Batopilas

Batopilas, is the town of about a 1,000 inhabitants at the bottom of the Copper Canyon.  The silver mines of Batopilas were some of the richest in Mexico. In the 18th and 19th century both Spaniards and Mexicans gained great wealth out of the area. American John Robinson purchased an old claim in 1861 which turned out to have a large, hidden vein. He decided to sell the claim to fellow American Alexander Shepherd for $600,000 US in 1880.

Alexander Shepherd was the last mayor of Washington, D.C. and had been ousted under unproven corruption charges. Once Shepherd moved his family to Batopilas, he filed over 350 mining claims and formed the Batopilas Mining Company. His mines became some of the wealthiest in the world at their peak.

Noting the difficulty and time (over eight days) of transporting the silver ore to Chihuahua, Shepherd opened his own facilities and foundry along the river at his Hacienda San Miguel. Over 20 million ounces of silver were extracted from the mines, and this great wealth allowed Shepherd to bring cultural events and technological advances to this once sleepy town. Batopilas was the second city in Mexico to have electricity. His hydroelectric works provide the towns power still and he also built an aqueduct which is still in use today. So famous for it's wealth were Shepherd's mines that Pancho Villa once robbed a mule shipment of $40,000 US in silver bars.

Hacienda San Miguel on the opposite bank of the Batopilas River

After riding down the trail of fear, we arrived late in the day -- nearly sundown, though dusk arrives earlier at the bottom of the Canyon since the horizon is 7,000 feet above you.  Our guide book has several suggestions for lodging and we elected to stay at Juanita's which permitted secure off-street parking in their courtyard.

Street view of entrance to Juanita's

Juanita's Courtyard

However, we cannot give Juanita's or Batopilas a good review.  When we arrived at Bato the town was basically shut down and no restaurants were open -- we ended up eating Pop Ramen, cookies and Coke (FYI - Diet Coke is referred to as Coca-Cola Light in Mexico).  Unlike everywhere else we've been the people in Bato seemed to resent our presence and were generally unhelpful.  Moreover, I was dreading the ride out the next day.

The layout of Batopilas is pretty simple, two, one-way streets that parallel the river for about a mile.  Reportedly, because of the need to support the silver mines, Batopilas was the second city in Mexico to get electricity -- there is an aqueduct north of the town that leads to a hydro power generation facility.  Some pictures of the town square and other sites around Bato:

Municipal Building and Police Station

Batopilas' Centro Square

Bandstand/Gazebo on the Main Square

Curtis also got some good shots off the hotel's courtyard:

The Batopilas River that ran along the east side of the city and just outside our hotel

This guy was washing is SUV in the river that morning

Before we settled down for the night in Bato, we quickly unloaded the bikes and headed for the abandoned Jesuit Mission of San Miguel de Satevo, known as the "Lost Mission" as there are no records describing its existence, but believed to have been constructed in the 1760's, the mission is one of the Canyon's best preserved with an ideal setting next to the Batopilas River.

First view of the Mission