The road which leads into the town of Jesus-Maria from the west side of the mountain is also extremely perilous and steep, and seems almost to overhang the houses below. Heavily laden mules have sometimes slipped off the track, and tumbled headlong into the town. This place is even more pent up between ridges than Zacatecas: the valley is narrower and the mountains much higher; while, as is the case with that remarkable city, the houses are sometimes built in successive tiers, one above another; the azoteas [roofs] of the lower ones forming the yard of those above.

Commerce of the Prairies (1831–1839), Chapter 22 - Visit to Town of Jesus-Maria — Anti-Masonic Auto de Fe