336 CLIMATE PRODUCTIONS CATTLE ESTATES. 



ence to the last mentioned period, Chihuahua was divided into the 

 partidos of Aldama, Allende, Balleza, Batopilas, Concepcion, Cosi- 

 huiriachi, Galeana, Hidalgo, Jimenez, Paso, and Rosales, formerly 

 Tapacolmes. 



Nature has endowed Chihuahua with a pleasant and temperate 

 climate and a fertile soil, which is said by those who are best ac- 

 quainted with the State to be capable of producing abundantly, if 

 the county is ever freed from savage inroads and filled with an in- 

 dustrious population of agriculturists. The forests, the streams, the 

 valleys and the plains, all yield their tributes of valuable articles of 

 trade. Vast herds of cattle are fed upon the large haciendas de 

 ganado ; and the mountains are veined with the precious deposits 

 which form the wealth of so many other Mexican States. The 

 prompt settlement of the frontier, and the security of its inhabitants 

 against the Indians, under the protection of armed forces by the con- 

 terminous Republics, seem to be all that is requisite for the develop- 

 ment of the fine natural resources of this hitherto neglected State. 



Field and garden cultivation is not much attended to by the pre- 

 sent inhabitants ; but wherever farming operations are carried on in 

 suitable spots, corn, wheat, barley, frijoles, and all the finest fruits, 

 plants and vegetables, are found to repay bountifully the husband- 

 man's labor. Even indigo and cotton are found growing wild in 

 some of the districts, notwithstanding the proximity of the mountain 

 region, and the bleaker exposure of the soil. 



At El Paso del Norte, the right bank of the Rio Grande, is cov- 

 ered for a distance of seven leagues with excellent vineyards, whose 

 capital fruit produces an abundance of wine, which is greedily pur- 

 chased in the markets of the adjacent States. In the neighborhood 

 of Aldama, Allende, and of many other towns, the grape is also 

 successfully cultivated, and the liquor produced is highly esteemed 

 by competent judges. But the chief sources of the present pros- 

 perity of Chihuahua are its mines and cattle. The best data in our 

 possession assign to this State 56 large estates, upon all of which 

 about 70,000 horses, 190,000 horned cattle, and 550,000 head of 

 sheep, swine and goats are constantly fed. The silver, gold and 

 copper mines have been in former years exceedingly productive, and 

 even in 1844, the mint of Chihuahua, struck $61,632 in gold, and 

 290,000 in silver. In 1814, the coinage of the same institution 

 reached the sum of $1,818,604 in silver, after which period it ceased 

 operating until 1832 ; but since then its annual emission has never 

 exceeded $544,244 in coins of both the precious metals. Gold was 

 first struck at this mint in 1841, and in 1842 it sent into circulation 



