The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-09-13
THE SINALOA COLONY
Another Letter From That Inter.
esting Region.
Rich in Resources Of All Kinds, That Part of
Mexico Is Attracting Increased
Attention.

As THE HERALD seems at present to be
devoting some space to letters about Mex
leo and her people, it may not come amiss
once more to write letter about that
country $50 near and yet so far'' so far as
our knowledge of it is concerned, and if l
can, by using my pen once in a while, do
some little good in helping to remove an
unjust prejudice entertained by the major
ity of Americans toward the Gland of Mon
tezuma," shall be well rewarded for my
trouble. Americans will find when they 90
to Mexico that if they can Just for season
lay aside their
| INNATE LOVE OF ROASTING
of their superiority over all other nations.
and also refrain while there from Haunting
the cherished "star spangled banner' in
the faces of the inhabitants, and quit using
the word ''greaser," that Mexico is not so
bad place as they imagined, and that the
''gringos" are not hated half so much as
they were led to believe was the case be-
fore going into that wonderful land
The state of Sinaloa joins Sonora on the
south and it eXtends,along the gulf of Cali
fornia on the east side distance of some
300 miles. This is supposed to be the place
where Cortez landed in his conquest of
Mexico, and in fact the gulf was called by
his name for many years after. BY the
way, the story of how the eagle, snake and
cactus came to be the emblems on the Mex
lean flag, Is told in a somewhat different
way In S1noloa than the version given US
in Mr.. L. A. Wilson's letter from Las Pal
omas and published in THE HERALD some
time ago. The story goes that when Cor
tez was sailing up the gulf, undecided
where to land,
| HE HAD DREAM ONE NIGHT,
in which it was revealed to him that when
he came to spot where he should see an
eagle sitting on peculiar looking tree the
like of which he had never seen before and
the eagle having live snake in its beak.
there ne must land, for this was the land of
promise, the goal of his hopes. Cortez kept
close watch for many days along the shore
Tor his eagle, and at last, desparing of
ever seeing the cherished sign, he landed
to secure supply of fresh water, when
10, not far from the beach he espied an eagle
sitting upon cactus tree with a snake
IN his mouth just as ne had seen it In his
dream. and so his voyage was thus at an
end. l mentioned that the eagle sat on a
cactus tree, and tree it is sure enough in
this fertile region, at least fertile for the
cactus, for here it may be seen growing To
a height OF thirty feet and at times having
trunk Of two or three feet in diameter.
Not much bush about this one might say.
1t must be remembered that the the en-
blem just mentioned is only used upon the
government flags in Mexico and any one
not in the government service found using
it is
LIABLE TO ARREST.
The plain flag Of three upright bars of red
white and green alone must be used by al
others. There are many things in Mexico
which seem peculiar to strangers, but
when in Rome do as the Romans do.n and
all will be well.
The Gulf of California is noted for pearls,
and the largest one known to the world
was found on this gulf and is now in The
royal diadem of Spain. One pearl was
found there a short time ago which sold for
Sl4, 900 on the spot. This was worth look.
ing for.
The silver mines Of Sinaloa are among the
richest in the world, and many of them
have been worked for hundreds of years.
In the region where Pacific Colony is 10
Gated many thousands of ANIMALS are used
in transporting the ore to the sea for ship
ment to England to be reduced. There is
also federal mint at the capital for coin
ing the silver direct from the mines. The
Credit E'oncier company does not depend
upon the minis for its money, however,
OUT makes It's own circulating medium
which is Of paper and known as credits
or units of account. These units are
based upon the dollar system, one uni,
being equal to 81. Fractions Of units are
also used to represent fractions of dollars
and hence the system is complete. These
units are issued for services rendered anC
are taken for anything the company may
: have, and even now they are preferred BY
the people to the more,bulky silver.
GOLD IS ALMOST UNKNOWN
as money in Mexico, at least in the out
lying portions of it. Drafts upon Sal
Francisco are much desired and command
premium over all other kinds of money
The Credit Foncier paper mouey will soor
be as valuable as these drafts, in many
cases, and before long it will superced,
them as a medium of exchange in Sinalos
at least.
The building OF the Mexican Western
railroad was commenced at Topolobampt
July /, this summer, and before long thre,
different lines of railroad will centre a
, Ibis harbor lone from Galveston, one from
Deming and one from Gusymas. These
together with the completion of ths irrigat
ing canal from the Fuerte river to the bay
will make Of Topolobampo booming place
Speculation in land, however, will not be