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CHIHUAHUA

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Originally appearing in Volume V06, Page 134 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHIHUAHUA , a See also:

city of See also:Mexico, See also:capital of the above See also:state, on the Chihuahua See also:river, about r000 m. N.W. of Mexico City and 225 M. S. by E. of El Paso. Pop. (1895) 18,279; (1900) 30,405. The city stands in a beautiful valley opening northward and hemmed in on all other sides by spurs of the Sierra Madre. It is 4635 ft. above See also:sea-level, and its See also:climate is mild and healthy. The city is laid out regularly, with broad streets, and a handsome plaza with a See also:monument to See also:Hidalgo and his companions of the revolution of 181o, who were executed here. The most See also:note-worthy of its public buildings is the See also:fine old See also:parish See also:church of See also:San Francisco, begun in 1717 and completed in 1789, one of the best specimens of 18th-See also:century See also:architecture in Mexico. It was built, it is said, with the proceeds of a small tax on the output of the See also:Santa Eulalia mine. Other prominent buildings are the See also:government See also:palace, the Porfirio See also:Diaz See also:hospital, the old Jesuit See also:College (now occupied by a See also:modern institution of the some See also:character), the See also:mint, and an See also:aqueduct built in the 18th century. Chihuahua is a station on the Mexican Central railway, and has tramways and telephones.

See also:

Mining is the See also:principal occupation of the surrounding See also:district, the famous Santa Eulalia or Chihuahua el Viejo mines being about 12 M. from the city. Next in importance is See also:agriculture, especially See also:fruit-growing. Manufacturingis making See also:good progress, especially the See also:weaving of See also:cotton fabrics by modern methods. The manufacture of cotton and woollen goods are old See also:industries in Chihuahua, but the introduction of See also:American skill and capital toward the end of the 19th century placed them on an entirely new footing. The manufacture of See also:gunpowder for mining operations is another old See also:industry. Chihuahua was founded between 1703 and 1705 as a mining See also:town, and was made a See also:villa in 1715 with the See also:title San Felipe el Real de Chihuahua. Because of the See also:rich mines in its vicinity it soon became one of the most prosperous towns in See also:northern Mexico, although the state was constantly raided by hostile See also:Indians. In 1763 it had a See also:population of nearly 5000. The See also:war of See also:independence was followed by a See also:period of decline, owing to See also:political disorder and revolution, which lasted until the See also:presidency of See also:General Porfirio Diaz. In the war between Mexico and the See also:United States, Chihuahua was captured on the 1st of See also:March 1847, by See also:Colonel A. W. Doniphan, and again on the 7th of March by General See also:Price.

In 1864 See also:

President See also:Juarez made the city his provisional capital for a See also:short See also:time.

End of Article: CHIHUAHUA

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