This is a new release of the original 1931 edition.

Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

OLD MOTHER MEXIOO BY HARRY CARR With Illustrations by LOUIS H. BUYL JBorfon and New York HOUGHTON MEPFLIN COMPANY ttfte ftftetttoe Cwn C. OIYRIOHT. IQ3 P HV If ARK V CAKK AUL JRKUITS RI5SKRVBI mCKUIMW T1IK RtCillT TO RKPROOUCB THIS HOOK OR I ARTS THKRKOK IN ANY VORM MA SACHUSBTTS IK THK U. S. A CONTENTS I. OLD MOTHER MEXICO 1 BE. QUICKSAND 13 III. A MEXICAN ROOSEVELT 23 IV. THE FIGHTING YAQUI 34 V. WE FIND A PLAYMATE 43 VI. THE GRINGO INVASION 52 VII. THE HACIENDA COUNTRY 63 VIII. THE OLDEST CITY IN AMERICA 72 IX. UN GRAN CABALLERO 81 X. A RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH 88 XI. A PRAYER BY A ROADSIDE 96 XII. AN OLD PIRATE PORT 106 XIII. IN OLD TEPIC 115 XIV. WHERE THE WEST BEGAN 124 XV. BANDITS AND BULLS ISO XVI. AN OLD AZTEC TOWN 138 XVII. THE BARRANCAS 146 XVIII. A SPANISH CITY IN MEXICO 154 XIX. NOTES FROM MY GUADALAJARA DIARY 172 XX. THE TOWN or THE POTTERS 177 XXI. A MEXICAN EASTER 186 XXII. THE LAKE COUNTRY 193 XXIII. THEY CAME BEFORE THE AZTECS 204 iv CONTENTS XXIV. SPOTLESS TOWN 211 XXV. THE MYSTERIOUS MOUNTAINS 218 XXVI. YE OF SIMPLE FAITH 225 XXVII. THE BEAUTIFUL CITY 233 XXVIII. CHAPULTEPEC 244 XXIX. HISTORIC FOOTPRINTS 254 XXX. IN WHICH WE SAY GOOD-BYE 269 ILLUSTRATIONS THE OLD AQUEDUCT IN QUERETARO Frontispiece CHURCH OF SAN MIGUEL HORCASITAS 26 A GATE IN THE HACIENDA COUNTRY 66 WASHING WOMEN IN CULIACAN 78 THE STREET OF THE HIGH WAVES MAZATLAN 88 THE PLAZA OF TEPIC 118 THROUGH THE BARRANCAS BY AUTOMOBILE WITH THE HELP OF SOLDIERS AND OXEN 148 IN TONALA, THE TOWN OF THE POTTERS 178 MORELIA, THE SPOTLESS TOWN 212 CHAPULTEPEC 246 OLD MOTHER MEXICO CHAPTER I OLD MOTHER MEXICO MEXICO is the mother of our West. She gave us our earliest heroes. The historic shrines of the Mexican WestCoast are also our historic shrines. It is often said that the West began in the rough little frontier towns in the valleys of the Mississippi Council Bluffs and Kansas City from which the first covered wagons started on the long trek across the country of the buffalo and the Indians. The story of the West really began in a sleepy little sun drenched town on the West Coast of Mexico two hundred years before the Indians looked down from their signal peaks to see the first covered wagons jolting along in the buffalo trails. The West began with a gay young Spanish cavalier who was searching for seven fabled cities where the houses were built with walls of gold. Young Coronado didnt find the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola but he discovered the West. The eastern part of the United States was pioneered by the Pilgrim Fathers who were seeking to escape from per secution in Europe. They were followed by sober-minded folk, seeking investments, homes, and opportunities. The West was settled by adventurers who were looking for the end of the rainbow. They were always led on by g OLD MOTHER MEXICO the will-o-the-wisp of high adventure. There is nothing for which people will dare so much or suffer so horribly as the pursuit of a romantic dream. One dismal rain-soaked day in March, 1930, 1 set out from California with a party of engineers in a cavalcade of automobiles. They were to map a highway down the West Coast of Mexico. I was on the way to discover the places where our West began to find the forgotten heroes of this dramatic chapter of our history. Wild storms were sweep ing over the jagged peaks of the Sierra Madres when we arrived at Nogales. We had to put our five little cars equipped forcamping in a garage and wait for a week for the rain to wear itself out. Meanwhile I found Nogales interesting. For untold centuries it has been the gateway to our great Southwest. It has been soaked with blood and decorated with lurid adventure. Nestling in a pass of the mysterious desert mountains, it has seen strange prehistoric people naked ape-like savages shiiffling through on their way to the warm lush lands of the South...

OLD MOTHER MEXIOO BY HARRY CARR With Illustrations by LOUIS H. BUYL JBorfon and New York HOUGHTON MEPFLIN COMPANY ttfte ftftetttoe Cwn C. OIYRIOHT. IQ3 P HV If ARK V CAKK AUL JRKUITS RI5SKRVBI mCKUIMW T1IK RtCillT TO RKPROOUCB THIS HOOK OR I ARTS THKRKOK IN ANY VORM MA SACHUSBTTS IK THK U. S. A CONTENTS I. OLD MOTHER MEXICO 1 BE. QUICKSAND 13 III. A MEXICAN ROOSEVELT 23 IV. THE FIGHTING YAQUI 34 V. WE FIND A PLAYMATE 43 VI. THE GRINGO INVASION 52 VII. THE HACIENDA COUNTRY 63 VIII. THE OLDEST CITY IN AMERICA 72 IX. UN GRAN CABALLERO 81 X. A RENDEZVOUS WITH DEATH 88 XI. A PRAYER BY A ROADSIDE 96 XII. AN OLD PIRATE PORT 106 XIII. IN OLD TEPIC 115 XIV. WHERE THE WEST BEGAN 124 XV. BANDITS AND BULLS ISO XVI. AN OLD AZTEC TOWN 138 XVII. THE BARRANCAS 146 XVIII. A SPANISH CITY IN MEXICO 154 XIX. NOTES FROM MY GUADALAJARA DIARY 172 XX. THE TOWN or THE POTTERS 177 XXI. A MEXICAN EASTER 186 XXII. THE LAKE COUNTRY 193 XXIII. THEY CAME BEFORE THE AZTECS 204 iv CONTENTS XXIV. SPOTLESS TOWN 211 XXV. THE MYSTERIOUS MOUNTAINS 218 XXVI. YE OF SIMPLE FAITH 225 XXVII. THE BEAUTIFUL CITY 233 XXVIII. CHAPULTEPEC 244 XXIX. HISTORIC FOOTPRINTS 254 XXX. IN WHICH WE SAY GOOD-BYE 269 ILLUSTRATIONS THE OLD AQUEDUCT IN QUERETARO Frontispiece CHURCH OF SAN MIGUEL HORCASITAS 26 A GATE IN THE HACIENDA COUNTRY 66 WASHING WOMEN IN CULIACAN 78 THE STREET OF THE HIGH WAVES MAZATLAN 88 THE PLAZA OF TEPIC 118 THROUGH THE BARRANCAS BY AUTOMOBILE WITH THE HELP OF SOLDIERS AND OXEN 148 IN TONALA, THE TOWN OF THE POTTERS 178 MORELIA, THE SPOTLESS TOWN 212 CHAPULTEPEC 246 OLD MOTHER MEXICO CHAPTER I OLD MOTHER MEXICO MEXICO is the mother of our West. She gave us our earliest heroes. The historic shrines of the Mexican WestCoast are also our historic shrines. It is often said that the West began in the rough little frontier towns in the valleys of the Mississippi Council Bluffs and Kansas City from which the first covered wagons started on the long trek across the country of the buffalo and the Indians. The story of the West really began in a sleepy little sun drenched town on the West Coast of Mexico two hundred years before the Indians looked down from their signal peaks to see the first covered wagons jolting along in the buffalo trails. The West began with a gay young Spanish cavalier who was searching for seven fabled cities where the houses were built with walls of gold. Young Coronado didnt find the Seven Golden Cities of Cibola but he discovered the West. The eastern part of the United States was pioneered by the Pilgrim Fathers who were seeking to escape from per secution in Europe. They were followed by sober-minded folk, seeking investments, homes, and opportunities. The West was settled by adventurers who were looking for the end of the rainbow. They were always led on by g OLD MOTHER MEXICO the will-o-the-wisp of high adventure. There is nothing for which people will dare so much or suffer so horribly as the pursuit of a romantic dream. One dismal rain-soaked day in March, 1930, 1 set out from California with a party of engineers in a cavalcade of automobiles. They were to map a highway down the West Coast of Mexico. I was on the way to discover the places where our West began to find the forgotten heroes of this dramatic chapter of our history. Wild storms were sweep ing over the jagged peaks of the Sierra Madres when we arrived at Nogales. We had to put our five little cars equipped forcamping in a garage and wait for a week for the rain to wear itself out. Meanwhile I found Nogales interesting. For untold centuries it has been the gateway to our great Southwest. It has been soaked with blood and decorated with lurid adventure. Nestling in a pass of the mysterious desert mountains, it has seen strange prehistoric people naked ape-like savages shiiffling through on their way to the warm lush lands of the South...