PHOTOGRAPH BY E. M. NEWMAN
ORURO, BOLIVIA
BOLIVIA
Cities of Bolivia
SIX
Cochabamba (ko-chah-bahm´bah) is called the Garden City of Bolivia. It was founded in 1574 in a beautiful valley on the east side of the mountains, which are here called the Royal Range. For a time the town was known as Oropesa (o-ro-pay´sah). During the war of independence, the people of the city took an active part; the women especially distinguished themselves in an attack on the Spanish camp in 1815. Three years later some of them were put to death by the Spanish forces. In general, the isolated situation of Cochabamba has been a protection against the disorders which have from time to time upset Bolivia.
Cochabamba stands on the Rocha (ro´cha), a small tributary of the Guapai (gwah-pie´) River. Its population is about 30,000, mostly Indians and mestizos. The city is 8,400 feet above the sea, 291 miles north-northwest of Sucre, and 132 miles east-northeast of Oruro (o-roo´-ro). A newly constructed railway runs from Oruro to Cochabamba.
The climate is mild and temperate, and the surrounding country fertile and cultivated. Trade is active; and in fact the city is one of the most progressive in Bolivia, in spite of its isolated situation. It is laid out regularly and contains many attractive buildings. The city has a university and two colleges, but they are poorly equipped.
The name of the city of Potosí (po-to-see´) has become proverbial and “smacks of almost magical and unearthly wealth.” It possesses some of the most wonderful silver mines in the world. Founded in 1547, shortly after the first discovery of silver there by an Indian herder, it has since produced an enormous amount of the precious metal. One writer estimates the yield of the mines there as having been worth one billion dollars. Seven thousand mines have been started, of which seven hundred are being worked for silver and tin today. At one time the city had a population of 150,000, which has now dwindled to about 25,000.