"Real de Minas de la Limpia Concepción de los Álamos de Catorce" First Installment

     Real de Catorce is a former mining town west of Matehuala high above the Potosino Desert,,, and is reached by traveling 24 kilometers of a teeth chattering road paved with rounded river stones. Real de Catorce is 2700 meters above sea level,, so it snows in the winter. In spring and summer it is cooler than the vast sweltering Potisinian Desert or bajia below. 
      Mining towns usually have great architecture,,, what all those extra "Reales" are capable of purchasing for the mine owners. These towns also flaunt unusual rocks and of course mountainsides whose hard skin have more punctures than a salt shaker. I am just fascinated with holes although I am not a spelunker. 
     Native Americans called "Negritos" were the first to inhabit the region. They were members of a greater tribe called the Guachichiles who lived a nomadic life in what is now San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, and Jalisco. The following is an account by Friar Juan Bautista de Mollinedo when arrived in the region and met the Negritos.

"In the mountains opposite the Xaumave inhabit the Indians called Chichimecas negrillos, ferocious individuals living totally naked and eat each other, and this lack of food and that the food provided by nature are insufficient."

I wonder about the reliability of this account. There are great hardships living in the desert, this is true, but prejudice tends to skew the truth. At any rate the the Guachichil language is only a faint memory,, and the Negrito tribe is extinct possibly eliminated by disease brought by the good friar. The indigenous people who inhabit the zone today are called Huicholes. They consider the mountains around Real de Catorce sacred, especially one called El Quemado, where they believe the Sun was born. I will get to them later as they are a key factor in understanding the area today. 

 Guachichil Warrior from Wiki, Naked and ready to eat anyone who gets in his way.

     Why the name Real de Catorce? It is essentially a mystery. Reales were coins,, but Catorce (14)? There are rumors perpetuated by the locals about 14 bandits who robbed the silver from time to time yet the real reason for Real de 14 is cloaked in mystery.  However, once the Spanish found out there was silver in these hills three quarters of the way through the 18th century the place grew as fast as my fingernails. Mines with names like La Bolsa de Dios (The Purse of God), Purísima, Valenciana, La Concepción, Santa Eduwigis, Altagracia, Ánimas,  El Refugio, Señor de los Milagros,San Francisco de Pipí, San José de los Villanos, Mina de los Pobres. This is just a fraction of the mines in the region. In fact the now bare mountains gleam argent as if the entire range was made of silver. The silver veins ran thick in the mostly blackish limestone rock. Silver was so rich that miners were able to extract 900 kilos of silver for a ton of ore in some of the mines. Usually it's the other way around. It was so rich that soon the town had its own mint turning out "reales" like tortillas. As fast and furious that the town grew it was subject over the years to the vagaries of fluctuating silver prices and a revolution. Now most buildings are occupied by decendents and some foreigners, but some still stand sentinel, their roofs long since fallen in but with a stone work I would kill for.
      The town is tucked into some folds between a convergence of mountains called Sierra del Astillero. For more than 100 years it was only accessible by a limestone paved road that climbed to the west over the Astillero. One is still able to walk this very scenic road or hire a guide and a horse. It served as the only entrance until the 2300 meter long Ogarrio Tunel was bored in 1901. In the late 19th century mining machines were brought from Pennsylvania by The Maza Family to help process the ore from La Concepcion Mine atop the mountain that once served as the exit from Real de Catorce. The ruins of this operation, called La Ciudad de Las Fantasmas, now stand silent yet screaming. 

     
                             
                                                     Old Road Towards Ciudad de las Fantasmas  


                                
                                      Ogarrio Tunel seen from Real De Catorce

 

Ciudad de Las Fantasmas towards Real de Catorce

 

Ciudad de Las Fantasmas, bones of the mining operation

 

Real de Catorce seen from the old road

     At its height from the late 19th century until the uncertain times just before the Mexican Revolution began Real de Catorce was hopping, like most mining towns,, a combination of wild abandon, sweat,  and impending doom. Real sported a theatre, various newspapers, cockfights, and bullfights. The stores sold imported european goods. When mining towns are booming they invite a full range of characters. However small, they resemble large modern cities,,, at least for a while, but are subject to wild economic swings and Real de Catorce was no different. It was abandoned just before the Mexican Revolution until its re-emergence in the 1970's when its scenery, architecture, indigenous and mining history, peyote and spirituality gave it a second chance.                             


                         
                                                       Casa de Monedas or Mint now a museum  

 

Real de Catorce from La Ciudad de las Fantasmas  

 

Street in Real de Catorce

                           Beginning of La Ciudad de Las Fantasmas from the old road, looking at
                                     what I believe was the Pay House or Company Store.

     
    We waited on the "outside" side of the tunnel for our turn. It's only one lane. This building below was only a propped up facade but with a wonderful ofrenda on the inside.

 

Outside the tunnel on the "outside side"

     After we traversed the tunnel there was a large parking lot where as usual there were people selling things. We asked this fellow Roberto, the fastest of the group to leap some parking barriers and get to our truck, where there was a good hotel. He was exceptionally friendly. Roberto rattled off a list of hotels and their appointments but the hotel that stood out in his pitch was called Meson de la Abundancia. I highly recommend this place.It was a former pay house or company store during the heyday of Real. It exalts thick stone walls, a second floor, a subterranian level, an excellent restaurant,, and good service. 
      After we "freshened",,, the nice way of saying,, we visited the head, we exited the hotel into the sun drenched street and immediately met Gerino, a guide, who was hanging out like an expectant spider. He resembled la young Roy Rogers but without the chinese eyes, wore a red shirt with two of those smile pockets bordered in white and ending in little arrows,a texan hat, and straight leg jeans. We hired him as our guide.
             

   
     There are guides that collect in bunches on many corners during the week when there are less tourists.

  

Since it was close to noon we made arrangements to meet with Gerino in bit to see the town.