ENRIQUE C. CREEL
1854 - 1931

Don Enrique Creel was described as "a distinguished ambassador at Washington and one of Mexico's richest and most capable men."

See source: The Creelman Interview.

Enrique was Governor of Chihuahua from 1904 - 1906 and again from 1907 - 1911, which made him a politician during the Porfiriato, which is the era of Porfirio Diaz' regime. In fact, Creel was one of the científicos.

What else was Don Enrique C. Creel up to?

Creel was also head of Diaz' secret service along the northern border, and Mexican ambassador to the United States.
 

Mexico's hundred years of independence festivity, 1910
Porfirio Díaz, Guillermo de Landa y Escandón, Enrique Creel
 

Historians describe him as Mexico's leading banker, an innovative industrialist, venture capitalist, and representative of the nation's largest land and cattle owner.

Creel and his family built the greatest business empire in Mexico before 1910, survived the Mexican Revolution, and rebuilt the entire thing in the 1920s.

Of course, some say that the oppressive ways of people like the immensely loaded Terrazas-Creel family just asked for a revolution.

At one point during the Revolution the smart man Creel packed his bag and holed up somewhere in exile, came back after the storm was over, recovered his wealth and became one of President Obregón's advisors.
 

Enrique Creel

ENRIQUE CREEL'S FAMILY
Enrique's father was Ruben W. Creel, an American Consul in Chihuahua.

Money and power doesn't just drop out of thin air, most likely you have to marry for it. Which is exactly what father Ruben did. He married Paz Cuilty.

Enrique thought that worked well and married the daughter of Chihuahua's most influential head, politically and else - Don Luis Terrazas. The girl's name was Angela Terrazas.

Paz Cuilty's sister was Carolina Cuilty. And Don Luis Terrazas was married to her. And that's how you build an empire.

Enrique was now a member of Mexico's greatest landowning and cattle-exporting family. It is said that they owned over 8.7 million acres of land, textile mills, railroads, banks, granaries, telephone companies, mines, and of course haciendas and ranches like you cannot believe.

The family became a clan, a dynasty.

Enrique's children were Alberto, Juan, and Adela. Later, Adela married Joaquín Cortazar, who was another Chihuahua governor.

The city of Creel is named after Enrique. Check the marker on the Google map below.

CREEL, CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO

ENRUIQUE CREEL SHORT BIOGRAPHY
August 30, 1854
Birth in Chihuahua, Mexico

January 30, 1887
Founder and president of the first ever Chamber of Commerce in Chihuahua

1902
Vice-president of the Chihuahua-Pacific Railroad and the Kansas City Railroad

1904
Governor of the State of Chihuahua

October 4, 1907
Again Governor of Chihuahua

April 25, 1910 - March 26, 1911
Diaz' Secretary of Foreign Relations
Check his entry in the Timeline of the Mexican Revolution.

1914
Completed the railway line from Kansas City to La Junta, Chihuahua

August 17/18, 1931
Death in Mexico City