New Trails Through Mexico (1950)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] for some years a plan has been taking form to construct a Pan-American Highway which would link together all the countries of North and South America and make it possible to travel by automobile from the United States to Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America this gigantic project never may be realized in our time but the Richardson Pan-American Highway Expedition three adventurous men in a Plymouth car is on its way from Detroit to Cape Horn over existing roads and through trackless areas that one day may be spanned by a great highway system 14,000 mi in length their goal reached these men will be the first ever to have traversed the projected Highway by automobile although the Pan-American Highway from the United States border to Mexico City is an improved well-traveled Road the easygoing at AFF fors was not enjoyed by these men well aware of the rough travel to be encountered the Expedition determined to test the metal of its men and equipment by going the hard way down the Primitive and little traveled roads and dug ways along the Mexican West Coast these are the experiences of the Expedition members Sullivan C Richardson Arnold Whitaker and Kenneth vanhee traveling from the north to the South border of Mexico on the first leg of their long arduous Journey As Told by Mr Richardson the Expedition leader the natural starting point for an expedition like ours is the Pan-American building at Washington here we had conferred with Mr LS R director general of the Pan-American Union from him we receive valuable letters of introduction and assurances of every possible cooperation in High Spirits we Face the hardships that lie ahead of us as we leave Washington and after an uneventful trip arrive at nogalus Arizona our jumping off point into Mexico directly across the International line is the Mexican city of nalas in the state of Sonora and in keeping with border regulations we present ourselves at the customs house where we are enthusiastically greeted by Mexican officials who know of our coming and the purpose of our trip they are glad to do everything possible to Aid us as we set out on our border to border trip through their country over a route that has never been completely traversed by a Motorcar in a few minutes we are on our way over passably good roads through the towns of Magdalena elasia and whus south of rimus we find ourselves in a forest of giant Cactus which extends over an arid stretch more than 300 M long unfortunately we follow a 6-day rain down this Coastal Road and for many hours we Sway and lur through Hub deep mud that threatens any moment to barog down the car overloaded as it is with 2,000 lb of men and Equipment but this was Boulevard travel compared to what awaited us further on naturally we cannot maintain any sort of schedule that would bring us at nightfall into a town or village where shelter was available so most of our night camps are made in the open at first we shave daily but soon decide that once every two weeks is quite often enough frequently Rivers block our way and there are no Bridges we cross six such Rivers by way of primitive fairies but are forced to cross eight under our own power in the quiet Val of these Rivers thousands of wild birds find Refuge they take alarm very easily and it is only with the greatest difficulty that we are able to get close enough to these great herons to photograph them around their nests and in flight this is typical of the scenic beauty of the Mexican Countryside and wher and Van he enjoy the view from a hill in the distance the car can be seen threading its way through the valley over roads intended only for Bullock carts and far better suited to such Vehicles than to any other sort of wheel traffic dipping into dry a royos climbing steep stretches of red clay Hills we rarely are able to make even a fair rate of speed accustomed as we are to the level well paved roads of the United States States we chafe constantly at the relatively slow rate of travel that must be maintained over these hilly rutted dug ways on Market Days the roads are dotted with groups of natives from the surrounding Hills and Valleys carrying their produce for many miles into the nearest important town or city bare feet plot steadily along through the dust but otherwise they are dressed for a Gaya day and we see many silk dresses bright Shaws and gay scarves some carry their merchandise on their heads for others tiny Burrows amble patiently along with baskets slung over their backs here's a lucky fellow he is prosperous enough to be able to ride to Market he is just one of many thousands who make this pilgrimage regularly over miles of hot Dusty roads bringing in the meager products of their Toil and looking forward to the excitement of bargaining for the few pesos they may bring the market itself is a gay and colorful scene a welcome relief from the drab lives that most of these people lead here in a vast confusion of noise and activity is everything that meets the simple needs of a simple people pigs chickens Burrows vegetables hats shoes clothing pottery and bean covered tortillas most of it is displayed on the ground brown slowey little Muppets are everywhere a new generation growing up to come to Market on Saturdays some sometimes however we Envy our Mexican neighbors a little for their privilege of living in a country where nature so often provides scenes of breath taking Beauty here for instance is a spot near Mazatlan where we camp for the night the road over which we came to this coastal city is impassible except during the dry season and after laboring through miles of thorny brush we suddenly come out into the open and there before us lies mazatan CED among the cliffs of a rocky Shoreline with the Blue Pacific for a background we spread our bed rolls on Ledges high above the breaking waves and as the sun rises next morning we awake to look upon a panorama of sea and Shore that is utterly fairy likee in its beauty we are loathed to leave mazatan but already we are behind our schedule on arrival at the capital city we are cordially welcomed by the Secretary of the Interior seor Miguel alaman through his friendly Spirit of cooperation we are admitted to photograph some famous carved Stone relics of ancient Aztec civilization as well as various pieces of jewelry that have an almost Priceless value these now Repose in the national museum of Mexico and here tourist cameras never are permitted so that the exception made in our case is most unusual this sacrificial Stone was an important part of the rituals of the the ancient race the Aztec calendar is embodied in this great carved Stone which is 2 ft thick and 14 ft in diameter it is perhaps the most famous Relic in Mexico and reproductions of its carvings appear on all characteristic Mexican leather goods and fabrics the Spaniards tore this Stone from the great tokali or Temple and buried it in a lake which at that time surrounded the Aztec city some years ago the stone was recovered and now reposes in front of the great doors of the Mexican national museum this golden brooch of pure gold encrusted with precious stones is among the Priceless ornaments displayed in the national museum another is this Golden Bell representing one of the Aztec gods a third is dedicated to the god of fire one of the multiple deities of the Aztec race leaving Mexico City on Christmas Day we again turn our faces Southward toward the city of Waka through a m region where one inspiring Panorama of Peaks and valleys seems always to be succeeded by another equally as wild and exciting now we suffer more from cold than from heat for the mornings are extremely chilly on this High plateau in the midst of tropical Mexico here in the mountains somewhere north of Waka we come upon a group of natives threshing wheat in truly primitive fashion the wheat is spread over a circle of well- packed ground and Burrows tied nose to nose are driven around and around the center state so that their feet pound the grain out of the chaff and straw these Farm people seem to possess no modern Implements of any kind for their pitchforks and brooms all are made of crooked naughty wood and scrub growth from the surrounding mountains in this region we find a great many varieties of typical Mexican Flora among these are tiny cactus plants colored in the most delicate pastel shade despite their beauty we doubt they will ever become popular for use in corsages like all the cactus family they're covered with needles sharp spines high above the city of Waka we stopped to visit the famous ruins of Monte Alban located on the top of a mountain incredible labor must have gone into the leveling off of this site and the building of its gigantic Terraces and pyramids with their inscribed Stell and tablets it is believe that these colossal structures were erected by the M tribe and there is clear evidence of Mayan influence in the architecture and methods of construction in 1932 Dr Don adolo casso Mexico's foremost archaeologist opened one of the tombs of Monte Alban and discovered the most remarkable collection of ancient Jewels ever brought to light on the American continent most of these Priceless objects are displayed in the museum at Waka these these golden masks and pieces of jewelry are taken from their sealed glass cases and brought out into the courtyard where soldiers stand guard while these pictures are taken they include the famous night breastplate golden necklaces pendants bres Rings carved Jade pieces headband and feather of pure gold said to have been worn by the priests and royalty of the MC tribe 35 M further south are the ruins of mitla the MIT ruins have been the subject of some controversy as to their origin because the architecture and type of construction differs radically from nearby Monte Alban mitla has long Stone buildings sunken or on low platforms with stone columns and veneers of stone cut into geometric patterns and pictographic frescos a few miles below mitla all wheel traffic ceases on this road which becomes a mere burrow Trail through 50 miles of mountainous country in many cases we literally built the road ahead of us as we went often when the condition of the so-called roadbed is more favorable we are confronted with grades so steep that we were constantly amazed at the ability of our heavily loaded Plymouth to surmount them the sharp Rocky outcroppings in the dug ways continually threatened to tear our tires into ribbons and the bouncing and lurching of the car over the Boulder stwn Road was an everpresent pleas menace to under portions of the chassis we have unbounded admiration for the men who designed and built a car that stands up under such terrific punishment coming downhill frequently is as difficult as going up some of the gullies Are Pitch so sharply that we are in danger of having the car slide sideways and roll over but this never happened though we were constantly watchful less it might of course there are the usual rivers to be crossed and wherever the water is not too deep we are able to cross under our own power with the usual precaution of taking off the fan belt and swaddling the engine in dry towels at other times we cross on primitive fairies constructed by laying planks across two large Dugout canoes from 20 to 25 ft long this sort of thing gives us many anxious moments for our Plymouth plus its heavy load of camping equipment is as heavy a burden as such makeshift fairies possibly could carry finally after 9 days of back breaking labor to cover a distance of only 12 Mi we come to poro Des San Juan a tiny village completely cut off from the outside world in the foothills of Mexico's Great Southern mountain range there are no streets or bull carts in San Juan the only transportation is on foot or by burrow there is no post office no mail service the homes of the Indians who live here are of mud plastered over over Logs with roofs of tile which they make and fire themselves the diet of these people is composed largely of tortillas made from corn raised in meager patches on the rocky Hillside practically the entire population gathers around our car which is not to be wondered at for our pth undoubtedly is the first automobile many of them ever saw one of the small boys proudly leads over a baby burrow and lifts the tiny beast in his arms for our inspection ction another brown skinned little tyke plays as contentedly and as fearlessly with a young ante eater as our children would with a pet dog the strange little animal had been captured only a few days before and is one of the smaller species of the aner family we had heard that the Flesh of the Iana was highly regarded as an article of food in many parts of Mexico and here we see a number of these lizards which the men of the village were preparing to eat the natives tie their legs together over the back to prevent their running away and often sew the Jaws together so they cannot bite as we start on our way again every child in the town runs after the big white Plymouth the coming of an automobile to foro Des San Juan is nothing short of a miracle as we come down out of the mountains into the Foothills bordering the coastal plane we find some stretches of road that do not require rebuilding before we could move over them they are far from comfortable to ride on but they do permit us to maintain a fair rate of speed compared with the snail-like progress we had encountered Over the Mountain Trails the end of our Mexican Adventure now is in sight the people and the villages we pass are more prosperous in appearance and after our weeks of day in and day out hard physical labor we are glad to feel that the worst of our trip through Mexico is behind us the forbidding wastelands of the Hill country give way to vast cultivated areas like this banana plantation where we make a brief stop to see what a banana split looks like in its native habitat the plantation owner and his native manager oblige Us by cutting a bunch of the green fruit as we watch the big stalk of the Palm is cut about halfway up and the native Waits underneath for the bunch to come down on his shoulders then it is cut from the Palm with one stroke of the machete and carried to the storage shed to await shipment to the United States bananas are all shipped green and allowed to ripen on the way our last stop in Mexico is tapachula the Southernmost city on the west coast close to the Guatemalan border and after three months of the most hazardous kind of travel we finally reached this objective here in the palmfield plaza of tapachula we are greeted by the usual crowd of curious citizens and by reporters from the local newspaper we have finished the first leg of our Pan-American Highway trailblazing by traveling the entire length of Mexico from the Arizona line to the Guatemalan border over the roadless terrain that stretches for many hundreds of miles through southern Mexico's mountains and jungles so far as we are aware this feat has never been accomplished by any group traveling by automobile and any car less staunch and powerful than our Plymouth surely would have failed it is guard and dented in many places but still ready to go at a moment's notice what lies ahead as we continue our trip through Guatemala Honduras and other Central American republics we do not know but we point our Plymouth confidently for Cape Horn [Music]