The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-10-18
MEXICO'S WEST COAST
Often Called a Desert but Is
Not.
HOW MEN LIVE THERE
Ranches and How They Are
Made Successful.

urlant foliage Of its almost intermin
able thickets. and the bush grass on thS
higher ground, where the oaks, palmet-
tos, and sprawling guajalotes grow, give
another and more pleasing impression
during the rainy season. 1t then becomes
apparent how mankind can live and
thrive here Even in the dry season tbs
abundant population Of Sinaloa would III
dictate that in some manner food could
be easily and cheaply produced. The
brown-skinned natives are encountered
everywhere. IN the very heart of the
wilderness they are SELDOM out Of sight
Here you see them clearing ground for
a corneld; there cutting frewood or
burning charcoal; again building great
stone walls to protect a coming crop Of
beans. Cutting wattles for a house, or
palm leaves for matching; digging Cay
Tor tiles and pottery; constructing bitches
for Irrigation; trenching rich piece of
Ground for canefeld: driving burros
laden with onions, or pumpkins, or
oranges, to neutrality-suspicious. are men.
women, children, where you lease would
expect living soul, all busy after their
fashion, patient and contented. The
roads are always full of people. ON the
Don who wears a white shirt and has
shoes on his feet, mounted in saddle
with silver trimmings, to the neon with
sandals. and a big kerch;ef tied at the
corners and swung from one shoulder,
containing some cod tortillas and an
onion for lunch, and red zarape for his
bed at night
Everywhere. too. are ranchers. great
and small a good bit OF bottom land and
little water are sure 10 he supplement-
ed by a group Of palm thatched huts and
a tesming population. 1t may excite
wonder to see so many people huddled
by SO small a stretch Of cultivated lard.
but one must not forget the monte. the
adjacent wooded upland, where cattle
and sheep find food for nine or ten
months for nine or ten months of the
year. This explains part OF the mystery.
Furthermore, one must remember that
these sturdy peones viii start off merrily
on foot for some big sugar plantation or
busy mining camp, fifty, hundred, even
ewo hundred miles away. to earn good
wa ges until the season for planting corn
or rounding up their cattle. Distance
does not deter these PEOPLE. for they
come of a race Of runners, able to travel
forty or fifty miles a day with fatigue.
On the other hand, their wants are few.
They tolerate ma impedimenta They
leave their waffle houses without con-
Germ, fer no one will steal or destroy
them a bit Of freemasoury this): ard
when they return, a days labor VIII re-
pair the ravages of a season Of dsuse.
There is something to he said in favor of
such life after all. 1t does not promote
the virtues which responsibilities are
supposed to foster; neither does it narrow
existence TO a routine of cares. 1t Ger
tainly has the charm Of freedom. and it
encourages a happy some might say a
happy so-lucky) disposition. Home life,
of the~lxind which the Anslo-Saxon prizes.
does not flourish under such conditions,
which nevertheless yield the kind that
rejoices the heart of the poor Mexican;
and what quarrel should the world have
with the way in which a certain people
compass enough of happiness to make
life worth living? These If often a
beauty and picturesqueness in the fam
fly gatherings in these humble Mexican
dwellings so irresistible that one would
regret 10 have them chanv1 In the
little kitchen-dingy, grimy cocina though
Il be-the women VIII be chatting merrily
about the fire. grinding corn into masa on
the great stone metate or shaping the
cakes with a ringing fip-fap between the
open palms while the men outside in the
portal will be exchanging jests with the
women or stealing in beside them to
toast a morsel or dried beef by the fire.
or TO get Whit from pot OF savory
chiu-conacrne. The paterfamilias is al
most certain TO have the youngest scion
OF the house in his arms. caressing and
playing with it. \ charming character
istic of these people is their hove for chill
dren. their devotion 60 their families
their self-sacrincing care for their kin
dred. In town they may drink too much
mezcal. may patronize the cochfght and
the bull ring. may stake their earnings /
too freely at gambling table-but it
were wrong not TO weight their virtues
against their vices.
A different situation presents itself at
the larger ranches. Here the community /
consists of a master and his men The +
master is in his way q petty baron His I,
house IS distinguished by stability usual !
~ a solid structure of adobe with tile (.
roof II may even be plastered and white |
washed. with a blue or pink dado along /
the front under the generous rortaE At /
one end Of the porch VIII be q horizontal I
pole bearing an array Of saddles. brides. /
horsehair. lariats. and other horse fur I
nishings His Worship is horseman. 1
first ana lsst He is fond Of animals. 4
and perhaps lives a little too close TO 4
them to SUIT soRle tastes. He enjoys see /
ing the pigs put on arrobas Of rat. and /
viii let them wsllow at The edge OF the 4
portal under the enramala. that awning
OF branches which extends in froat OF .
thu porch Of every west-coast house
If his spouse has fancy fer flowers
then the pigs squeal dolefully just out
side patio. In the corral the Don VIII
eXpatite on the merits Of each mule and
bur-o@~ He looks zealously after his live
stock He keeps his corn well locked in
9 room IN his house. He keeps a record
OF every fanega of this precious corn
every bundle Of fodder: nothing on his
ranch is toe-insignihcant 20 enter into
his memoranda and accounts Il viii be
seen that he is no rolling stone. but Is Of
the kind that gathers moss. He is keen
20 set good prices and viii hsgsle over
q cent His peones get a pittance, and
are held rigidly to their tasks. = man
can do so much labor Of this or that kind
in day. The Don knows precisely the
snonnt, and IS vigilaRt 20 obtain the
worth OF the wages paid. The methods
OF agriculture may look crued 10 foreign
eyes. but the system IS perfect, and II
practising it master and man known
their respective obligations to the utter
most detail. Precisely here lies the wide
difference between the native ard the