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Trans Americas 2009 - The Blog
The Just One More Mile story of Paul's Trans Americas 2009 motorcycle expedition.Tuesday, 1 September 2009
Tales of silver and God...
Gosh, September already...
Today is a rest day, which for us means seeking out adventures of a different kind, and today we have a treat in store, as we've arranged with a local guide and local translator to ride us round in a pick-up and van, to see the Cathedral and the Silver mining town.
So after breakfast we gathered on the terrace and our guides arrive, one in a white Toyota Suburban 9-seater SUV with air-con, the other in a battered Dodge Ram pickup with a couch in the back. There was a rush as everyone tried to get the best seats, but Andrew, Andy, Gerald, Karen, Lorraine, Mac and I won and got the pick-up, with Edwin in the cab, whilst the rest slummed it in the SUV... then we were off, along the bouncy dirt road and across the bridge into Batopilas town, which has clearly seen better days, and seems to be preparing for their return, with building and road works going on everywhere. Out of town on a mountain road as bad as the one we'd ridden on yesterday (and which we're trying to forget we have to ride up again tomorrow), we wound our way further up the canyon, before getting our first glimpse of the cathedral in the distance...
When we arrived at Satevo, we dismounted from the vehicles and wandered into the cathedral, which, like Batopilas, is still in the process of being renovated (inside was completely bare). Then we sat in the pews whilst our guide and translator explained the history of the area, which goes something like this... In the 1600s, the Franciscans came to bring Christianity to the area, hoping to convert the indigenous Indian population, and built a church at Satevo. They soon realised there was silver in the area, which the Indians had no use for, and as well as converting them to Christianity, also put them to work bringing silver from the hills. After a few years, the Franciscans moved further north, abandoning the church and Satevo. Around 1706 the Jesuits arrived and continued the “good work” of converting the locals, and built the cathedral. Eventually they were recalled to Spain and the area abandoned again. The cathedral is now being restored with help from the Mexican government, and is remarkable for its remoteness, being referred to as the “last cathedral”...
In the late 19th Century, Alexander Shepherd, an American governor from Washington state came to the area, and exploited his friendship with the president of Mexico to establish a sliver mining operation. At the height of operations, there were 52 mines in and around Batopilas, 23 of which were owned by Shepherd, who also had the only smelting operation in the area, and charged the other miners 10% in order to turn their raw silver into ingots for transportation to Chihuahua. The transportation was all done my mules (hence the number still in the area), and trains of 50-80 mules would transport 80kgs (2 x 40Kg bars) through the hills to Chihuahua, a journey which took 15 days.
We returned to Batopilas for lunch, heads full of interesting facts (like Batopilas, because of the silver, was the 2nd city in Mexico to get electricity, after the capital, Mexico City, and that the electricity was only restored to the area in 1988, following a long period without it after the mines closed in the early 1900s). We found a couple of little restaurants and the group split into 2 to make ordering easier, with me opting for the smaller establishment, a choice which turned out to be excellent, as the owner brought out some fresh nachos with freshly-made hot salsa and guacamole. I ordered Carne Mexican (Mexican meat) which was diced beef stir-fried with onion, chilli and peppers, served with rice and the inevitable refried beans. Delicious...
After lunch and raiding the supermarket for bottles of water, we headed on to the original offices of the silver mines, and the house Alexander Shepherd lived and died in. Now in total ruins, they are overgrown with weeds, but still occupy a large area, giving a real sense of the scale of the mining operations, and the wealth that this now run-down little town, only accessible via the road from hell, must once have had...
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped opposite one of the silver mines, this one marked as “1898” but sadly it was too water-logged for us to explore (not to mention, full of bats...)...
That evening, over a subdued and quiet dinner as we all contemplated the ride back out of the canyon in the morning, the thought made more scary by the persistent heavy rain outside (Kevin's only comment was “at least it will keep the dust down”), we had a local band come and play traditional Mexican music for us... and the singer/guitarist was our guide
Today is a rest day, which for us means seeking out adventures of a different kind, and today we have a treat in store, as we've arranged with a local guide and local translator to ride us round in a pick-up and van, to see the Cathedral and the Silver mining town.
So after breakfast we gathered on the terrace and our guides arrive, one in a white Toyota Suburban 9-seater SUV with air-con, the other in a battered Dodge Ram pickup with a couch in the back. There was a rush as everyone tried to get the best seats, but Andrew, Andy, Gerald, Karen, Lorraine, Mac and I won and got the pick-up, with Edwin in the cab, whilst the rest slummed it in the SUV... then we were off, along the bouncy dirt road and across the bridge into Batopilas town, which has clearly seen better days, and seems to be preparing for their return, with building and road works going on everywhere. Out of town on a mountain road as bad as the one we'd ridden on yesterday (and which we're trying to forget we have to ride up again tomorrow), we wound our way further up the canyon, before getting our first glimpse of the cathedral in the distance...
When we arrived at Satevo, we dismounted from the vehicles and wandered into the cathedral, which, like Batopilas, is still in the process of being renovated (inside was completely bare). Then we sat in the pews whilst our guide and translator explained the history of the area, which goes something like this... In the 1600s, the Franciscans came to bring Christianity to the area, hoping to convert the indigenous Indian population, and built a church at Satevo. They soon realised there was silver in the area, which the Indians had no use for, and as well as converting them to Christianity, also put them to work bringing silver from the hills. After a few years, the Franciscans moved further north, abandoning the church and Satevo. Around 1706 the Jesuits arrived and continued the “good work” of converting the locals, and built the cathedral. Eventually they were recalled to Spain and the area abandoned again. The cathedral is now being restored with help from the Mexican government, and is remarkable for its remoteness, being referred to as the “last cathedral”...
In the late 19th Century, Alexander Shepherd, an American governor from Washington state came to the area, and exploited his friendship with the president of Mexico to establish a sliver mining operation. At the height of operations, there were 52 mines in and around Batopilas, 23 of which were owned by Shepherd, who also had the only smelting operation in the area, and charged the other miners 10% in order to turn their raw silver into ingots for transportation to Chihuahua. The transportation was all done my mules (hence the number still in the area), and trains of 50-80 mules would transport 80kgs (2 x 40Kg bars) through the hills to Chihuahua, a journey which took 15 days.
We returned to Batopilas for lunch, heads full of interesting facts (like Batopilas, because of the silver, was the 2nd city in Mexico to get electricity, after the capital, Mexico City, and that the electricity was only restored to the area in 1988, following a long period without it after the mines closed in the early 1900s). We found a couple of little restaurants and the group split into 2 to make ordering easier, with me opting for the smaller establishment, a choice which turned out to be excellent, as the owner brought out some fresh nachos with freshly-made hot salsa and guacamole. I ordered Carne Mexican (Mexican meat) which was diced beef stir-fried with onion, chilli and peppers, served with rice and the inevitable refried beans. Delicious...
After lunch and raiding the supermarket for bottles of water, we headed on to the original offices of the silver mines, and the house Alexander Shepherd lived and died in. Now in total ruins, they are overgrown with weeds, but still occupy a large area, giving a real sense of the scale of the mining operations, and the wealth that this now run-down little town, only accessible via the road from hell, must once have had...
On the way back to the hotel, we stopped opposite one of the silver mines, this one marked as “1898” but sadly it was too water-logged for us to explore (not to mention, full of bats...)...
That evening, over a subdued and quiet dinner as we all contemplated the ride back out of the canyon in the morning, the thought made more scary by the persistent heavy rain outside (Kevin's only comment was “at least it will keep the dust down”), we had a local band come and play traditional Mexican music for us... and the singer/guitarist was our guide
posted by Paul # 23:21 
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