Chihuahua: Storehouse of Storms

By Florence C. Lister and Robert H. Lister

Book Description From the Forward:

The word Chihuahua has a stirring ring to it. Its syllables roll off the tongue with dramatic, bold rhythm. Although its origin is obscured by time, its stridence makes the seemingly meaningless word an appropriate name for a stark, unyielding land. That land is the largest of the northern tier of Mexican states. It is a segment of Mexico which has had a turbulent, bloodstained history in which many Americans have played serious parts for the past [two hundred] years.

Chihuahua’s citizens—sometimes miners, sometimes ranchers, sometimes clerics—ever have been warriors. Seldom have they been warriors for an ideal, but always they have been warriors for survival. This is because theirs is an environment which has demanded the utmost, and one measure more, in tenacity of spirit, in courage, in strength of fiber of mortal man…

This is the story of the men of Chihuahua who for [five] centuries have chosen to make their area a testing ground of Spanish Empire and Mexican Republic, a drama played against a backdrop of an Indian background of even longer duration. Obviously, in an effort to compress such a span of time between the covers of a single book, no one period or one personality can be treated exhaustively. Reliance, therefore, has been placed upon the works of others who already have done the spadework in primary source materials dealing with limited segments of that chronicle. This, then, is an attempt to weave together these many threads of events into a fabric of history.

My Opinion:

I’m glad this was one of the first books I read to learn about the revolution. It gives an excellent overview of the state’s history, something I think every dedicated student of Chihuahua’s history needs.

Some people have suggested that without Chihuahua, there might never have been a Mexican Revolution. Therefore, to understand the revolution you also need to appreciate the caliber of those who settled Chihuahua and the traditions and values they passed on to their children. Chihuahua: Storehouse of Storms provides that.

Full Citation:

Lister, Florence C. and Robert H. Lister, Chihuahua: Storehouse of Storms, The University of New Mexico Press, 1966.