Ferrocarril Noroeste de México:
An Inventory of the Records at the Benson Latin American Collection
Descriptive Summary | ||
| Creator | Mexico Northwestern Railway Company. | |
| Title | Records of the Ferrocarril Noroeste de México | |
| Dates: | 1910-1919 | |
| Abstract | Business records (primarily correspondence) of the Mexico Northwestern Railway Company (Ferrocarril Noroeste de México), including materials about events of the Mexican Revolution and its effects on the operations of the Company, and the Company's relations with the governments of Mexico and the United States. | |
| OCLC Record No. | 31769787 | |
| Extent | 2.3 linear ft. (circa 2,645 items)Ã | |
| Languages | and [code "engspa" not found in ISO 639-2 list]. | |
| Repository | Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin | |
Historical Note
The Ferrocarril Noroeste de México (Mexico Northwestern Railway Company), a British-owned corporation, operated in the early 20th century between El Paso, Texas, and the lumbering, mining and agricultural areas of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. In 1909 the company was incorporated in Canada under the direction of Fred Stark Pearson. R. Home Smith of Toronto, Canada, was the company president; other company officials and managers included Luís Riba, Louis Roy Hoard, J.O. Crockett, and H.I. Miller. The company purchased four short railways and constructed one; it also acquired extensive timber lands and lumber businesses and formed the Madera Company (with mills at Madera and Pearson, Chihuahua) and the El Paso Milling Company in Texas. The Northwestern Railway suffered great damage during the Mexican revolution of 1910-1920. Communication and transportation of products and supplies became very difficult and, at times, impossible. Company officials negotiated with both government and revolutionary forces in an attempt to protect company property, employees, and their families, and successfully steered the company through the revolution. In 1945 the Mexico Northwestern Railway Company's properties in Mexico were sold to a Chihuahua banker.
Scope and Contents
Business records of the Ferrocarril Noroeste de México (primarily letters, telegrams, and translations of coded telegrams), newspaper clippings, and maps contain information from the years 1910-1916 and April-May of 1919 about events of the Mexican Revolution, its effects on the operations of the railroad company, and the company's relations with the Mexican and United States governments and Mexican revolutionaries such as Pancho Villa. Correspondence is between company officials, investors, managers and other employees, such as Pearson, Riba, Miller, Crockett, and Smith; Mexican and United States government officials; and revolutionary leaders such as Pancho Villa (referred to in the correspondence as General Francisco Villa). Newspaper clippings, mostly from U.S. and British papers, pertain to politics and revolutionary events in Mexico, especially those affecting the railways and/or foreigners in Mexico. Maps are of railroad routes in Mexico.
Most of the materials are in English with a few items in Spanish.
Arrangement | ||
| Materials are arranged chronologically. | ||
Index Terms | ||
| Subjects (Persons) | ||
| Pearson, Fred Stark. | ||
| Smith, R. Home. | ||
| Hoard, Louis Roy, 1886-1973. | ||
| Villa, Pancho, 1878-1923 | ||
| Riba, Luis. | ||
| Crockett, J. O. | ||
| Miller, H. I. | ||
| Subjects (Corporations) | ||
| Corralitos Company | ||
| Cusi Mining Company | ||
| El Paso Milling Company | ||
| Madera Company | ||
| Mexican Light and Power Company | ||
| Mexican Tramways Company | ||
| National Railways of Mexico | ||
| Phelps, Dodge & Co. | ||
| Sierra Madre Land and Lumber Company | ||
| Turney and Burgess (Firm) | ||
| Places | ||
| Mexico--History--Revolution, 1910-1920 | ||
| Chihuahua (Mexico : State)--History--Revolution, 1910-1920. | ||
| Mexico--Politics and government--Revolution, 1910-1920. | ||
| Babicora Ranch (Chihuahua (Mexico : State)) | ||
| Colonia Dublán (Mormon settlement) | ||
| Cumbre Tunnel | ||
| Las Varas Ranch | ||
| Subjects | ||
| Railroads--Mexico--History--Revolution, 1910-1920. | ||
| Corporations, British--Mexico--History--Revolution, 1910-1920. | ||
| Lumber camps--Mexico--History--Revolution, 1910-1920. | ||
| Corporations, British--Mexico--History--Revolution, 1910-1920. | ||
| Other Authors | ||
| Aiken, Peter S. | ||
| Alexandre, H. | ||
| Brown, E. N. | ||
| Bryan, William Jennings, 1860-1925. | ||
| Burr, E. S. | ||
| Bussing, G. H. | ||
| Carranza, Venustiano | ||
| Castañeda, A. | ||
| Castillo, Máximo | ||
| Clark, F. J. | ||
| Clarke, Walter | ||
| Cooper, C. H. | ||
| Cox, A. L. | ||
| Cravath, W. V. | ||
| Creel, Enrique C. | ||
| Crockett, J. O. | ||
| Dudley, R. M. | ||
| Edwards, T. D. | ||
| Farragut, W. J. | ||
| Fernandez, Juan | ||
| Ferris, H.C. | ||
| Flether, E .E. | ||
| Fox, B S. | ||
| Glumaz, S. J. | ||
| Gow, Walter | ||
| Griscom, Lloyd C. | ||
| Hagan, Jules, Mrs. | ||
| Harmon, E. M. | ||
| Harrsen, Harro | ||
| Hartman, L. M. | ||
| Herr, F.C. | ||
| Hert, A.T. | ||
| Holmes, Tom B. | ||
| Hopkins, S. G. | ||
| Houghton, E.C. | ||
| Hoyer, J. F. | ||
| Huerta, Victoriano | ||
| Jones, F.C. | ||
| Lascurrain, Pedro | ||
| Lathrop, A. L. | ||
| Ledwidge, Edward | ||
| Lester, R. T. | ||
| Lewis, H.C. | ||
| Littlepage, Thomas P. | ||
| Lind, John | ||
| Madero, Francisco I., 1873-1913. | ||
| Masteller, M. L. | ||
| McClanahan, H. C. | ||
| McKenna, W. R. | ||
| Mercado, Salvador R. | ||
| Miller, H. I. | ||
| Morgan, E. D. | ||
| Myers, C. F. | ||
| Orozco, Pascual | ||
| Paddack, J. E. | ||
| Palmer, Bradley W. | ||
| Parra, Kid | ||
| Pearson, Fred Stark | ||
| Pickett, A. J. | ||
| Pruett, J. J. | ||
| Riba, Luís | ||
| Romney, Junius | ||
| Ruiz, Apolonio | ||
| Rutledge, George | ||
| Salazar, José Ynés | ||
| Sanburn, J. N. | ||
| Saumenig, H. M. | ||
| Scofield, Bernard | ||
| Smith, William Alden | ||
| Taft, Charles Phelps, 1843-1929 | ||
| Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930 | ||
| Thede, Porter C. | ||
| Trueb, A. M. | ||
| Velasquez, Herculano | ||
| Villa, Pancho, 1878-1923 | ||
| Wemple, F .L. | ||
| West, Duval | ||
| West, O. C. | ||
| Williams, Louis E. | ||
| Wilson, Henry Lane | ||
| Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924 | ||
| Wisdom, C. R. | ||
| Woodcock, H .B. | ||
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Records of the Ferrocarril Noroeste de México, 1910-1919, Benson Latin American Collection, University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin
Acquisitions Information
The Records of the Ferrocarril Noroeste de México were acquired by the Benson Latin American Collection in 1971.
Processing Information
Prepared by the Mexican Archives Project, January 23, 1994.
The records were described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in October 1994.