Old photo, circa early 1900s. Printer/publisher stamp on back not readable.

Price:  $15.00             Size:  4 and 1/2 x 2 and 3/4″

A commercial-type tourist photo, the printer or publisher stamp (upside-down) is blurred but we can see that the first word is Laboratorios. The caption on the back reads:

“Lake freighters at Ocotlán, Jalisco, stone bridge in the background built by the Spaniards.”

Yes, the term “lake freighters” definitely seems out of place today. And, that’s the Santiago River, according to multiple websites showing shots of the same bridge….How nice, we can make out the name of the boat on our left, she was called Adelita. (Don’t you love when the light bulb comes on…..you’re staring at something that suddenly comes into focus?!)

The church in the distance is Señor de la Misercordia (Our Lord of Mercy). Originally, the site of the chapel La Purísima Concepción. The church was rebuilt and dedicated in the new name, after a documented occurrence – the Miracle of Ocotlán, (also called The Prodigy of Ocotlán, translation below). An image of Jesus Christ on the cross appeared in the sky October 3, 1847, to over 2,000 people. This was one day after the earthquake that killed over forty people and left much of Ocotlán in ruins. (Many websites say forty, however the eyewitness account from the town’s mayor says forty-six.)

In checking various websites regarding the miracle, I prefer one in Spanish (from Catholic.net), for content, but had trouble getting its English version, so here’s a quick copy and paste from Google translation:

Back to our photo:  Where is the rest of the church tower on our right? Had there been a problem with the film and it was edited out? No, it wasn’t that. (If anyone can fill us in on what was going on with this church tower for some years, please leave a comment!) Below, our photo, cropped and the 1932 one, in black and white, from a Google search and found appearing on Pinterest:

Last but not least, another crop, calling attention this time to the rather enormous wheels on the horse-drawn wagons:

Sources:  “Señor de la Misericordia de Ocotlán.” https://es.catholic.net/op/articulos/63499/cat/1241/senor-de-la-misericordia-de-ocotlan.html#modal (accessed April 14, 2022).

“Eye-witness account of an earthquake in Jalisco in 1847.” (February 21, 2010.) https://geo-mexico.com/?p=301. (accessed April 10, 2022).

“images of the churches in ocotlan jalisco mexico.” Google.com search. Cropped from search result of images that included Pinterest.com. (accessed April 10, 2022).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIlD3I2oKV4.