This page has my draft articles, notes and other material relating to the history of the Lake Chapala area. Some of the material has featured in my previous books, most has never been published. Individual topics may have minor errors, discrepancies, inconsistencies, and include material which overlaps or repeats that in other topics.
Each topic is a multi-page pdf file, with references via footnotes. Material will be updated when necessary to reflect ongoing research. This material is free to use or adapt, provided appropriate credit is given. If in doubt, please contact me for advice.
- 1. Hunting wildlife (birds, mammals etc) at Lake Chapala (added Jan 2025)
- 2. Neill James: her life and legacy (Jan 2025)
- 3. Hotel Ribera Castellanos and the Lake Chapala Agricultural and Improvement Company (Jan 2025)
- 4. Lake Chapala Stagecoaches (19th and early 20th century) (Jan 2025)
- 5. Photographer Winfield Scott, Las Tortugas and Lakeview Gardens (Apr 2025)
- 6. Guadalajara-Chapala bus service in 1917: fact or fiction? (Mar 2025)
- 7. “On To Chapala” — The Chapala University Movement of the 1920s (May 2025)
- 8. The golden age of steamships and other motorized vessels on Lake Chapala (Sep 2025)
- In preparation
- 9. The story of Christian Schjetnan
- 10. Early hotels in Chapala
- 11. The Villa Montecarlo, Chapala
- 12. Chapala railways
- 13. The story of Zara ‘La Rusa’
1909 Map of Lake Chapala from Terry’s Mexico.