Textile Industry in Saltillo in the mid-nineteenth century

The first industrial boom in the region.

Abstract
Coahuila is today one of the leading producers of the automotive industry in Mexico and Latin
America, this has been so since the arrival of the carmakers in 1980.
But before the arrival of this industry, Coahuila had been important in a very different spin, that of
the textile industry. During the second half of the 19th century, Coahuila was one of the most
important producers in the country. The State had nine textile mills which settled mainly in the
southeastern region of the State, among them were "La Hibernia", "La Libertad", "La Aurora", and
"El Labrador"; all settled in what today is known as La Aurora, a village in the municipality of
Saltillo.

Historical context

The start of the textile industry in the State of Coahuila, happened in the early 1800s, when,
according to the M.S. Román Jaques "inhabitants of Monclova began the paperwork to buy a cotton
gin in Louisiana which indicates that cotton production was important in the area of Monclova."
This period was marked by great political instability at national level, since the country was trying
to have a project of nation, in which there were two philosophies, conservative and liberal.
Speaking from the economic point of view, conservatives sought to turn Mexico into a modern
country through the industrialization of different activities, including the textile. For this, they
needed the import of foreign machinery, to which the Liberals opposed because of their ideals since
they said that the wealth of a nation should be obtained from the production and export of raw
materials; thus, whenever they were in turn in power, they increased the duties on machinery.
In addition to the political changes of the country, industrials faced "real difficulties which imposed
the structural limitations of a nation in formation" (Lopez Ornelas 1992, 61)
All these changes give as a result that only a few enthusiasts were interested in the textile industry
in the mid-nineteenth century Mexico.
Other cause of delay in the installation of the textile industry was the lack of coal in the first
instance, which was necessary for the generation of steam used by most machines in that epoch.
This is one of the reasons why they settled in the southeast of Coahuila, where since the colonial
era, there were aqueducts that moved mills and looms.
The reason for the textile industry to settle in this town was because they needed to use the flow of
water to generate electricity by means of a turbine, this was necessary for the machinery to operate.

The first great industry of Saltillo

Seven of the nine textile companies existing at the time were established in the Southeast region of
Coahuila. La Aurora, La Hibernia, La Libertad and El Labrador in Saltillo; La Bella Unión in
Arteaga; La Esmeralda in Ramos Arizpe, as well as La Estrella in Parras.
These companies gave an economic boost to the region, since by 1887, there was a population count
of La Aurora in which was reported to live more than two thousand people, mostly workers, mainly
coming from San Luis Potosí.
According to one of the stories that Dr. Javier Villarreal presents in his book "Los ojos ajenos", the
one from George Wurtz Hughes, captain and Surveyor Chief Engineer of the U.S. Army that
invaded Mexico in 1846, said in his diary: "Saltillo is a town of considerable economic activity and
the settlement of the only factories (refering to the yarns and fabrics) that there are in Coahuila.
Everything indicates that these industries are in a time of prosperity, paying high wages to their
employees and workers and good dividends to their shareholders"(Villarreal Lozano 1993, 121).
In addition to this comment, there are many more which tell of how in the factories "La Aurora",
'La Hibernia' and “La Libertad” there was already wage equality between men and women who
worked there in 1840. Modernity is reflected not only in the machinery and structures, but also in
the thought that the managers of these companies reflected in such decisions.
One of these factories, "La Hibernia" belonged to an Irishman named James Hewetson, who named
his factory that way, because it was the Latin name that the Romans gave to the island where
Ireland is located. This factory had a solid two-story building built of stone and brick, where water
was used from a spring coming from a hill to power the machinery; This water was then used to
give movement to grain mills and finally for the irrigation of some parcels.
In the book published by John Russell Bartlett, describing in detail the daily life of Saltillo in 1852,
there is an account of "La Hibernia’s" Superintendent saying that the workers were all Mexican,
because they learned more quickly and were more disciplined than the Americans. It also spoke of
how the national market absorbed immediately the product coming out of the factory.
Based on all these comments we can consider that "Las fábricas" as they called them all in the mid-
19th century Saltillo were a very important part of the economic life not only of the city, where they
employed thousands of people, but also of the region and the country, given that the products that
came out of it supplied most of the region's markets.
We must remember that in that time, our country roads were in very bad conditions and with lack of
security, and adding the high costs of transportation of products, the scenario helped a lot to the
growth of these factories in the North of the country which had a need for textiles that was difficult
to get from the factories of the South.

Conclusion

After reviewing the detailed operation of "Las Fabricas", we can say that they were an apparatus of
change, from the way people made their living, to the way in which society worked.
It set an era of modernization not only of processes, but also of ideas, since they brought with them
work and equal payment between men and women. Even schools were installed in some of them
within the same facilities, such as La Hibernia, where both boys and girls studied at the same time.
They used methods that we would call today "renewable energy", in which a multiplicity of
applications was given to a single water source. The generator of electricity, the grain mills, the
domestic use and finally the parcel watering.
All of this using as a basis the production of canvas cotton, whose raw material came from our own
State, which was industrialized here and sent to national markets, and on some occasions even to
international ones.
Textile production was of utmost importance to help the settlement of our flourishing nation, which
required having a solid, stable and profitable industry, which at that time was the textile industry,
along with the mining industry.