The History of Cuba, vol. 5

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

ON THE CAUTO RIVER

The Cauto River, traversing Oriente Province, is the largest stream in Cuba, and is of inestimable value for navigation, for water supply, and for drainage. It is the salient feature of many fine landscape scenes, ranging from the idyllic to the majestic.

Holguin, located in the northern center of the Island, among picturesque hills and fertile valleys, is the most important city in northern Oriente. It was founded in 1720, receiving its charter in 1751, and boasts of a population of about 10,000. The harbor of Gibaro, twenty-five miles north, with which it is connected by rail, is the shipping port of the Holguin district. The country is very healthful and long noted as a section in which Cuban fruits acquire perhaps their greatest perfection. Americans living in this city, within the last ten years, have established splendid nurseries, known throughout the Island.

Victoria de las Tunas, a small city located on the Cuba Company’s Railroad, some 20 miles from the western boundary of the Province, acquired celebrity in the War of Independence owing to its capture after a siege of several days by the Cuban forces under General Calixto Garcia, in the fall of 1897.

It was in this engagement that Mario Menocal, then Chief of Staff with the rank of Colonel in the insurgent forces, distinguished himself through a brilliant charge made at a critical moment, in which he led his Cuban cavalry against the well equipped forces of Spain. Colonel Menocal was wounded in this engagement, but as a reward for intelligent and courageous action he was shortly afterward made Brigadier General, and given command of the insurgent forces in the Province of Havana, which he held up to the time of the Spanish surrender in 1898.

An incident indicative of the character and discipline of the Cuban forces took place at the capture of Victoria de las Tunas, when General Calixto Garcia, after caring for the Spanish wounded, furnished an escort to protect his prisoners and non-combatants who wished to leave the city, in a march overland to the town of Manati, where they were delivered into the safe keeping of the Spanish authorities, as the Cubans were unable to keep prisoners owing to shortage of food. General Calixto Garcia was a native of Holguin, owing to which fact, perhaps, much consideration was shown to both persons and property in the surrounding district, where he had both friends and relatives.

The sugar industry, of course, as in all provinces but Pinar del Rio, is the chief source of wealth in Oriente. The entire northeastern half, including the great valley of the Cauto River, as well as the rich lands in the valley of Guantanamo, and the basin surrounding the Bay of Nipe, are devoted almost entirely to the production of sugar. The European War of 1914 gave a great impetus to this industry, owing to the demands made by the allies for this staple food product. An illustration of this may be found in the increased acreage of cane in Oriente between the years of 1913 and 1918. In 1913 Oriente was producing 3,698,000 bags, while in 1918 the sugar crop reach 6,463,000 bags. Forty-two large sugar centrals are in operation in Oriente at the present time, with a marked increase each year.

Next in importance to the production of sugar ranks stock raising. Thousands of acres that cover the plateaus, foothills, mountains, parks and valleys, supplied as they are with an abundance of fresh water and splendid grass, furnish strong inducements to the stock grower of Oriente, who has nothing to fear from cold, snow, drought or storm. The profits of stock raising where the business is conducted under intelligent management, are certainties, which is true of all sections of the Island adapted to this industry.

Coffee, as in the provinces of Santa Clara and Pinar del Rio, owes its introduction into Cuba to the French refugees who, driven by revolution out of Santo Domingo, fled to Cuba and settled there in the first years of the nineteenth century. The large profits that have resulted from the cultivation of sugar cane have undoubtedly drawn capital from the coffee industry, and unless a sufficient amount of cheap labor can be secured, the gathering of this crop is not always profitable. In spite of the rather heavy tariff, and the excellent quality of the bean, it is compelled to compete with the imported article from Porto Rico and other countries. It is quite probable, too, that through years of neglect in cultivation, the habit of prolific bearing has deteriorated.