Isla Mujeres History

    In 1876, young Alice le Plongeon wrote about living in Isla Mujeres with her archeologist husband. The town of Dolores had been established 26 years earlier, by ~fifty families fleeing the Caste War. She describes the bay as being lively, with large Cuban schooners, small island boats, and an occasional smuggler's sloop...       "The bay is generally animated, because many fishing smacks from Cuba frequent those waters, and the captains make the bay their headquarters, as the pirat es did at the beginning of this century. These smacks are generally handsome schooners, of thirty to seventy tons burden, divided in three compartments. The central one forms a large tank whose sides are perforated with hundreds of holes, through which the sea water passes freely in and out. As soon as caught the fishes are bled by piercing them behind the right fin with a thin, hollow, cylindrical tube, then thrown in the tank, to be transferred t...

Alice le Plongeon wrote:       The air was exquisitely soft and balmy, the moon so brilliant that every fleeting cloud was reflected in the clear water of Dolores Bay, while the white sand of the shore glittered under our feet as we sauntered along enjoying the beauty of the scene. In this peaceful bay, six miles from the eastern coast of Yucatan, the Spanish ships anchored nearly four hundred years ago.      The principal industry of the villagers is fishing, and from the month of April to August, all their attention is given to turtle-catching. So, on that moon-lit night, as we strolled along the beach, men, women, and children also wended their way to the north end of the island, where all was silent as the white tombstones in the village grave-yard by which we passed. A few hastened their steps as if they feared a departed friend might stalk forth in winding-sheet.        Reaching a place w...