The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1914-06-01
ROAD IS HISTORIC
Highway TO Mexico City Made
Famous by Scott.
Route From Vera Cruz TO Capital Over
Which Invading Armies Have TO
Observation-Disclosures Caudy
Pageant of 1884.

which the American army nave 10
travel in one of the worlds historic
highways. 1t has been the scene OF
three famous marcbes-the march OF
the Spanish conQuerors in 1919, the
Invasion OF Gen. Winfield scott 5
American army in lSi7, and the ta"-
dry pageant of the so-calied Emperor
Macmillan and his wife, Carlotta, on
their entrance in 1864. II was also
the route, three years ago, on tAe
flight Of Gen. Porfrio Dia2, after ms
downfall as president
Vera Cruz (True CROSSE received It's
name from fernando Cortes, VINO
landed there with 700 men in March
1919 Cortes burned in the harbor Of
Vera Cruz. the ships IN which he mas
brought his men from Cuba, 10 show
them that they must conquer or per
ish. The Spaniards. in their march
west conquered the independent ma
ton of Tlaxcala. which was at cnmlty
with the Empire of MoEtczlma IN
central Mexico, and the TlaGcaias
we're made the allies of the invaders.
At the ancient city OF Cholula, near
the present city OF Puebla, the span
iards won a terrific encounter Win
the natives Their march into the Va
ley of Mexico, and their conquest Of
the capital city, which was then sur
rounded by a lake, form one OF the
most thrilling chapters In the world 3
history
Substantially the same route was
taken by Scott and his men when.
after the invasion of northern Mexico
had not brought the expected surraa-
der, they were sent via the gulf to
the capital city The principal incl
dent of this campaign was a long de-
lay at Puebla, so that although Vera
Cruz was taken in april. Scott did not
reach the City of Mexico until Sep
TENDER.
The advance Of Macmillan and Car
lotta, from Vera Cruz to Mexico City,
which was made IN a gau1y stage
coach, took from May Is TO June l2
1864. There was no opposition. for a
French army had gone ahead Of them
Tinsel decorations and festivities, in
which an ominously small part of the
people joined, heralded the passage OF
the Austrian pair to the seat Of their
empire" They returned over the
same road ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS on a
fruiuess mission to Napoleon Ill and
the pope, and Macmillan in his coffin.
shot to death by "a republican firing
squad at Queretaro.
Soon after the downfall Of Maxi
milan. railroad building between Vera
Cruz and the capital began in earnest
and two lines now span the distance.
the Mexican railway. an independent
standard-gauge line, and the Inter.
oceanic, narrow-gauge line which is
part of the National railways sys-
tenn.
The ascent from Vera Cruz to Mex
leo City Is more than seven thousand
four hundred feet, Of which the great
er part ia east OF the City Of Puebla.
The coast and the district to the west
beyond Orizaba, are included in the
dreaded terra caliente (hot country
while the district from Puobla to Mex
leo City is in the terra fria or cold
country, which is cold only by com
parison.
Three volcanic and suowclad noun
tain peaks rise along the way. Orizaha
is the farthest east. and west Of
puebla are the other two, Popocatepel
and Ixteaccihuati tIs-ta sewattiel,
which are visible from the palace Of
Chaupultepec in Mexico City. From
tho towers of the cathedral in Puebla
all three peaks can be seen.
Jalao. Tlaxcala, the seat Of The an
clent government of that name. San
Lorenzo and Texcoco are towns OF
Importance along the route. Pueb'a
is the third city of Mexico In populo-
ton, and is a stronghold Of church
influence. Its cathedral rivals the
famous one in the City of Mexico.
being nearly as large and having q
much more imposing interior design
Puebla has also a large army station
near the Hill where in 1859 PorilrIo
Diaz beat the French in the battle of
the Cinco de Mayo (ftth Of May
which made that date national holi.
day
Jalapa. which is the capital Of the
state Of Vera Cruz, is noted for it's
fine cigars. In this town the soldiers
Of the Fourth Illinois regiment, I'm
1881. played baseball, using as a bat
the wooden leg of the Mexican dicta
tor. Santa Anna, which they had cap
tured
The pyramid of Cholula. near Pueh-
Ia. is a mammoth memorial Of the an
cient Aztec civilization. 1t is over
Grown with shrubbery, SO as TO look a
natural hill At San Juan Teotihua-
can. near Mexico City, are two pyra-
mids, those of the sun and the moon.
The former Is 2l6 feet high, and is
said BY anuquarians to be larger than
any of the Egyptian pyramids except
Cheops.