of the sixteenth century the great _Veta Madre_, or "mother
lode," of Guanajuato was pierced, with an ore-body 100 feet wide. This
place, which to-day boasts a population of fifty thousand souls, had
begun to grow and was granted a charter as a _Villa Real_ at the
beginning of the seventeenth century. This before the sailing of the
_Mayflower_! So, as we look back upon those strenuous times of Mexican
mining, we shall see much of good arising from the metallurgical
conquest. We have a vision of fair cities, established within mountain
fastnesses, within fertile plains, long centuries before the advent of
the locomotive, cities whose wealth came from the fabulous riches of
the great silver mines, whose ore was quarried from its lodes and
deposits, cities where fine cathedrals arose, built from the taxes
levied upon the product of these mines, by which fortunate national
trait some good at least was perpetuated for the inhabitants and
toilers who produced it. Does the mining director and shareholder of
to-day loosen his greedy and capacious pocket for such works? We might
ask the toiling nigger--Kaffir, or Chinese, and his Jewish employer in
the mines of Africa. The Spaniards did not suck out the wealth of
Mexico's soil only to enrich a decadent monarch and his coffers,
thousands of miles away, for which we have reproached them. Some of the
wealth their enterprise produced formed beautiful cities and made the
desert blossom where, before, savage tribes of Indians roamed; and
stimulated great thoughts and actions in men whose historic names
remain upon the country's history.

It was a laborious journey from Spain to Mexico in those days, and
mining was marked by difficulties due to the remoteness of the region
from means of communication, and also from the hostile Indian tribes,
who resented the advent of the white man into their territory. An
example of the tenacity and courage of the invaders against these odds
is shown in the founding of the fine city of Durango, 350 years ago. At
that time this region was the home of savage tribes of Indians, who
continually made raids upon the Spaniards. A marvellously rich mine,
the Avino, worked as a huge open quarry, which exists to-day, was
deeded by its owner to those white inhabitants there who would consent
to build their houses together for mutual protection. Thus the
beginning of the city of Durango was made.

Another famous mining centre in those early days, just as it is a