La Tierra Fortunada: A Better, and Nicer, Mexico.

Iñaki

it is an interesting beggining for a new update.:cool:

Hmm! It seems that we could have here a draw between Mexico and Texas
 

The Uchronian

Iñaki said:
it is an interesting beggining for a new update.:cool:

Hmm! It seems that we could have here a draw between Mexico and Texas
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Maybe so, but it'd be closer to a win for Texas, though, by the end, that much I can say. But any victory would be at least somewhat Pyrrhic, I'm afraid.
 

The Uchronian

*Christmas Bump*!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas today. I still don't have any updates yet but one may hopefully come relatively soon. In the meantime, comments & questions, whether from regular viewers and passers-by, are certainly welcome. :):cool:
 

The Uchronian

Good news, folks. I finally managed to get something done recently. :D

Here's the first part of the first section of Chapter 3.

**

Excerpts from “Texas History: 1810-1992”, by William F. Davidson.

The Texians were in a bad situation in July of 1843; the Mexican Army had managed to seize several port towns in the south of the country and were quickly moving to the east-northeast at a fairly quick rate; La Baca, Victoria, Texana and several other towns had fallen by the middle of the month and it appeared to many, based largely on what few communiques they could intercept from the various Mexican officers, that the towns of Palacios, Columbia, Velasco, and Brazoria, Texas were all next in line to be trampled by the Mexican Army.

In any case, President Houston realized that the Texians needed to act quickly and rally some of their forces southward towards the besieged Gulf Coast. They were able to send about 2,000 men southwards to fight the Mexicans off, but unfortunately, forcing them back was easier said than actually done, as Santa Anna's men still continued to increase in number.....

However, though, some good news came their way as well; on July 9th, a letter written to several Texian officials informed them that another 5,000 men were to come to Texas by way of Louisiana and Arkansas, as part of a volunteer force. Quite fortunate for the Texians, too, because the Mexicans were about to make their next major move. But at least this time, they would be more prepared.....

The Mexicans advanced towards the already-besieged small town of Refugio on the morning of July 12th, guns in hand and cavalry riding thru the open fields west of the area. With only 50 Texians available to defend the town, versus about 500 Mexicans, it fell by no later than 4 o'clock that afternoon, with all but two of the defenders dead and much of the community, once again under the palm of Santa Anna, fell into disrepair and despair.[1]

On July 15th, Palacios became the next town to fall victim to the Mexican invasion as Santa Anna's men swept thru the area, decimating the hundred or so Texian defenders to the point were only a dozen survived. It was reported widely that a few renegade soldiers had raped the widows of a few of the dead Texians, though this rumor was never confirmed. Two days later, the nearby hamlet of Columbia fell to the Mexicans as well, and the commanders of that contingent began to draw their eyes southwards, towards the towns of Velasco, and Brazoria.....

The Battle of Brazoria occurred between July 21-25, 1843 and was fought between about 160 Texians and 457 of the surviving raiders of the Refugio battle. At 9 am on the 21st, some outlying citizens of Velasco observed that a large number of cavalrymen were headed towards their town, and in full force. The local Texian militias scrambled to gather whatever weapons they could grab, or find, and then went in seperate directions, some staying in Velasco and the others leaving for Brazoria to reinforced the garrison there. This turned out to be a somewhat prudcnt move as the Mexicans didn't stay in Velasco for all that long, only a few hours at most. They then left for Brazoria, arriving at 1 o'clock; the fighting would begin shortly after.[2]

The Texians fought valiantly against terrific odds, but were stuck in a rather unfortunate circumstance; they had very little surplus ammunition and Santa Anna's men surrounded them on almost every side, which would have made it virtually impossible to get any cargo through to them anyway. The Texians then barricaded themselves within various of the town's buildings and fought the Mexicans to a standstill. But the Mexicans ultimately won out and the Texians suffered yet another humiliating defeat at the hands of Santa Anna's forces in Brazoria; of the surviving Texians, a dozen had been captured and about two dozen more had fled to the northeast. During the evening hours of the 25th, Velasco also fell, with only a handful of surviving Texians in custody, and the town's mayor and his family on foot. The neighboring city of Quintana surrendered without a fight and was far more lightly occupied than the other two towns in the area. And with the capture of Velasco, Texas would lose yet another port, with only Matagorda and Harrisburg remaining free.[3]

Matagorda would soon be attacked itself on the 27th; though the 42 Texians still stationed there put up a spirited fight, they couldn't stop 800 Mexican soldiers from eventually taking the town; though over a hundred Mexicans had been killed, only a pair of the Texians survived, both of whom were taken prisoner.[4]

The Texians had already suffered a number of humiliating defeats by the end of the month, but on the 31st, their dismay was only heightened when they learned that the bulk of Santa Anna's forces were now beginning to arrive within close proximity of the border. In response, Sam Houston ordered for more calls for American volunteers to come to Texas's aid, and it worked; by August 7th, yet another 5,000 volunteers, many of them from the North this time, answered the calls for assistance.[5]

And none too soon, either: On August 9th, the Mexican Army again surrounded the much-besieged town of San Antonio and demanded the surrender of the citizens. Weary of the fighting, the mayor reluctantly obliged, and the Army occupied the city by the end of the day; many citizens protested, but went back to their homes the following morning, realizing the hopelessness of their current situation[6]. Just another week and a half later, they began to move north and eastward in what was to be the most powerful of the Mexican assaults on Texas yet planned.....[7]
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There you go. Things are about to get eveb worse for the Texians indeed.....at least temporarily, anyhow. :eek:
 

Iñaki

Fall of Sant Antonio, bad, very bad news! Unfortunately (for Texas) a better Mexico has the other face of the coin: a worse history for Texas.

I think..that you forget something...the numbers in brackets -they need some text linked to each number-...:);)
 

The Uchronian

Iñaki said:
Fall of Sant Antonio, bad, very bad news! Unfortunately (for Texas) a better Mexico has the other face of the coin: a worse history for Texas.

I think..that you forget something...the numbers in brackets -they need some text linked to each number-...:);)
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Sorry about that. It's a funky habit I developed as a result of long periods between starting and finishing updates. Hopefully it'll be less of a problem as time goes on, though.

And yes, the loss of San Antonio (again) is definitely bad news for the Texians; but the peak of the Mexican winning streak is coming quite a bit sooner than some may have suspected. After that, it's all downhill from there.....here's the rest of the update, btw, complete with the footnotes.

While the rest of Santa Anna's reinforcements on their way, Victor Olascuagua[8], the officer who had commanded the Brazoria raid, merged his 700 or so surviving men with another force of about 500, and took 1,000 with him while leaving the other 200 to defend Matagorda. And with that, he commanded his men to move to the northeast, arriving in Orozimbo on the 22nd. The 20 or so Texians who took up arms tried to defend their town but were swiftly defeated by Olascuagua's men in only a matter of half an hour. Across the river, Bolivar, Texas, would itself fall just two days later after a battle of similar duration[9]. Olascuagua then waited in Bolivar for another week to receive some extra ammunition, and then he would again move out.....

Olascuagua's men finally did leave Bolivar on the 31st and made a dash towards Liverpool, a small but ever growing town of about 2,000 residents, which seems rather tiny today, but at this time, was the fifth largest city in Texas. (For a comparison, the fifth largest city in East Texas today is Arlington, with a population of about 280,000 residents). In the meantime, several other Mexican contingents were making their way across other areas of Texas, striking, as a rattlesnake would a stray cow.....[10]

The Battle of Liverpool, though relatively short-lived, was more intense than the Mexicans had initially anticipated; as many as 200 Texians had moved into the area upon hearing of the impending raid, and at least one company had brought a cannon. The battle started at around 11 am on the 1st and immediately began to turn into a bloodbath. Gunfire erupted across the entire town and dozens of homes and businesses were wrecked by both sides as they struggled for tactical supremacy. Unfortunately for the Texians, the Mexicans would yet again prove victorious; those Texians who hadn't been killed or escaped were imprisoned, and a few of the more belligerent Texian commanders were sent to the notorious Perote Prison complex in Veracruz[11]. And just a few days later, the towns of Vienna and San Leon had also fallen victim.....

As terrible as things seemed, however, the darkest days of the Republic of Texas were yet to come, and when they did, would test the ultimate resolve of the Texians and determine their nation's fate once and all.....[12]

*

[1] To clear things up a bit, Refugio was liberated for a time but was later re-occupied by the Mexicans, as written earlier.

[2] Velasco would escape most of the fighting, but as per footnote 3.....

[3] They got their own taste of Mexican occupation. And so would Matagorda and Harrisburg as well.

[4] “The Forty Texians”, as they are known, later become a part of that area's folk culture and even inspired a couple of *country songs.

[5] Quite a few of these advertisements targeted towards Yankees included descriptions of Liberty Creek and other such places, I might add.

[6] Can you blame them? Three occupations over just two years can't be good for the morale of any town, city, or village.

[7]This, of course, on top of being an overwhelming show of force, is also in rather stark defiance of the reality that ever-growing rebellions continue to plague his own country, and Santa Anna knows it, too.

[8]Earlier mentioned in a letter written by one Adrian Woll.

[9]Simply put, there's no stopping the Santa Anna Express.....or so the loyalists would like to think, anyhow.

[10]Pardon the corny metaphors, but this guy is from (East) Texas. Such a phenomenon transcends many a TL from here to the end of the multiverse.

[11]Perhaps Olascuagua may not have realized just how severe such a punishment would be.....but try telling that to the Texian commanders about to take their one-way trip down south.....

[12]And perhaps that of the wider region as a whole.....

*
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Iñaki

Originally posted by CaliBoy1990
As terrible as things seemed, however, the darkest days of the Republic of Texas were yet to come, and when they did, would test the ultimate resolve of the Texians and determine their nation's fate once and all.....[12]
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Ay! Ay! Alas of Texas, alas of you texians becaus in this ATL Mexico is on rise!
 

The Uchronian

Iñaki said:
Ay! Ay! Alas of Texas, alas of you texians becaus in this ATL Mexico is on rise!
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Yeah. Unfortunately, I might have to put things off for a little bit; this old laptop of mine is starting to go on the fritz and I might not be able to replace it right away. I do have a spare one, though, so the situation may turn better than I thought. Wish me luck. :cool:
 

The Uchronian

Hey folks. Now that I've got myself a new computer, things may finally be getting back on track! In the meantime, however, I've whipped up a nice little Valentine's Day weekend surprise for all you good readers out there(warning: minor spoilers ahead).

From the pages of Luisa Cerantino's weblog, “An American Chica in Mexico”, Feb. 12, 2009 edition.


This next Saturday, millions across the world, from Tokyo to London and from Anchorage to Sao Paulo will celebrate Valentine's Day. From it's inception in Roman times to the present day, it has been regarded as a day for lovers of all sorts.


Mexico has it's own unique modern traditions going back to at least the 1860's, which are inspired by not just European traditions, but also by those of the Meso-American peoples as well. Did you know, for instance, that the Aztecs had two distinct gods of love, known as [FONT=Perpetua, serif]Xochipilli[/FONT][FONT=Perpetua, serif] and [/FONT][FONT=Perpetua, serif]Xochiquetzal[/FONT][FONT=Perpetua, serif]?[/FONT]


Xochipilli, who is also named Macuilxochitl(meaning “prince of the flowers”, was not only the deity of
Love, but also of that of beauty, dance, flowers, and songs. His wife(or sister) Xochiquetzal, whose name meant precious flower, was associated with the fertility of nature. (How fitting, then, that their son Centeotl, was the god of corn!) To honor these deities, priests fasted for four whole days and inserted maguey thorns into their tongues before offering bread and corn to them.


Modern Mexican tradition has kept some of these ancient traditions and modified them. Many Mexican homes have figurines of Xochipilli & Xochiquetzal in their homes, as a symbol of love & faithfulness. Teponatzli drums, often used in the pre-Columbian rituals, became popular for use in informal gatherings in the 1950s and still remain so to this day, including in singing contests, sometimes accompanied by guitars or piano music.....


Gifts are typically small, such as flowers or balloons, although more complex items, such chocolate & candy boxes have also been exchanged, since the latter 1940s. In both cases, the gifts often have poems attached to the package, professing one's love for a loved one, or respect for a friend, etc.; usually, in the old days, it was mostly female lovers who received gifts but since the 1950s it's also been common for ladies to give to their male partners, and in fact, over the past 35 years or so, some Mexican department stores, such as Chicha's and Alvarez Bros. have actually offered “For Him” deals geared specifically for men, a trend that is also growing in the United States and Canada as well.


Valentine's Day college parties, originally started in the years after World War II, became particularly popular in the early '60s, and often involve food buffets, games, dancing, karaoke, and in more recent years, video game playoffs, and may last up to 10 to 12 hours, and involve as many as 200 or more people at a time. If started during the 12 to 2 pm period, the initial period tends to be calmer, with idle chat and relaxation being the norm during the siesta hours. In any case, it's not unusual for the hosts to invite both close friends and complete strangers to parties, and in the major cities, there may be people of several different nationalities at one time.....


Carnivals, similar to Mardi Gras in New Orleans or Carnaval in Rio de Janiero, are also a recent development, dating back to no earlier than 1947 when the citizens of La Playa, Baja California, held an informal five-day long gathering in the Palomitas district. Small snacks, such as Cocolitas and Bunuelos, and appetizers such as Fritas Francesas and taquitos are the norm, but since the '70s, a trend of offering whole meals has developed, particularly in the northern cities such as La Playa, Tijuana, Tucson, Juarez, Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros where American tourists are most often sighted at this time. (What may interest some people back home is that Mexican-style Valentine's Carnivals have begun to spring up in cities such as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Albuquerque, San Antonio, Austin, Miami, Baltimore and New York in recent years as more and more Mexican culture establishes itself Stateside.).


In schools, at least on years when Valentine's Day falls on a class day, kid-friendly gift exchanges are organized; kids write their names on slips of paper and then place it in a bag or box, then each person chooses one of the slips, with the person whose name is on the slip receiving the gift. Older children sometimes watch romantic movies, and in some schools, a mock “civil registry” is installed, in which kids are paired up to be “married”, a tradition which many Mexicans look upon with nostalgia; in fact, the famous actor, Alberto V. Prieta, credits his long-standing marriage to a “civil registry” play matchup at his old high school in rural Sonora.


And for college-age young adults, it's not at all rare to see large groups of friends walking together; this is, after all, also a day of friendship, too. They may be laughing, taking pictures of one another, or even just hanging out. And sometimes, they may go to eat fast food, or watch movies, etc.; whether or not they split up or stay together as one group.


Music also figures greatly in Valentine's Day celebrations. An old tradition that's been revived in recent years is the serenada, The groom would hire a mariachi band, a trio of troubadours, and then he and the musicians would arrive at the lady's house at night and they would sing at the front of the beloved's home, dedicating songs just to her and imploring her to come out. And finally, they would both sing to one another. In recent years, a reverse trend has been employed by brave ladies seeking their Mr. Perfect, to some success; this has also been adopted by Mexican communities in the U.S., too, particularly in California, Arizona and New Mexico.


Let's not forget the role of the country's cinema, either; great films such as Alberto Sabines Victoriano's Te Amo, Mi Amiga from 1952 and 1979's A Night in Tijuana , are still often re-run in theaters across the country just for this holiday. And even radio has it's role; XLPC-FM in Pecorino, Sonora is particularly famous for it's Valentine's Day “Love Fest Marathon” on both sides of the border since 1957.


And families have their own customs; children of both genders may give their parents paper notes, hearts, candy and other small gifts. Couples may exchange [FONT=Perpetua, serif]Xochipilli[/FONT][FONT=Perpetua, serif] and [/FONT][FONT=Perpetua, serif]Xochiquetzal [/FONT][FONT=Perpetua, serif]figurines[/FONT] as a sign of goodwill. Families may go out to a favorite restaurant to eat, and it's also common for mothers to prepare special desserts. Grandparents may occasionally stroll and treat themselves to a hug and a kiss at the local park while reliving the good old days. And in the late 1970's, a trend began in which new couples would plaster their car with sticky notes that might sometimes fly off as they head off to celebrate the holiday; simple messages like Te Amo 'I love you' and 'Me encanta como eres' are universal, although some more complex writings are also sometimes present.....


Indeed, the myriad of ways that Valentine's Day can be celebrated in Mexico are simply amazing. More than that, however, it remains a day where people can get together and enjoy life in the spirit of unity and friendship, as it is the world over.....
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Here's something that may interest you, btw: La Playa, B.C., is actually located where downtown San Diego was IOTL, and is one of Mexico's top 10 major cities. As of 2010 or so, it's got about 750,000 people and still growing, including with the occasional retiree not willing to put up with housing prices in Florida or Arizona or the heat of Palm Springs. It's also a city with a level of diversity rivalling that of even San Francisco, Miami, Chicago or New Orleans in the U.S., and several world-class culinary, theatrical and other cultural landmarks are located there. In essence, it's basically the proverbial capital of Northwest Mexico.....although Tijuana and Juarez do come close. :D :cool:
 

Iñaki

I agree, interesting update.:cool:

It is interesting also the facts about Sant Valentine Day's in Mexico (More knowledge to my mind):)
 

The Uchronian

Vault boy said:
Well, well, well... I find this to be interesting. Mexico being dominant, pop-culture wise?
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Hey there. TBH, Mexico doesn't quite become *dominant* per se, but it does indeed have a fair amount of global influence on pop culture by the present time.

Iñaki said:
I agree, interesting update.:cool:

It is interesting also the facts about Sant Valentine Day's in Mexico (More knowledge to my mind):)
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Thanks! A lot of this really is based on OTL traditions, believe it or not. I did, however, add some twists to make it as interesting as possible. :cool:

Anyway, I'm doing the best I can to catch up and I think maybe I'll just breeze thru the rest of the Texas-Mexican war and give some preludes to how the Mexican-American War will begin.....only this time, Santa Anna is the primary instigator.....:eek::cool:
 

Iñaki

Santa Anna, Santa Anna,.. certainly in the history of Mexico of the first half of XIX Century is one of the repititive figures in the Mexican Political game of cards.:D
 

The Uchronian

Iñaki said:
Santa Anna, Santa Anna,.. certainly in the history of Mexico of the first half of XIX Century is one of the repititive figures in the Mexican Political game of cards.:D
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He certainly would be featured ITTL, I'd think. But I'd also believe that there'd also be some mix-and-matching as well. I really don't recall the name of it so I'll have to look into that sometime, to see what I can do with TTL's version. :)
 

The Uchronian

BTW, while I'm restarting the TL, does anyone have any ideas on how to handle Europe? Quite a bit of it, at least at first, would be pertaining to any reactions towards the situation between Texas and Mexico, but more importantly, the buildup to the revolutions that will break out later in the decade.
 

The Uchronian

Iñaki said:
France had the Pastry war against Mexico in 1838 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastry_War

I suppose France could be of the european potences the more interested in look at the situation in Mexico.
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Possibly; although France had indeed been antagonistic with Mexico then, I think it's important to note that the country was ruled by Louis Phillipe at that time. If anything at all, I would suspect that Mexicans would probably be a rather good bit more open towards any Republican regime which takes power.....especially after Santa Anna gets the boot.

Could be the butterflies could affect the French Revolution of 1848.
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In a way, yes, although possibly not directly for the most part. As of late 1843/early 1844, not that many butterflies have made their way across the Atlantic just yet. But they certainly will begin to add up soon. :cool:

In the meantime, I do hope I can finish the Texas-Mexican war soon. :)
 

The Uchronian

Okay, I've got a little more done. :) Here it is:

Excerpts from “Texas History: 1810-1992”, by William F. Davidson.

By September, the Mexican advance had gone as far north as what is now Wharton, and as far east as Beaumont, and they were beginning to close in on Austin & the rest of the Hill Country. It was now becoming more and more clear by the day that the Texians needed every bit of help it could possibly get.....even if it meant seeking help from the local Indians as well as American militiamen.

Already, in the month of June, Samuel Houston had met with the Apaches under Chief Flacco to discuss a possible temporary alliance with his band of Apache Indians. Although it was eventually agreed upon, it was not until September, however, that the alliance would be put to the test.

In the month of August, the Lipan Apache had a few unfortunate run-ins with the Mexicans over their reluctance to allow Santa Anna's men the full right of way towards what they saw as a rebellious Mexican province. An incident on August 17th lead to the massacre of an entire camp of Apaches about 75 miles due north-northwest of San Antonio, including several women & teenaged children.....and would eventually drive many of the remaining undecided Apache into the arms of the Texian revolutionaries.
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So there you have it. One more source of assistance for the much beleaguered Texians. :)
 

The Uchronian

I thought I'd add to that snippet, with my first ever attempt at a battle map.....TBH, I only have basic skills at the moment, and it was really just a rough draft, but I do hope it'll give you a sense of how things are going down there at the moment.

Flacco made his final decision soon after; whatever the risks, he and many of the other Apache began to feel that the Texians where a much lesser “evil”, as it were, than Santa Anna's Mexican Army. And so, Flacco and his band, approached the already endangered Austin and on Sept. 2nd, informed Houston's office that he would be glad to offer his services to Texas in order to fight off the enemy they now both shared. And this assistance didn't come a moment too soon, because the Mexicans would soon make their next move.....

On September 7th, the Mexican Army began to initiate their next assault, on a camp of about 80 Texians situated about 10 miles southeast of Seguin, or roughly that same distance southwest of Gonzales, and proceeded to move forward with about 1,000 men, at around 6:00 a.m.; however, though, the Texians at least received some warning as to what was going to happen, as an Apache scout ran into camp about 20 minutes later, alerting them to the approaching mass of soldiers.

The Skirmish at Sandy Creek lasted only about five and a half hours, and by 2:00 p.m., the attack had left 12 of the Texians dead, though about 50 Mexicans had lost their lives as well; a few hours later, a small number of the survivors later strafed the camp firing at anyone they could see. Another seven Mexicans were killed, including an adjutant of the commander leading the group, though one Texian died after being shot off of his horse. Those who remained available for duty decided to play it safe and head for Seguin and Gonzales; the group split in two as an extra precaution, which paid off.

As of September 7th, the battle lines were much the same as they had been a week earlier, with just a few changes:

5Axxpvm.jpg
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There we go, then. I'd actually be glad to get some help with map making, by the way.

Edit: I originally used Tumblr to upload this, but it got a little messed up for some reason. IMGur worked quite a bit better, though, luckily. =)
 
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