1 POSO DE LOS MUERTOS A Short Story By George Pararas ...

As much as a ton of silver would be carried to Veracruz along the dry beds ofrivers and streams, through mountain passes, and wherever nature had cut apath. The leaders of the mule trainshad the choice of choosing theirown routing to avoid hostile Indiansor bandits, some of whom wereeven Spaniards or French from theNorth. And although only one out ofthree mule trains would make itthrough the rugged mountains ofthe Cordilleras to the safety of theplains on the other side, enoughgold and silver would reachVeracruz for shipment to Spain. But only heaven knows what would happen tothe leaders of a mule train if it was ambushed and reached the port without itsload of treasure. Death or lengthy imprisonmentwould be the punishment regardless of thecircumstances. Thus, many of the mule trainleaders, if they escaped death during an ambushbut lost their valuable cargo, opted never to returnbut to head north to the New Territories where theViceroy's soldiers could not get them. Somewould even turn bandits themselves, since it wasso lucrative.The great sea stream in the Golfo De NuevaEspaña2