El Tríunfo

Located at 1,700 ft (518 m) on the Transpeninsular Highway between La Paz and San Jose del Cabo, El Tríunfo (The Triumph) was a bustling mining town in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Today it is much smaller (pop. 327) and quieter, and many buildings are just brightly-painted brick facades. The mining-era ruins are extensive and well known, and include a smokestack designed by Gustave Eiffel. Tourists are also drawn to the “piano museum” and the Café El Tríunfo, owned by an ex-biker from California (his motorcycle is in the lobby).

The Transpeninsular Highway through El Tríunfo

Restored home

Abandoned building

Silver mines in southern Baja date back to 1748 when El Tríunfo was a cattle ranch. Silver and gold were discovered in the mountains around El Tríunfo in 1862 and miners from Mexico, the United States, England, China and other countries flocked to the area. Some came because they had missed the 1849 Gold Rush in California (link). 

Rande and the local guide we hired to show us around the mining ruins

In 1878, mining was consolidated under the British El Progreso Mining Company. El Tríunfo eventually grew to about 10,000 people making it the largest town in southern Baja and the first town to install electricity and telephones, and it published two newspapers (link, link). 

El Tríunfo from the mineworks

Two smokestacks are visible from just about anywhere in El Tríunfo. The smaller, square stack (“Julia”) dates from the original smelter; the 35-m (115-ft) round stack (“Ramona”) was designed by Gustave Eiffel, French architect and engineer, and built in the late 1800s. He never visited Baja California, but sold his designs for projects around the world (link). 

"Ramona" designed by Gustave Eiffel

Ramona's crown

Here’s a description of operations during the El Progreso era from a display in the music museum: 

The plant includes a 40-stamp dry-crushing mill, hoisting machinery, drills, air compressors, engines and boilers, as well as a modern cyanide plant capable of handling 400 tons per day…The various mines are connected with the hacienda by a complete narrow-gauge steam railroad conveying the ore to the mill, and there are now employed 1000 men the year round, and some 350 mules in transporting the wood and supplies…

"Julia"

About 25 mines were producing up until 1895 when a large hurricane flooded them, which resulted in water problems and declining production. El Progreso Mining Company stopped operations in 1912 and mining ended by 1926. Bricks from the mine works were hauled away to construct houses in other parts of Baja (link, link). An estimated 3,580 kg of gold (115,000 oz) and 661 tons of silver (21,250,000 oz ) were extracted (link).

Bridge

We visited a cemetery containing 13 tombs of Englishmen. “English miners, particularly those from Cornwall with experience of steam engines and the draining of deep shafts, were highly regarded in Mexico in the nineteenth century and some became incredibly wealthy” (link). According to our guide, the English died during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Chinese and Mexicans were buried in "worker" cemeteries up an arroyo.

English Cemetery (Panteon Ingles)

Increasing wealth from the mines made El Tríunfo a cultural center and classical concerts were popular around the turn of the century when pianos from around the world were brought to El Tríunfo. Francisca Mendoza, a native of the town, studied music in San Francisco and returned to teach and perform. She married Carlos Aramburo, a commercial merchant. They left the declining town in 1918 and moved their market to La Paz where Aramburo Markets can be found today (link).

Music Museum (Museo de la Músíca)
[the woman is selling the fruit (tuna) of the prickly pear cactus (Opuntia) to passing motorists]

The Museo de la Músíca occupies a restored 19^th century mansion on the Transpeninsular Highway. It was closed the first time we visited El Tríunfo. We were skeptical but curious, and returned a couple weeks later when it was open. Christian, a volunteer docent, gave us a guided tour. The museum knows the story of most of the instruments that have been donated, including a piano that was buried for several years during the Mexican Revolution.

Christian and his wife have lived in Mexico for three decades. He was a professional musician and film maker in the U.S., but became a house builder in Mexico (he lives in a house built from tires). He came to the piano museum a couple years ago, rediscovered his love of music while playing the Baldwin grand piano, became a docent and now gives impromptu concerts. He especially enjoys playing for school children. We were enchanted as he played classical pieces from Russia and Cuba followed by a medley of Leonard Bernstein songs from West Side Story in the museum’s concert hall.

Christian playing the Baldwin grand piano

Interest in mining in the hills around El Tríunfo has increased in the last two decades and 27 mostly small-scale operations are registered (link). More recently, two North American mining companies proposed open-pit mines: one in the hills northeast of El Tríunfo (link) and one in Sierra La Laguna Biosphere Reserve southwest of El Tríunfo (link, link). Both have been protested by activists and citizens (link, link). "No a la Mega minería Tóxica" (No to toxic mega mining) is stenciled on buildings in several towns. Last year, the federal Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (Semarnat) refused to permit the open-pit mine in Sierra La Laguna (link).

Street in El Tríunfo