bed. I went back to the courtyard and continued going through rooms – the next of which was the dinning room. 

Before leaving we admired a photo Villa’s widow who had lived until 1981.

Mission accomplished our group crossed the street to the Casas Grandes Trading Post for a demonstration of Paquimé pottery making. A clay pot was being made from rolled coils of clay attached one by one and then molded and shaved to tom a finished product. Our lunch stop was at a fancy restaurant in a French colonial mansion. Since Annette had opted out of this walking tour, Tony had the chef make up a take-away lunch for her. The rest of our day was for leisure and cribbage. We met with Annette and walked down to the lobby with the large stained glass of the sun en route to the bar for our complimentary margaritas. Don and I watched the bar tender as he professionally made and poured our tasty beverage.

The Farewell Dinner tonight was outside the hotel at a steak house. We were offered our choice of complimentary drinks, which included Margaritas. Most seemed to order wine. Tony advised those who wanted their steaks medium should ask for 3/4 because steaks here tended to be on the raw side. I ordered mine well done and it was just right. Entertainment was provided while we ate by three men who played and sang Mexican music. On the way back to the hotel Tony pointed out more city sites such as the Dancing Waters and the Monument of Angel of Independence. 

Once back at the hotel we gather at the Gebert’s room for a dice game with two other guests. The game was played with six dice and was called Farkle. Annette and I were novices, but really enjoyed the
game because Don always gave us a second chance to win.

Day 8, 21st – Sunday - Chihuahua to El Paso

We put our bags out at 6:00 a.m., ate a hearty breakfast and departed at 7:00 a.m. After breakfast we loaded up on our Caravan bus for the trek to El Paso. Jean and Annette sat together. We drove back on the Pan American Highway along the familiar desert, sky islands and sand dunes. We must have charted new territory in Juarez because it seemed quite developed with industry, modern shopping malls and the like.

Tony collected our required $2 tax for Mexico departure tax along with our passports. On the Mexican side a guard boarded the bus and spot-checked the overhead compartments. He was friendly and had a smile. As our bus waited in line, an Indian performed on the median for us. In the middle of the bridge was a marker indicating the U.S./Mexican boundary. An American flag was flying in the
breeze. We all did have to get off the bus and walk through a checkpoint with our carryon luggage, but everything went smoothly. We arrived at the airport around 1:30 p.m. and dropped off those who had afternoon flights. The rest of the passengers, except our gang of five were dropped off at the Wyndham. The bus driver took us to our Econolodge. We said our goodbyes to Tony and checked in. The rooms were not ready yet so we went to Elmers next door for $3.95 chicken dinners.

After moving into our rooms we set up for cribbage. For our evening meal we ordered pizza delivered in, so we could keep on playing cards. 

Day 9, January 22, Monday

Annette and I had the earlier flight and needed a taxi pickup at 7:15 am. Don was up already and had taken in his morning walk, so he joined us for the $1.99 breakfast at Elmers that included two eggs, toast and ham. Don picked up the bill. The taxi was on time and the driver dropped us off at the airport for the standard $10 fee. Our flight to Salt Lake City on Delta was delayed an hour. It had snowed in El Paso and we could see snow on the mountains en route to Utah. When we got to Salt Lake City our flight was again delayed because our craft was coming in from Denver that had much snow. After de-icing our plane took off and we landed in Minneapolis about two hours behind schedule. Our car was waiting for us at LaQuinta motel. We ate dinner at Denny’s and then drove home to meet our alienated cats.