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AV. CHETUMAL #42 (OLD BANAMEX                                       BUILDING) 

 CHINERO TREK

 

 

Death comes to 35 Chinese migrants at the butte just

north of San Felipe (presently at the military checkpoint).

 

During the 1900’s Mexicali was almost nonexistence. What

created Mexicali during this period was cotton. Several

wealthy Mexicans sold approximately 800,000 concession acreage in the Mexicali valley to the Colorado Land Company

(was primarily owned by Gray Otis and his son in law Harry

Chandler aka as the Los Angles Times and major developers

of the Los Angles basin). This era was the prepping for the start of world war 1 and cottons demand was expected to explode.

 

It is a misnomer to assume all the Chinese were all the forced displaced railroad workers from the United States, in fact they

were not but the migration was directly from China to southern

Mexico. The vast majority of the Chinese migrants dispersed thru out Mexico with some heading to Mexican border towns searching for work. Some 5,000 migrants headed north and helped settled Tijuana, Ensenada and Mexicali. Some of the 5,000 or so made the track from central Mexico via an inland route crossing the Gulf of California by ferries from numerous

locations to settle in northern Baja California.

 

 

Northern Mexico offered more employment opportunities than

mainland.  Mexicali offered work and better wages and safety than mainland Mexico for migrants ( during this time Mexico

was in one of its continuous political violent periods).

 

THE DEATH TREK – San Felipe to Mexicali

 

disembarking from the ferry in San Felipe the Chinese migrants

hired the guide Jose Escobedo from the port to assist them in their arduous walking trek thru 135 miles of hostile desert. The guide Jose assured the his faithful band of hopefuls that

he knew the area well and will locate the several watering stations along the route. Thirty five of the Chinese migrants died of dehydration near the small outcropping close to the present federal military checkpoint. The seven survivors and their guide

Jose manage to continue to their destination in Mexicali; shortly

after arriving the guide Jose Escobedo also succumbed. A mini

Berma death march thank to an inept “aka” port tourist guide;

seems opportunist never fade away.