The following images document my recent trip to Mexico.
The purpose of the trip was to trace the footsteps of my greatgrandfather, Sebastian Mendez.
With me on the trip was a screenwriter, Nat Christian, who I've hired to help me with the screenplay
for the "700 Hill" story we are working on, in hopes of having it produced into a feature film.
Many of you have been very helpful in preparing me for this trip, and I truly appreciate everyone's
help and support on this project. What you will see here is a step by step story of our trip, and
what we were able to discover and experience.
At the bottom of this web page is a link to SHUTTERFLY, where you can order prints of any of the images shown here.
Also, I will be producing a DVD with these pictures, as well as alot of video footage which we captured.
The DVD will be even more informative. If you would like to have a copy of this DVD when I get it completed,
please send me a note by clicking here, and be sure to include your mailing address.
We flew into Monterrey, Mexico, which is in the state of Nuevo Leon, just north of the state of
San Luis Potosi. Monterrey was a very modern city, and reminded me of Los Angeles without the ocean.
I was very surprised at it's dramatic setting, nestled between huge mountains on the edge of the
Sierra Madre range. Pictures would not have done the setting justice.
Monterrey is the 2nd largest city in Mexico, 2nd to Mexico City itself.
We stayed the first night at a wonderful hotel, Quinta Real, which you will see in the following pictures.
The hotel was one of the nicest hotels I've ever been to, and the service was outstanding. The amazing
part was that it was so inexpensive by U.S. standards!
The lobby was very elaborate, with obvious Spanish influence, but also native Mexican designs as well.
The lobby led to a large courtyard.
Also off the lobby was a large lounge. Beautiful!
The next morning after our arrival into Monterrey, we set off to the Matehuala area in the state
of San Luis Potosi. This area is where Sebastian journeyed to after losing his father, and after
separating from his siblings at the age of 9. He was adopted by a family by the name of Lopez
and lived outside of Matehuala.
The drive was beautiful, with the ranges of the Sierra Madre on both sides, with untouched fields
of cactus.
Our first planned stop was to visit the town of Real de Catorce. This town is a very historic
place, and was a booming mining town for centuries until the early 1900s, when the mines closed.
It became virtually a ghost town, until the 1960s when people started to re-inhabit the area.
Currently, Real de Catorce is a well-known tourist destination, and was also used in the filming
of a few Hollywood films, including "The Mexican" with Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, and "Bandidas"
with Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek.
Real de Catorce was founded by the Spaniards in 1638, although records state that there was an older
settlement there even before it was established as "Real de Catorce". It became a major mining center
in the late 1700s, and experienced a history of wealth and prosperity for over 100 years. In the early
1900s it became almost a ghost town, with only a few hundred inhabitants. Now it has about 1200
inhabitants.
Off the main highway, we came across the road to Real de Catorce, which is the original cobble stone
road seen in this image. This road went on for about 5-6 miles.
The drive was quite dramatic, as we drove on the cobble stone road, which wound up and around the hills
and mountains to an elevation of almost 9000 feet, which is the elevation of the town of Real de Catroce.
We were almost to our destination when we noticed off a side road what seemed to be a small village.
So we went off the main road, and ventured into what we learned to be an even smaller town called
Potrero. This town was inhabited, yet, most of the structures were abandoned and in ruins. The beauty
of the place was hard to capture in pictures, but I've done my best. The following images are of these
structures and several old churches which are still in use today.
The "S.L.P." in the following images stands for "San Luis Potosi".
Unlike the images above, many of the structures were no longer faced, and were down to their
original stone. These structures would have been faced like the images before in their time.
This archway was below a bridge that was no longer working. Notice the Mexican flag through the arch.
This is also part of the remains of that bridge. The streamers were all over town, as their must have been
a recent celebration there.
Behind a wall by the road revealed the remains of this church and its surrounding structures.
At times the ruins looked like that you would find in Italy or Spain!
Most of the stone walls had small stones which were wedged in between the larger ones.
A few locals.
A local woman allowed us to enter a large complex which was in ruins. It was an old estate with
many buildings, a pool/reservoir, and other structures.
And yes, they had a toilet!
Now, back on the main street, we explored more of the town of Potrero.
Inside one of the churches in a small room was a glass casket which encased Jesus. We saw this in
a few other churches throughout our trip.
It was time to get back onto the main road to Real de Catorce. Here's a view of the town of Portrero from above.
As we approached Real de Catorce, we had to drive through a small tunnel which was about 2 miles long.
It was originally a mining shaft. This "welcome" sign was right outside the entrance of the tunnel.
We arrived into the town of Real de Catorce. Pictured here is Nat Christian, screenwriter, and our driver and new friend Julio.
The town was very historic, full of character, and very much going through a transition.
A view from a side road in town, showing the altitude.
We decided to first visit a church which was outside of the center of town. Along the road to the church were many dwellings
and this particular area was the laundry room to one particular home.
Along the same road was a new cafe/restaurant. Inside the arch reveals a beautifully terraced outside dining area. This is
an example of the gentrification that is happening to the town as it is becoming more of a tourist attraction.
Before the church was a bridge with very unusual architecture. The bridge was called Puente de Jesus.
Many people rent donkeys to ride them from place to place in the town. These donkeys were waiting on their customers
who had entered the church grounds through the door on the right.
In front of this church is the graveyard, dating back to the 1600s.
And beside the church, a small temple.
Once inside, you see the faded and decaying murals.
And going back outside, we were watched by a local bystander.
Now heading back towards the center of town, we walked through some interesting ruins and structures,
only some of which are in use today.
And more locals.
The closer we got to the center, the more references and statues we saw honoring the regional patron saint,
San Francisco de Assisi (St. Francis).
We approached the church, called the Parish of the Immaculate Conception, which dates back to the 1600s.
And inside, the church reveals what we're looking for ... San Francisco de Assisi.
According to family history, Sebastian and his son Manuel would send money back to this exact church throughout
the years while living at "700 Hill" in Omar, West Virginia. The money was used to place emblems on the cloak
of St. Francis as a prayer of thanks or to pray for someone who was in need.
Manuel would receive postcards in the 1940s which would serve as an acknowledgement from the church of the
receipt of the monies and the prayers. The image below is one of the postcards Manuel received from this church.
Every October in Real de Catorce there is a celebration for St. Francis, and thousands of pilgrims make the journey
to see this statue. This has been a tradition for hundreds of years. St. Francis is referred to as "Panchito" in
this region, and is truly a patron saint of the peoples in this area of Mexico. Below is an image of one of
the annual festivals, showing the people parading St. Francis through the streets of Real de Catorce.
As we were leaving the church, I saw a young boy with his family entering the church. The boy was excited and
skipping while saying "Panchito! Panchito!" as he entered the church.
You will see that now there are no emblems on the statue, and only the clean cloak. Through time, the production
of the emblems (out of the silver which came from the mines) was halted. In more modern times, pilgrims would bring
to the church small pictures that they would create to give as a prayer and hommage to Panchito. These are called
"Retables". The following images show these Retables, in a room in the back of the church which was covered with them
from floor to ceiling.
You will also see in this image a pair of shoes hanging with the cloak on the wall. These shoes are part of the legend
of Panchito. It is believed that every so often, they must replace the shoes on the statue of St. Francis, as they
are worn. They are worn because St. Francis walks at night. Our driver, Julio, verified this belief and himself said
"I believe".
The floor of the church had large wood planks, which could be opened. Apparently there were tombs beneath these planks.
That concludes our visit to Real de Catorce. I believe that in his youth, Sebastian was himself a pilgrim to Real de Catorce
and this is how his faith and hommage to St. Francis was carried through to his family in West Virginia. Real de Catorce was only about
an hour drive to Matehuala, which was where Sebastian lived for most of his early life.
Once in the Matehuala area, we sought out the small village of Ojo de Agua, which was the town in which Sebastian and Josefa lived.
The following image is the church in which Sebastian and Josefa were married.
The church was in bad condition, and was being repaired in the back. The grounds were also under re-construction. The town
of Ojo de Agua has grown in recent years, and now is practically part of the town of Matehuala.
The following image was taken in the 1980s when Johnny Mendez visited this same church with his wife Maria Luisa and
daughter Maggie.
This brings us to our next discovery. We were interested in finding the Estrada ranch, where Sebastian and Josefa lived
after they were married. The ranch apparently was in Ojo de Agua also. Therefore, we began our search.
We asked many of the older townspeople in the area, and finally came across an older man who told us that he knew of a property
which was in ruins that was owned by the Estrada family, but had changed hands to another family about 30 or 40 years ago.
He also mentioned that on this property was an orphanage that was no longer in use. This reminded us of Manuel's account
of there being a school on the grounds of the ranch. We believed this may be the actual Estrada ranch!
He directed us to the area, and we explored the area, but could not find anything.
Then, we came across another person, a nice woman who was entering into her private residence. She guided us to the property
that she believed was the one the man would have been referring to.
So we found the property, and it was indeed in ruins. It was surrounded by new homes and developments almost on every side.
what remained were a few walls, and some structures amongst the over-grown foliage. What you see below are images of this
property which we believe was the grounds of the Estrada ranch.
Nat climbed one of the walls in order to see the ruins behind it.
This is what could be seen behind the wall.
On the other side of the property there were other remains and some new construction amongst the property walls.
Placing the camera above one of the walls revealed another structure inside the property.
We were thrilled with what we had discovered in Matehuala, and now traveled to the city of San Luis Potosi. The
landscape between Matehuala and the city of San Luis Potosi was more lush.
We arrived at our hotel outside of the city of San Luis Potosi. It was a very modern Holiday Inn Express, which
was nicer than most hotels in the U.S.! It had a bar downstairs
where locals and guests were enjoying their favorite past-time: watching football (soccer).
We ventured into the city for dinner, and were amazed at the plazas and churches that awaited us by night.
The next morning, we came back into the city, in order to continue our research. Our mission in this city was
to find any records of the Mendez family in the nearby ghost town of Cerro de San Pedro, which was the birthplace
of Sebastian. So we went into a few public buildings in order to find which government agency would have records
to meet our needs. During our search, we enjoyed walking through the many plazas and streets of the city of
San Luis Potosi.
Here we are on the streets in San Luis Potosi.
We found what was referred to us as the appropriate agency to help us in our search, the "Archivo Historico
del Estado".
Once inside, one of the clerks pulled for us many books of records from Cerro de San Pedro, and we spent
hours going through them, searching for references to the Mendez family. We found several references to the family
in the years of 1860 through 1875.
Unfortunately, the records between 1875 and 1900 had been lost. This was a shame, as Sebastian was born and left
the town during this period. However, the names we did find were likely relatives of Sebastian and his parents.
After gathering this data, we took a 45 minute drive to the ghost town of Cerro de San Pedro.
Cerro de San Pedro was Sebastian's birthplace, and was at that time a bustling silver mining town. The mines and the town
were founded in 1592 and the settlement even preceded that of the city of San Luis Potosi. The city of
San Luis Potosi was actually founded shortly thereafter, as there was water in its valley to clean the
mined materials.
The dirt roads in the town were overgrown, and most of the buildings were in ruins. Although, there were some
people who still inhabited the area.
The central church was closed, but I could peak into the doors to see that the church was still in operation.
Some remnants of the old mining days.
Recently, a Canadian mining company purchased the lands around Cerro de San Pedro, and are again mining the
area. They are strip mining, which is very analogous to what is happening today in Omar, West Virginia, where
they are also strip mining. Below you can see the hills above Cerro de San Pedro which have been strip mined.
You can see in these structures the facades that the other buildings in ruins would have had in their time. This
particular building has been kept in place, but you could imagine the rest of the ruins having these types of
facades.
A view of the remains of the town.
Now, back at the center of town, we embarked on our most ambitious goal ... to find where the Mendez's lived in
Cerro de San Pedro.
We began our search by asking a few of the older people who apparently still inhabited the area. One particular older
man who was minding one of the few small shops in the town had remembered Felipe Mendez. Felipe Mendez was one
of the persons we learned about during our research in San Luis Potosi. He was likely a brother or cousin of Sebastian's
father Nasario, or perhaps a first cousin of Sebastian.
This man knew of the Mendez family back then, and told us that when he left the area in the 1930s, he only knew of
Felipe Mendez. When he returned to the town decades later, there were no Mendez's left living in the town, much less
anybody living there.
Therefore, beyond acknowledging the existence of a Mendez family, we weren't able to find out where in the town they may have lived.
But we didn't give up. We continued touring the ruins.
Then we asked about any graveyards in town, hoping we'd find some Mendez graves. We learned that the older gravesites were now buried
under roads and buildings in the center of town. The only cemetery which now existed was one outside of town that was built in the
early 1900s. So, we decided to visit that graveyard in search of clues.
We found no clues at this graveyard and concluded that the Mendez family would have left the area before this cemetery was built
and that likely any Mendez graves would be buried underneath buildings and the roads in town.
So we returned to town to continue exploring.
We came across an elderly couple who were living in an old structure near the center of town. We inquired about the Mendez family.
They told us that the Mendez family was a legend of the town, and during their days there they manged the water distribution to the
residents. They showed us where their homes would have been, and where we would find remnants of the small reservoirs they used
to collect and distribute water to the townspeople.
What you see in the following images are the ruins of the property in which the Mendez family apparently lived.
Amongst the Mendez ruins was a modern home that was immaculately kept, on top of the hill.
We continued to search the area, specifically to find the remnants of the reservoirs.
We finally found what we were looking for. The following images show the remains of one of the reservoirs.
Very excited from what we had potentially found, the day was near its end. We ventured past a few more town ruins,
and another abandoned church.
We then spent the night again in San Luis Potosi, collected our notes and thoughts from the day.
The next day we drove back to Monterrey, back to the Quinta Real hotel, and directly to the pool to lounge and celebrate
our trip.
As you can see from these final images, the pool was a beautiful and modern setting for us to celebrate and talk about
the life of Sebastian and his family.
We left Monterrey the next morning.
I hope you have enjoyed experiencing this journey, and the revelations we witnessed. It was a very meaningful trip for me
and I'm thrilled to share it with all of you! Hopefully someday you can also visit these beautiful places, and continue
the research to find more about our ancestors.
I know I'll be back VERY SOON!
Best regards, Dave Mendez
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