Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
And I have always been interested in Mexico as a very rich country
mining wise, and I thought that it would be very interesting and
useful for me to take a trip along the old trails of the mining of
the Spaniards as they went through Mexico during the days of the
Conquistadors.
You see, the Spaniards went to Mexico for the purpose of finding mines,
and the routes they made in Mexico and through Central America are
all directed toward certainly logical prospects, certain mines. And I
started collecting through the years--I started collecting information
on routes of the Spaniards in Mexico.
But I never thought I would really be able to do it, until came the
time in 1960 when my boy died, and I was in very--practically out of
my mind, because this was my only son. And I said to hell with all
that--I had some money saved up, and I said I am going to stay away
from my work and from the civilized life for 1 year, and I am going to
follow the trails of the Spanish Conquistadors, all throughout Central
America, and possibly all the way to South America.
And to do it the hardest possible way, because I believe in physical
therapy for your mental problems.
And my wife, fortunately, also, loves the outdoors, and agreed with me
that that is something we should do.
We gave up our apartment, I gave up my office, and we set out from the
ranch on the border of Mexico and the United States.
Mr. JENNER. What ranch?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. This was--that is the ranch which belongs to a
friend of ours. It is called the--it is Piedras Negras. It is on the
Mexican side of the U.S. border. On the American side you have a little
town called Eagle Pass. On the Mexican side you have Piedras Negras.
There we have some very close friends who own a big ranch. Their name
is Tito and Conchita Harper. They have--they are half Mexican, half
Americans. They live on the ranch nearby, and in Piedras Negras.
By the way, when I was visiting them, at the time I was visiting them,
a few months before, we heard about the death of my boy, right in their
house. We were sitting in their house when there was the long distance
call from Canada that my boy had died. They are very, very close
friends. They also advised me that it would be a good thing for me to
take a trip like that, knowing my interest in Mexico and my interest in
the outdoor life.
And that is what we did. We started off at the first 200
kilometers--Tito took us in a plane to cross the first range, a very
difficult range, and the rest of the trip was made on foot, all the way
to the Panama Canal.
Mr. JENNER. All the way to where?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. The Panama Canal.
Mr. JENNER. Tell me what countries you passed through.
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. We passed through the whole of Mexico, in the
longest trajectory you can have. Then the whole of Guatemala, the whole
of San Salvador--El Salvador, rather, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica,
and Panama.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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