Guatemala
If the Spaniards had but known it, Guatemala held things more wonderful
than gold or spices or even "soft sensuous pearls," for it had been the
seat and center of early Maya culture centuries before, and within its
limits, or just beyond, lay the amazing ruins of Tikal, Naranjo, Palenque,
and Copan. But for the sixteenth century Spaniard archeology did not
exist. His quest was still the same as that of Columbus and
Behaim, one still inspired
by the lure of treasure.
To make the conquest of Guatemala, Cortés chose Pedro de Alvarado.
Alvarado, of Badajos, whom we have already met, was of good figure and
engaging countenance. He was athletic, too, and an excellent horseman, and
his hair and beard were red — so red that the Indians were tempted to
think him Quetzalcoatl, the Fair God, and christened him the Sun. But
though in a sense a good comrade, Alvarado was easily roused to anger and
to brutal vengeance. He left Mexico City for Guatemala on December 6,
1523, with one hundred and twenty horsemen, three hundred foot-soldiers, a
few pieces of artillery, and a large body of Mexicans. The principal
Guatemalan tribes were in certain respects superior to the Aztecs and
comparable to the Peruvians. Of their chief settlements, Utatlan was most
celebrated. Massive official buildings, religious and governmental,
grouped about a court made it rudely magnificent. The subjugation of these
people took the better part of two years. During this time Alvarado passed
also into Salvador. Here, contrary to his expectation, he failed to get
news of an interoceanic strait to the southward but heard of distant
cities, built of stone and lime and densely populated —an echo, no doubt,
of Quito and Cuzco.
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