The 450-year history of Chihuahua state is outlined from the period of the “indios” (before 1550) through the “Reconstrucción” following the revolutionary period of 1910-1920. Indian warfare, political intrigue, and revolution are traced across the state from the Indian attacks upon Coronado to the last Apache raid in 1927, and from the first Spanish probe northward for gold and souls to the settlement of the Chamizal dispute.
The Listers make no pretense of primary research, but confine themselves to assembling, sorting, and digesting the considerable existing literature. Because it is well annotated and has a good bibliography, the book should make an excellent reference work for the student. But because it compresses almost five hundred years into three hundred and sixty pages, the narrative is sometimes scanty to the point of becoming a bare recitation of names and places. However, it visits many a fascinating bypath of Chihuahua’s stormy past.
One of the Listers’ best stories is an archaeological anecdote told to illustrate the point that “red tape is a seemingly inexhaustible Mexican commodity and that petty officials love to throw their weight around” (p. 186). In 1907 a Jesuit priest went to a pueblo in Sonora to search for the earthly remains of two priests slain during an Indian uprising in 1632. After an eighteen-day trip by foot and burro the priest learned from the local comisario that a civil law prohibited opening graves. An Indian runner was dispatched to obtain permission. After many days of travel over rugged terrain he returned with a document which the commissioner could not read. He recognized the official state seals, however, and so permitted the dig to begin. The headless remains of the two martyrs were eventually exhumed and given a proper burial, almost three centuries after their death.
This anecdote is closely followed by the story of the brief world heavyweight championship bout between Bob Fitzsimmons and Pete Maher in 1896, staged on a large, flat rock projecting from the Mexican side of the Río Grande while the audience sat in seats located in Texas—a vast amount of trouble for a fight which lasted less than a round. Later revolution came to Ciudad Juárez and provided the residents of El Paso with a fight of another kind as the vengeful Pancho Villa lashed out at Columbus, New Mexico.
The book’s greatest shortcomings are minuscule maps upon which to follow the action and a tendency for the narrative to lose the reader in its chronology. Still, this handsomely printed volume is well worth a spot on your Mexican history shelf.
