Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-09-12
BAGDAD, MEXICO.
A Wicked City That Prospered and
Then Was Wiped Out In Night.

There are few people still living
i'm MatamuraS who remember the
riutuuS' town Of Bagdad. which at the
height of its prosperity had popula-
tium Of nearly 10000 and was the neu-
tral port through which practically
all the cotton from Texas and other
southern states was exported during
the civil war when the southern ports
were blucEadcd.
Hagdad was ON the Mexican side o1
the Rio Grande near the mouth of the
river, about Twenty-Five miles east of
MatamoraS. With the closing of the
southern ports by Union blOckading
vessels the necessity of finding an out
let for cotton and an inlet for supplies
became urgent. 1t was in response
To this demand that Bagdad came into
being.
The population of Bagdad was cos
mupolIlan. Thieves. fortune hunters.
bandits. adventures and the riffraft
of the seven seas gathered there ana
rrv,llrd in the gold that flowed
met the fate of its Biblical predeces-
Sor in crime. Gomorrah, and was
completely destroyed. In October
1861. Bagdad was swept away by a
combination hurricane and tidal wave.
More than 3.OO0 lives We're lost, and
not Il veStigc remains To mark the site
Of the town. 1t vas annihilated Iii
one night.
r. NJ. Miller, who came from New
Orleans to MatamOraS i'm 1868 anu
established Il merchant business her..
is still Il resident - the town.
During the latter days of the civil
war" said Mr.. Miller. 'and imme-
diatrly following the close OF that
strife crime and chaos ruled this part
of the. border. both on the Mexican
and the Texas side.
Il remember that shortly after my
arrival in MatamOraS | had business
that took me To Bagdad. \ regular
stage line was operated between the
two places. and taking this numbering
vehicle one morning | and several
others started ON the trip 10 the Won
trrful port \ few miles out Of town
we were held up by band of bri-
gamdS led by Juan &. Cortina. the no
toriouS bandit chief. and rObber Of
all our money. y little further on an
other band of thieves stopped us ana
relieved US of our watches.
Il had friends in Bagdad and de-
cidrd To continue on the journey Ar
rivimg i'm the town ! found conditions
the most remarkable. | believe. that
ever existed i'm any place of similar
size. The narrow streets were thrOng-
ed with hundreds of drunken and
vicious people. All nations were rep
resented in the uncomfortable mob.
Negroes from the West Indies.
Frrnchmrn. cubanS. Greeks. Italians.
Standards Portuguese and men of
nearly every other nation We're repre-
scented i'm that riOtuuS population.
"Murdrr and rubberirS We're of al
most hourly occurrence. Gamblers
piled their vocation upon the streets.
one night i'm the town WAS sufficient
for me. | vividly remember. however
the scene presented in the harbOr. |
counted twenty-five steamships ana
many sailing vessels waiting To dis
charge and take CargOrS.
'hagdad was believed by the people
at that time tO have Il promising iu-
turc as Il deep water port. Millions
Of dollars worth of traffic poured over
it's wharVrS. but with the closing of
the civil war and the ending of the
efforts Of MaXmillian To obtain con-
troll of Mexico the future of the
mushroom port and town did not
seem to be- So bright. II could not
have survived many NOR" years even
had il not been destroyed 10y tn" great
Storm