This is the story of Luis Terrazas, one of the largest landowners Mexico has ever seen. With a modest inheritance and a traditional upbringing, he forged his fortune in the Chihuahuan desert, amidst weapons and political disputes.
By Juan de Dios Olivas, Political Notes
Have you ever heard the legend of Luis Terrazas, the man who claimed ownership of Chihuahua when asked about his origin? Clad in a fine American-style suit, with a salt-and-pepper beard and an imposing voice, his response was sharp, filled with vanity and emblematic of his identity. This response would go on to define him over time, forever associated with his name: Luis Terrazas, one of the greatest Mexican landowners in history.
Born in 1829, he was the sixth of 14 children born to Juan Terrazas and Petra Fuentes in the city of Chihuahua. In his youth, he never imagined that he would become the most hated tycoon by the revolutionary forces led by Francisco Villa. Originally, he chose the path of priesthood, according to the historian Francisco R. Almada.
However, fate took an unexpected turn when he was 21 years old. After having received minor orders in the priesthood, his father passed away, leaving him in charge of his family. With a modest inheritance and a traditional upbringing, he embarked on a journey that would lead him to fortune—a fortune forged in the Chihuahuan desert, amidst weapons and political disputes, whether fighting or exterminating the Apache, engaging in the cattle industry, or even in finance.
He also fought for the liberal cause, against the French intervention, and rose to the rank of general before becoming the governor of the largest state in Mexico. His domains grew, his fortune amassed incalculable wealth, and his business ventures diversified: wheat mills, textile factories, banks, and above all, through his power, he amassed more than 2.5 million hectares of land. It is estimated that between 350,000 and 500,000 head of cattle, goats, and horses grazed on these vast lands.
Under his command, more than 10,000 people worked on his estates, including the haciendas of Carmen, Encinillas, San Lorenzo, and San Diego. His office even had the first telephone line in the state, connecting him to the world and expanding his business to faraway cities such as New York and even Europe. Undoubtedly, his fortune was among the largest in the world.
Hacienda Encinilla de Luis Terrazas. Photo: Courtesy
From the Church to Power
On July 20, 1829, in the city of Chihuahua, Luis Terrazas Fuentes was born into a large family. Initially, he leaned towards a career in the priesthood. However, in 1849, when his father Juan Terrazas passed away, and with the death of his eldest sibling, Luis was forced to set aside his intentions of becoming a priest and take care of his 10 sisters, two brothers, and his mother.
He managed the small inheritance he received, but it wasn’t until two years later, when Governor Urquidi appointed him fiscal guardian of the State Treasury, that he began his journey to power. During this time, he married Carolina Cuilty Bustamante.
With an annual salary of 300 pesos, he held this official position for three years. He then became a councilor of the City Council of the capital from 1854 to 1855. During his tenure, he signed the adherence protest to the Ayutla Plan, which the Chihuahuan authorities forwarded to Antonio López de Santa Anna.
When the Ayutla revolution triumphed and the dictator was expelled from the country, Terrazas, along with other Chihuahuans, demanded the plan’s implementation and the removal of authorities who supported Santa Anna.
In 1856, he won the bid to supply meat to the city of Chihuahua. Three years later, he began his military career after being appointed syndic and called upon by General Ángel Trías to serve as the political chief of the capital, fighting against the conservatives who would be defeated.
Due to his merits in the campaign, the then-governor, José Eligio Muñoz, appointed him president of the War Council with the mission to acquire new resources to combat the Apache and the conservatives, whose rebellion was reigniting across the country against the liberals.
During the second conservative invasion of the state, Terrazas retreated from the capital to Aldama, where he recruited soldiers for the National Guard in that town and others. He fought in Tabaloapa, where he was defeated, but later, on August 27, he took revenge at the Labor de Dolores, recapturing the city of Chihuahua.
On September 21, he assumed the executive power after being appointed interim governor by the State Congress.
One of his first actions was to issue the Law of January 25, 1861, which mandated the sale of all church property in the state of Chihuahua. The proceeds would be used to pay off the debts incurred during the three years of the War of Reform.
However, taking advantage of the country’s isolation, he refused to publish the General Law of February 5, which prohibited state governors from interfering in the management of the sale of church property.
This enabled him to expand his economic power by seizing the properties that the Reform Laws stripped from the church.
According to some historians, ecclesiastical assets were sold to family members and members of the same political team (Cuilty, Cordero, Zuloaga, and years later, Creel, Sisniega, Falomir, Luján, Márquez, etc.), or they were kept to establish some of his numerous estates.
As governor, Terrazas also controlled the border customs without providing satisfactory reports to the government of Benito Juárez since these were federal, not state, revenues.
During the French intervention, he held all the matters that brought money to Chihuahua. Initially, he showed little concern about Juárez’s request to send him 1,500 soldiers, arguing that he was too preoccupied with issues concerning the United States and the Apache to divert soldiers for the defense of the homeland.
When Juárez arrived in the state, fleeing from the French, relations between the president and the governor were strained. Terrazas was ousted, and Jesús José Casavantes “Tata Ché” was appointed in his place after Chihuahua was placed under martial law.
However, a year later, he regained power through elections and changed his approach to his relationship with President Juárez. This time, he decided to support him in defeating the French. Through shrewd political maneuvering, he was appointed a general by Juárez, who required his loyalty to fight the invaders.
Terrazas collaborated in expelling the invaders from the state, allowing the president to return to Mexico City and ultimately restore the republic by executing Emperor Maximilian on the Cerro de las Campanas.
With this achievement, he also ensured that the federal government would leave his business ventures in peace. In a single operation in 1868, he purchased 186,000 hectares of the Encinillas estate, considered the most significant part of his land, in partnership with Henry Müller, a German resident of Chihuahua.
The estate, which Terrazas and Müller had been leasing for six years, had previously belonged to Dr. José Pablo Martínez, a conservative supporter and ally of the French, who was forced into exile. In 1905, the property became Terrazas’ complete domain.
A Turbulent Relationship
Terrazas supported Juárez’s final reelection and fought against rebels who supported the Plan de la Noria. However, he was defeated in Tabaloapa by the Porfirist general Donato Guerra, with whom he later signed a peace treaty. Juárez died in 1872, and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada assumed the presidency until being succeeded by Porfirio Díaz.
In Chihuahua, Terrazas was deposed, and José Eligio Muñoz, who had been in exile from the state due to his rivalry with the landowner, assumed power.
Nevertheless, the economic power that Terrazas had already accumulated commanded respect from the new president of Mexico, and he soon regained his influence, either as governor himself or through his son-in-law Enrique Creel.
Through his son-in-law, he cultivated a relationship with President Díaz as a strategy to protect his interests. During the Porfiriato, Terrazas was a partner of the Chihuahua Mint and numerous commercial, industrial, and banking enterprises. These included the Mineros de Chihuahua, Refaccionario, and Caja de Ahorros de la República Mexicana banks, through which he and his family held a monopoly on banknote issuance and banking, repair, and mortgage operations.
During the first decade of the last century, his family owned all the major businesses in the state. Although the Mexican Revolution affected his ventures and he was forced into exile to escape Francisco Villa, he returned in 1920 when the armed conflict ended.
Upon his return, he still retained his economic power, unlike many other landowners in the country. His vast estate was not expropriated by the revolutionary governments. Instead, he received 13 million pesos through the Caja de Préstamo (Loan Fund). Thus, with his economic power intact, he passed away on June 15, 1923, in the capital city of Chihuahua, which had become his own politically and economically.
Sources:
- Almada, Francisco R. Visión Histórica de la Frontera Norte de México; Memorias.
- Terrazas, Joaquín. La guerra contra los Apaches.
- Altamirano, Graciela, Villa, Guadalupe. Chihuahua, Textos de su Historia.
- Aboites, Luis. Breve Historia de Chihuahua.
- Terrazas, Filiberto. La guerra apache en México.
