The Great Trek of the Transport Party, Mexico (1825-6): A Tale of Tragedy and Triumph

The Great Trek of the Transport Party, Mexico
(1825-6): A Tale of Tragedy and Triumph
A New Film and Book

In the spring of 1825, four ships left Falmouth with a large number of Cornish mineworkers and a huge consignment of machinery, much of it made in Cornwall. It was bound for the Gulf of Mexico and ultimately the silver mines of Real del Monte. What followed over the next 12 months was a tale of true tragedy and triumph. 

© Dr Sharron P. Schwartz

Below is a teaser of my latest documentary film which tells the epic story of how the British and their Mexican assistants struggled against the climate, altitude, disease and politics to transport 1,500 tons of machinery and stores, including 8 steam engines, 266 miles (428km) inland to the mines from Tampico and Mocambo Beach near Veracruz, using only beasts of burden.

In 2026, we will celebrate the bicentennial of the arrival and start of the first steam engine, an event which heralded the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in Real del Monte. We will also pay tribute to the great sacrifices made by the men of the Transport Party, most of whom remain unnamed.

Drawing on over 30 years of research in archives in Mexico, the USA and the UK, and utilising data from historic newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic, I will tell this truly epic story in full for the first time in this film and in my new book, due to be published next year to mark the bicentenary.

Following the Route of the Great Trek of the Transport Party