GEOGRAPHY

Mexico’s central volcanic belt stretches from the Volcan de Colima in the west to the Pico de Orizaba in the east. The Pico’s 18,855-foot elevation exceeds that of any peak in the lower forty-eight U. S. states. The permanently snow-capped volcanoes Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl overlook 7,280-foot high Mexico City. These volcanoes produce earthquakes and an extremely fertile volcanic soil. One of the conquistadores who accompanied Cortes commented on conditions in the volcanic belt, “There are in this province of New Spain great rivers and springs of very good sweet water, extensive woods on the hills and plains of very high pines, cedars, oaks, and cypresses, besides live oaks and a great variety of mountain trees.”2

North of Mexico City, two mountain ranges, the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Sierra Madre Occidental, extend in the direction of Texas and Arizona, respectively. The high, dry central plateau lies inside the inverted triangle formed by these two ranges. To the south of Mexico City, within the Sierra Madre del Sur, many isolated areas give rise to Oaxaca’s wondrous diversity.

Due to soil fertility, abundant rainfall, and the availability of Indian labor, Spanish settlement was concentrated in central Mexico. Rampant diseases, to which newcomers had little resistance, discouraged settlement in low-lying coastal areas. The aridity of the north discouraged settlement there. Relatively few areas outside the central core could be used for agriculture, as roughly 31 percent of Mexico’s land area is classified as desert and another 36 percent is semiarid.3

The availability of water, as well as topography, determined trade routes. In the early 1620s, Domingo Lazaro de Arregui commented on the 135-mile road from the silver-mining city of Zacatecas to the mining hamlet of Mazapil:

If you took the direct route, you would arrive in two days at Mazapil. But traveling by the water holes and along the carting road, the journey takes five or six days. Going as the crow flies, there is no road or water, which is the reason for following such a roundabout path as people use.4

The lack of major rivers connecting New Spain’s population centers had a profound impact on development. Transport by mule or cart was slow and expensive. As historians Arij Ouweneel and Catrien Bijleveld observed, “The severe climate, the difficult topography, the poorly paved roads, and the lack of good waterways between the population centers impeded the formation of an integrated market system.”5

The transportation system in colonial Mexico stood in stark contrast to those of British North America and western Europe, whose economies were undergoing rapid economic growth and whose broad rivers made it possible to transport bulk goods to inland population centers inexpensively. In contrast to Mexico, much of the population of both these areas was located in port cities, so goods could be exchanged by sea, and relatively flat expanses and abundant water later made it possible to extend transport networks by building canals.

Population figures illustrate the impracticality of coastal shipping in New Spain. Tampico, the only coastal town of importance north of Veracruz, had only twenty-four Spanish citizens and 226 tributary Indians in 1570. At the end of the sixteenth century, Yucatan only had 300 Spanish citizens.6

Elevation change made transport difficult but yielded tremendous diversity. Thomas Gage, an English priest who traveled in New Spain between 1625 and 1636, passed through Jalapa and observed: “What makes it rich are the many farms of sugar, and some which they call estancias, rich farms for breeding mules and cattle; and likewise some farms of cochineal.” After visiting Puebla, he commented: “Without it, there are many gardens, which store the markets with provision of salads. The soil abounds with wheat, and with sugar farms.” In Oaxaca, he observed:

The valley is full of sheep and other cattle, which yield much wool to the clothiers of the City of Angeles, store of hides to the merchants of Spain, and great provision of flesh to the city of Oaxaca, and to all the towns about. . . But what doth make the valley of Oaxaca to be mentioned far and near are the good horses which are bred in it, and esteemed to be the best of all the country. In this valley also are some farms of sugar, and great store of fruits, which two sorts meeting together have cried up the city of Oaxaca for the best conserves and preserves that are made in America.7