C. M. MAYO

    Author
    of The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire, etc.

    

C.M. Mayo < Publications <


Research < Photos <
 

    
Río
    Frío 

    (on the highway between Mexico City 

    and the city of Puebla)

    Photos by C.M. Mayo

    Río Frío (Cold River)
    is a town on the superhighway between Mexico City and the city
    of Puebla. Sneeze and you'd miss it. But back in the time of
    my novel-- the mid-19th century-- it was an important stop on
    the stagecoach highway that came through the sierra en route
    to Puebla and the main port at Veracruz. There was an inn and
    a fort, which, from the look of it today, must have taken a couple
    century's worth of bullets and mortars. In March 1866, Baron
    Frédéric Victor d'Huart, a close friend and aide
    to the Empress Carlota's brother, the Duke of Flanders, was murdered
    here by bandits. 



    Read
    the excerpt from the novel.



    This is a photo of trees along the road, as I imagine the stagecoach
    highway might have looked then.



    



    The fort: 



    







    Read
    an excerpt from the novel set near Río Frío.