México es Mi Capital

México the Beautiful Arizona Highways

Americans as a whole, know very little about México and the Mexican people. It is to be regretted, also, that there is so much misinformation about our southern neighbors in this country, because México is a great Nation, an important Democracy, and in so many ways admirable and in some ways even superior to our own. This, the September issue of Arizona Highways, is designed as a tribute to México and the Mexican people, but if it is notable in any way, it is notable because of its omissions. To present México in a few pages is an impossible task. Great volumes could be prepared on México and still the story would be inadequately told. In these pages we skim lightly through ten of the 20-odd states in the Republic and drop in for a very short visit to the Capital, México City. We touch a few of the high spots. We tell you nothing of such great states as Chihuahua, Durango, Coachuila, Nuevo León, Tamalipas, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, San Luis Petosí, Guanajuato, Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatán and Tlaxcala. Each of these states, with its interesting background, could be a book in itself. We tell you little history of the country; little, too, of the great forces of Democracy at work in the country today. We touch few of the vivid personalities in México today, or of México of the past. México is a different thing to every person and you will have to seek out your own México, whether it be a great city or a little village hidden by distance and time in some lone mountain valley.

Of the twenty million people in the Republic of México all but ten percent are pure Indian or mixed. There are over 55 Indian dialects spoken in the Republic today and when you realize that this vast Indian population is being brought into and enmeshed in the progress of the Republic, you understand then the vast racial integration taking place. We take our Indians and shut them off in a reservation. The Indians of México are given 30 acres of land and are aided in every way to become vital parts of the commonwealth. From these Indian peoples have come some of the great Mexicans. Juárez, Zapata, Morelos. Some of the leading generals in México today are almost of pure Indian antecedents, notable of which is the former president, General Lázaro Cárdenas. Since the days of the Aztecs, Mexican Indians have fought gallantly for their independence and liberty. It is important that the American people should know more of México and the Mexican people. Today our neighbors are lined up side by side with us against the Axis. They have a potential force of 5,000,000 men to fight with and for us. They are taking their war effort with decision and earnestness. The people of these two great Republics should come to learn and understand each other, because in the years to come we will have to depend more and more on each other.

Children in the American schools, learning Spanish, should learn of México. Today we still study Spanish from the viewpoint of Spain. Old Spain is dead. We have nothing in common with Spain of today. Our school children should be taught Mexican history; they should be taught the workings of the Mexican Democracy, and above all should know well the stories of the great patriots of México, whose lives are an inspiration to all free peoples everywhere. The story of Benito Juárez should be taught to every American school child. He is truly a heroic, an epic figure, and with the exception of Abraham Lincoln, one of the foremost figures ever produced in the Americas. He was a true patriot, this poor Indian, and Freedom never had a more impassioned and zealous son. Today, more than ever before, his life and his teachings should be a constant inspiration to all men believing in the principles of Liberty and Democracy. So there is much that we have failed to tell you of México in these modest pages, but we hope something will be interesting and enlightening to you. What we do present we offer as a tribute to a great nation and a great people. We are proud to be able to offer what we can. Viva México! Viva La Republica! Viva Libertad! Viva Camacho!

the friendly journal of life and travel in the old west Published monthly by the Arizona Highway Department in the interest of good roads and for the promotion of tourist travel over highways of Arizona. Communications should be addressed to Arizona Highways, Arizona Highway Department, Phoenix, Arizona. Subscription rates: One Dollar per year, Ten Cents per copy. Printed in the U. S. A. "Entered as second-class matter Nov. 5, 1941, at the post office at Phoenix, Arizona, under the act of March 3, 1879."

Highway Commission

Through the pages of Arizona Highways, a magazine of the Americas as a tribute to the Republic of México is pleased to present: A

Mexican Portfolio

Photographs, unless otherwise credited, are by Esther Henderson and Chuck Abbott. Design and artwork is by George M. Avey. Words and commentary are by Raymond Carlson, Editor, Arizona Highways.

F. N. Grant, Deputy State Engineer; Sid Smyth, Director of Personnel and Purchases; E. C. Corbell, Motor Vehicle Supt.; R. A. Hoffman, Chief Div. of Bridge and Certification; E. V. Miller, Chief Division of Plans; J. W. Powers, Engineer of Materials; A. F. Rath, Manager, Planning Survey; George Steisel, Supt. of Equipment; J. S. Mills, Chief Division of Estimates; Horace Moore, Patrol Superintendent; Harry Duberstein, Right of Way Agent; W. M. Murray, Purchasing Agent.

Percy Jones, Chief Locating Engineer; Joe DeArozena, District Engineer, District No. 1; R. C. Perkins, District Engineer, District No. 2; J. R. Van Horn, District Engineer, District No. 3.

MEXICANS speak of their capital with deep pride and well, indeed, they might, for it is one of the important cities of the world, a modern, progressive metropolis, a citadel of Democracy and Liberty, with a population of a million and a half.

The word México stands for the national capital in the Federal District; a state of which Toluca is the capital; and also for the Republic, but to Mexicans México (Méh-hee-ko) means Mexico City. When they say "México es mi capital!" they say it as if they were speaking of an adored and special thing. The word comes from the Aztec word, Mexitli, an Aztec god.

The city is located in the central part of the Republic on a lofty plateau in an oval valley at an elevation of 7,300 feet. It is protected by encircling mountains and has an even, delightful climate, never too hot, never too cold.

Love of things beautiful being an inherent characteristic of the Mexican people, it is not surprising that México is a beautiful city, one of the most beautiful in the world. Its history goes back to 1300 when the monarchs of the mighty Aztec Empire built their capital where México now stands. When Cortés came in 1521 he found a city to him "the fairest city in the world." He conquered that city and he resolved to build a new capital for New Spain without equal in all Christendom. Today there aremany evidences of the wisdom and building genius of the Spaniards, and their creations in stone and tile and brick dating from the days of the Colonial Empire remain today to give an aristocratic tone and venerable aspect to the delightful city. Yet with. 500 years of its tumultous story written in the history books, México does not give you the impression of an old, worn-out city, its nodding head buried in the tomes of yesterday like a dignified old lady wrapped in lovely dreams. As you wander through the Republic you find many old and charming cities, wearing their past as if reluctant to lay the past aside. But not so with México. México is a vigorous city, keenly alive to the present, enthusiastically preparing herself for the future.

If the city could talk, she would say: "I was a great city long before New York or Chicago or Los Angeles or Buenos Aires were started. Today my story is five centuries old, and yet in this bright new world I have just begun to live. My children will provide well for me, as they have in the past. They will build well for me in the future so that I can go down the glorious years to come proud and unafraid, knowing that I will have the acclaim and the respect of all men of all nations. I truly represent a great Democratic nation, whose people, gay and liberty-loving, have never hesitated to shed their blood for the cause of Freedom. This nation that I represent is just beginning to come into its own, and as it grows and prospers and progresses so will I grow and prosper and progress. Greatness is my destiny. I have just begun to live."

To the Republic, México is Washington, New York, Pittsburgh, Hollywood, New Orleans, Detroit and San Francisco all rolled into one colorful city. México is the financial, political, economic and cultural center of a great nation. Her great men, her leaders, her planners, her builders, her artists, her dreamers, her poets, come from all over México; so the city absorbs and puts to work for her and the nation all the genius from Sonora and Yucatán. Every state capital has contributed to the greatness of México and thereby has contributed to the greatness of their nation and of themselves; so the capital fully represents all of the Republic. "México es mi capital" can be spoken just as truly by a poor farmer in the distant mountains of Chihuahua, or by a plodding plantation worker in Chiapas as by the wealthy Mexicans whose homes are art creations in the Lomas de Chapultepec. The Mayor of Nogales, Sonora, as well as the traffic officer in Monterrey are equally as proud of their Nation's Capital as the President himself and they feel that México belongs to them as much as to anyone else.

México is geared to the tempo of the 20th Century. Her industry is expanding. Massive modern buildings are replacing buildings that have outlived their usefulness. Modern boulevards are choked with traffic. Her airport, one of the finest on this continent, is a continual roar of air travel, for México is closely tied The great Cathedral of México City, facing the Zócalo. A Cathedral was dedicated here in 1534, felt to be unworthy of the Catholic Monarch of the new kingdom, was razed, the present Cathedral being built in its stead (1667.) The great Cathedral of México City, facing the Zócalo. A Cathedral was dedicated here in 1534, felt to be unworthy of the Catholic Monarch of the new kingdom, was razed, the present Cathedral being built in its stead (1667.) Stairway to the shrine of Guadalupe. Guadalupe, the Dark Madonna, is the Patroness and Protectress of México, the most revered of all the saints.

Part of the flower market near Chapultepec in México City. These markets do a thriving business for flowers are an integral part of every Mexican household.

Joined by the skyways with all great cities and nations of America and South America. Thousands of street cars, buses and taxis haul hundreds of thousands of passengers each day as an incredible public service. Her modern hotels are hosts to people from all over the world for México is a world city as well as a national city. The business man from Río, the countess from Austria and the school teacher from southern Illinois meet on a common basis. México is universal and cosmopolitan.

But the crash of traffic, the blink of neon lights, the streamlined buildings, the wink of street signals, the shops and the shows, the mod ish dress, the mass of visitors from the United States and other countries all this cannot conceal the fact that México is definitely Mexican and that she has a personality all of her own, distinctly different from any other great city in the world.

The cathedral and the churches; the Castle of Chapultepec; great boulevards like the Paseo de La Reforma; the great markets like that of Merced; the many, many monuments honoring the great men of México; the parks and the street vendors; the murals in the public buildings; the National Pawn Shop; the light heartedness of the Mexican people; their laugh ter; their love of flowers and music; their deeprooted religions, their siesta hours, their holidays and saints days: all of these are just part and small parcels of the beauty, the contrasts, the aggressiveness and dreaminess, the greatness and the humor that is México. The weather is a part of the city, and the landscape and old Popocatépetl (Po-po-kah-taypetul) and Ixtaccíhuatl (Eeks-tock-seé-wattle), the grim old volcanoes, whose whitened crowns have been watching the valley of the city of México since time began these things, too, fit into the portrait of a unique city.

More than in any other way México is the cultural and educational center of the Republic. Men in the offices of the government are planning and carrying out a political philosophy that is directed toward the uplift of the great masses of Mexican people.

When you turn back a few pages of México's history you see a great majority dominated and held in subservience and ignorance by the One of the most impressive memorials in México City is that to the everlasting honor and memory of Benito Juárez in the Alameda. Mexicans revere their heroes, constantly look to their lives and teachings for inspiration and guidance.