Zacatecas

Zacatecas, capital of a state of that name in Mexico (q.v.), and a famous silver-mining town, is situated in a deep ravine, 440 miles by rail NW. of Mexico city. The streets are narrow and irregular, but there are numerous squares, and the market-place, where the cathedral stands, is wide and handsome. Three miles to the east is the Franciscan college where the fathers of the old Californian missions were trained. Zacatecas is the great silver-producing state of Mexico, and around the city 15,000 men are employed in the mines, which since 1540 have yielded over $1,000,000,000. Pop. of municipality, some 60,000, less than one-half in the city.