Cortéz, Meshicas meet first in peace

The Journal is publishing a series of history articles to commemorate the settlement of New Mexico by Juan de Oñate in 1598.

By Miguel Encinias
For the Journal
As the Spaniards under Hernán Cortéz sailed northward from the Yucatan during the late summer of 1519, the Meshicas were watching and reporting to their emperor, Motesusuma -- or Moctezuma as he is generally called in modern history books.
Moctezuma wondered if all this traffic could not signal the return of the man-god Quetzalcoatl.
In the distant past Quetzalcoatl had fled from Tula, a pre-Aztec center of civilization, to Chichen Itza in the Yucatan, and then disappeared, promising to come back some day.
Cortéz's first encounter with Meshicas occurred in the area of modern Vera Cruz. Emissaries from the emperor delivered a human gift for sacrifice and some gold jewelry, but informed Cortéz that Moctezuma could not receive him.
The Spanish commander thought of returning to Cuba, but considering that he was an outlaw in the mind of the governor, he changed his mind.
Wishing to solidify his position as independent from the governor, he organized his men into a civic entity and founded a settlement named La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz as his capital (The Rich City of the True Cross).
He soon discovered that the Totonac Indians of the surrounding area were independent and enemies of the Meshicas. Encouraged by this bit of information, he decided to push on to Tenochtitlan, the dazzling capital of the Meshicas.
In order to be sure that none of his men would desert, he destroyed all his ships save one. On that one he sent a small crew under a trusted captain to Spain to inform the king of his discoveries.
In August 1519, leaving 150 men at Vera Cruz, he set out with 315 on the long and arduous trek over mountains and deserts to the fabulous capital city.
On the way, he had several skirmishes with another group independent of the Meshicas. These were the Tlascalans, who became not only his staunchest allies but the most permanent friends of the Spaniards.
Wanting his mission to appear peaceful, he declined the Tlascalan offer as military auxiliaries, but they followed him anyway.
At the large autonomous Meshican city of Cholula, when it appeared the Cholulans were preparing an ambush, Cortéz did call on his allies, who were waiting outside the city. A battle ensued in which the Cholulans suffered more than 3,000 casualties.