When David Hunter Strother, also known by his pen name PorteCrayon, arrived as U.S. consul general in Mexico City in 1879, Mexicoand its society, only a decade removed from French occupation, wereinitially struggling with questions of national order and stability, withmaintenance of independence, and with all aspects of modernization.Achieving these goals without sacrificing its patrimony to imperialisticpowers, which had capital to invest, proved to be difficult for Mexicoand pushed the nation's quest for stability into another dictatorship.

Includes its Report, 1896-19 .