The Man Who Likes Mexico (1912)

"The spirited chronicle of adventurous wanderings in Mexican highways and byways"

Wallace Gillpatrick is a spontaneous and adventurous traveler who "from boyhood felt the lure of Mexico. Reared in California, where the romance of early Mexican days still lingers, and where the prodigality of nature and of life are in keeping with Mexican tradition, I (Gillpatrick) ardently dreamed of this Spanish-American southland"(3). Years later in 1905 Gillpatrick followed through on this childhood dream and journeyed into Mexico. His original intention in traveling to Mexico was to visit some mines that an old friend of his owned. The plan was that they would meet at a designated mine and travel the mining region together. Gillpatrick felt such an attachment to the country that he stayed for a year in the mining region and then traveled around Mexico for another five years.

Gillpatrick's travel account, The Man Who Likes Mexico, only chronicles the first two years of his six-year journey. But, within his pages he details everything he observes about the land and the lifestyle in his quest to learn all he can about Mexico and her people. His first year in Mexico was spent traveling in the wilderness to numerous mines, so he writes about nature, the landscape, and remote Mexican villages he encounters. The second portion of his journey he explored urban Mexico by visiting major cities and interacting with citizens. He used Mexico city as a 'home' and would always return there after a stay in one city and plan out his journey for his next city. This was how he spent his next five years in Mexico.

Wallace Gillpatrick was a man who absorbed as much as the Mexican culture that he possibly could in his six year stay. The more he traveled the harder it was for him to leave, but in the end Gillpatrick stated,"Two ties united my heart to Mexico-first,love of friends; last and always, her mountains"(374).

Gillpatrick, Wallace.The Man Who Likes Mexico. New York, NY:The Century Company, 1912.

For an article written by Wallace Gillpatrick 'Homeless Young Men the Product of Parental Lies' click here