Old Mexico and her lost provinces : A journey in Mexico, southern California,…
QR code
"Old Mexico and her lost provinces" by William Henry Bishop is a travel narrative written in the late 19th century. It traces an American observer’s journey through Mexico—approached via Cuba—and onward to the former Mexican territories in the American Southwest, blending firsthand reportage with history, politics, and local color. The work dwells on railways, commerce, cities, landscapes, and daily life in a nation rapidly modernizing under new economic schemes and foreign capital.
The opening of Old Mexico and her lost provinces follows Bishop’s departure from New York by steamer to Havana, where he samples tropical life, visits Matanzas and a sugar plantation, notes corruption scandals and the lottery, and records talk of the long Cuban insurgency. He transfers to a French packet for Vera Cruz, arrives after a “norther,” and sketches the perilous roadstead, somber San Juan de Ulúa, and a city of tiled domes, zopilotes, and bullfight bills, along with a consul’s argument that yellow fever is epidemic but not contagious and the labyrinth of Mexican tariffs. Boarding the English-built railway at night, he ascends from the Tierra Caliente with a vivid cast—a flamboyantly dressed hacendado and a French bridal pair—through the Metlac gorge, past Orizaba at sunrise, Holy Saturday Judas effigies, pulque country at Apam, and the pyramids of Teotihuacan, before reaching the high basin of Mexico City and its alkali-ringed lakes. He then maps the capital’s core: the Zócalo and cathedral on the Aztec war-god’s former site, arcaded streets, serapes and rebozos, Indian vendors, and the persistent drainage problem of Lake Texcoco. Excursions to Chapultepec and the Paseo de la Reforma frame his sense of the city’s future growth, while his hotel courtyard swarms with “projectors”—foreign engineers, financiers, and promoters (with General Grant among them)—planning railways, banks, and industries. The section closes with reflections on American–Mexican perceptions, the 1847 invasion, and the internal divisions that once hobbled Mexico’s defense. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Download for free
For your e-reader or reading app — Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, Calibre etc.
Kindle → Use Send-to-Kindle
Kobo, Nook etc. → Transfer via USB
Phone, tablet or computer → Open in a reading app
Other formats & older devices
There may be more files related to this item.
About this eBook
| Author | Bishop, William Henry, 1847-1928 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 02023140 |
| Title | Old Mexico and her lost provinces : A journey in Mexico, southern California, and Arizona by way of Cuba |
| Original Publication | New York: Harper & brothers, 1883. |
| Credits | Peter Becker and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | F1201: North America local history: Mexico |
| Subject | California -- Description and travel |
| Subject | Arizona -- Description and travel |
| Subject | Mexico -- Description and travel |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 77881 |
| Release Date | Feb 7, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 891 downloads in the last 30 days. |
Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free!