Customer Reviews

The Silver of the Sierra Madre: John Robinson, Boss Shepherd, and the People of the Canyons

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"The Silver of the Sierra Madre," which plays off the title of B Traven's masterpiece, is a history book that reads like an adventure story. It centers on the Americans John Robinson and Alexander Shepherd, and others like them, who came to northern Mexico to get rich by opening silver mines. Hart uses primary sources such as diaries, letters and obscure books in both English and Spanish to chronicle the difficulties these American capitalists had as they searched for silver. The book is centered on Batopilas, one of the most unusual towns and earth, at least as difficult to reach as a Nepalese town in the Himalayas. To get there you had to ride on mules through some of the most beautiful and dangerous country on the planet, the Barranca del Cobre, a system of seven canyons that makes our Grand Canyon seem small by comparison. This is a little known part of American history that professor Hart makes come alive with the skill of a novelist backed up by the research of a great historian .

For anyone interested in the Copper Canyon region of the Mexican State of Chihuahua this books is a welcome addition to the rather small canon of works about this area of Mexico (in English no less!). Hart provides a good synthesis that is equal parts, travel log, 19th century business practices study, all set within the cultural back ground of the residents of the canyons. Many people who have interest in this area of Chihuahua are well acquainted with Grant Shepherd's book "Silver Magnet" and will find this an excellent "prequel" as well as a scholarly counterpoint to that work. The first half of this work is dedicated to the ownership of the mines in Batopilas by John Robinson, and the second half to the ownership of the mines under Alexander Shepherd. To round out the work Hart provides us with 25 mostly historic photographs of the area. Shepherd's business practices are well exposed as are those of the Mexicans in the second half of the book and it is easy to understand the frustrations of the lower classes. For those of us in the United States similar conditions frequently existed though the response in the early 20th century brought the system back to equilibrium unlike Mexico which erupted in violence.

Hart's writing makes for a fast and interesting read though he does tend to relate some points more than once throughout the book. He also has a tendency to alternately refer to the principal characters by their last names then by first names where it is my experience most writers of history tend towards always referring to their subject by last name only. Then again this more casual style may well be the ultimate reason the book is more reader friendly compared to some other history books.

Curiously, Hart mentions at least twice in this book that John Robinson's grandson married General Luis Terrazas' only granddaughter. It would seem from Mark Wasserman's book "Capitalists, Caciques, and Revolution" that General Terrazas had a multitude of granddaughters. Also, in the introduction Hart's mentions that Batopilas was under the political administration of Nueva Galicia and perhaps this should instead read Nueva Vizcaya.

Hart is to be commended for taking up this particular subject matter and especially for choosing the setting of the Sierra Madre of Chihuahua. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Copper Canyon and to those who have family origins or relatives from that area of Chihuahua.