Thomas Rogers and the Mexican Central Railway in 1892

Relatively little is known about the life of Thomas L. Rogers, the American author of Mexico? Sí, señor, based on a trip to Mexico in July 1892, and published the following year by the Mexican Central Railway. The book provides an up-beat accessible account of all the places and regions that the then-expanding railway network was opening up for travelers.

At that time the Mexican Central Railway was the principal railway of the Republic, with 1846 miles of line; it was the only standard gauge line connecting Mexico City to the U.S. First class rail fares at the time were very reasonable: return fares to Mexico City were $50 (dollars) from El Paso; $88.60 from Chicago and $135 from New York or Boston.

The book covers the sights along not only the Mexico Central Railway’s main route from Ciudad Juárez to Mexico City, but also along its two major branch lines: the first to Tampico, and the second to Guadalajara via Irapuato. The completion of this latter branch in 1888 spurred a significant growth in tourism at Lake Chapala, and was the route used by many of the early visitors to Chapala, including eccentric pioneer Septimus Crowe, English  writer Maud Pauncefote, British consul Lionel Carden, American writers Charles Embree and Mary Ashley Townsend, and anthropologist Frederick Starr. American photographer-hotelier Winfield Scott , who lived for many years near Ocotlán, was commissioned by the Mexican Central Railway to document the company’s network in Mexico.

Rogers’ writing style is informal and chatty. Mexico? Sí, señor is well illustrated with small sketches, photographs and several maps. Chapter XVI includes one of the earliest published photographs (untitled) of Ocotlán, as well as images of the Atequiza hacienda, the Río Lerma, and the famous Juanacatlán Falls. (Note, however, that the photograph titled “On the Lake Shore’ (by A. Briquet) depicts Lake Cuitzeo, not Lake Chapala.)

Excerpts from chapter XIV of Mexico? Sí, señor

Ocotlán is situated on a plain which slopes southward a few miles into the shore of the lake. With its pretty plaza, beautiful church spires, its portales, and its two bridges (one over the Sula, south of the village, and one west over the Lerma), Ocotlán is very picturesque.

The water front of the city is on the Sula, just above the bridge. Here a novel sight is seen on the levee. No great steamers are moored there, but scores of great canoes are loading and unloading, or waiting for the spirit of their captains to move. These canoes have hitherto done all the business on Lake Chapala.

The water works of Ocotlán are not extensive, but such as they are, they can be seen at the bridge across the Lerma, over which passes the highway to Guadalajara. They consist of one large wheel and a pump. The wheel is on a frame under one of the arches of the bridge. The current of the river runs the wheel, and the wheel, of course, runs the pump. But rivers in this region rise and fall, and there are times when this wheel is six feet above the water. Whenever the current cannot reach the wheel, the people of Ocotlán get their water by carts and carriers.

The steamer “Chapala” is a flat-bottom stern-wheel boat, very like those that are common on the shallow rivers of the West; the only boats adapted to shoal-water service. Everything about the steamer appears new, but one of the things not new on the “Chapala” is Juan Perez, the pilot. He is not necessarily old, but he is a veteran in service….

The steamship Chapala. From Thomas Rogers (1893), p222.

The sail along the north shore from Mescala to the town of Chapala is delightful. We seem, at times, to be shut in, but the pilot finds a way out and duly brings us to a pretty little city which nestles at the base of a sugar loaf mountain, and which is the largest town on the lake. A fine old church is one of the attractions of the town for visitors, but the hot springs which boil up not far from the plaza have given Chapala fame as a health resort. The springs, although not numerous… have made Chapala a favorite resort of the people of Guadalajara and vicinity, and when better known will attract people from a greater distance. “Charming” is the word to describe Chapala; I doubt if there is another town in Mexico more prettily situated. A short distance from shore is a large island, which is made use of as a picnic ground. The view from the hill immediately back of the town is one of great beauty.

It is an interesting sight to see the water works of Chapala in operation. No wheels, no pumps, no fountains; only dippers. The lake is the reservoir, and women are the dippers. They wade out as far as they please, fill their jars as full as they please, shoulder them and march home. No scooping with gourds as at Zacatecas, for water is plenty, and no one has to wait for another.

Chapala is sure to become more and more a favorite watering place. Already there are some fine summer “seaside” cottages there, and in the offing you can see a yacht! With a combination of delightful climate and hot springs, with mountain climbing, boating, bathing, and fishing as recreations for visitors, why shouldn’t charming Chapala become the finest health and pleasure resort in Mexico?

The next port is Xocotopec, at the extreme western end of the lake. The town lies in a pretty valley three miles back from the lake, and is the center of an extensive rural trade. Returning along the south shore we find no towns of commercial importance, but do find a succession of beautiful views which charm by their variety. We pass San Martin, San Cristobal, Tuscueca, and see, partly hidden by groves of orange and lemon trees, the flourishing city of Tizapan which reposes on the hillside two miles from the lake, along the little Rio de la Pasion.

We sail over what is supposed to be an oil well, some signs of which appear on the surface of the lake; we touch at the fisherman’s village with the pretty name, La Palma, and thence complete our eighty mile circuit of Lake Chapala by a direct return to Ocotlán, where we resume our railroad journey.

Who was Thomas L. Rogers?

Thomas L Rogers was born at Pownal, Vermont, on 2 August 1851, and died in Brookline, Massachusetts at the age of 59 on 19 June 1901. He was survived by his wife and six children.

Rogers was a prominent Baptist minister, and publisher of The Watchman (formerly The Christian Watchman), who graduated from the Newton Theological Institution, before serving in Cleveland and Scituate. He spent the winter of 1880-81 traveling in Arizona, southwestern California and Mexico. He was appointed Vice-President of the Board of the California Southern Railroad in 1881. The President of that railroad was his father-in-law Thomas Nickerson.

Rogers’ railroad links were probably a key reason why he was offered the commission to write Mexico? Sí, señor.

Comments, corrections and additional material are welcome, whether via comments or email.

Tony Burton

Tony Burton’s books include “Lake Chapala: A Postcard History” (2022), “Foreign Footprints in Ajijic” (2022), “If Walls Could Talk: Chapala’s historic buildings and their former occupants” (2020), (available in translation as “Si Las Paredes Hablaran”), “Mexican Kaleidoscope” (2016), and “Lake Chapala Through the Ages” (2008).

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