subject: The Yucatan Conquest And Hernandez Part 1 [print this page] The Caribbean islands were the first part of the Americas to be colonized by Spanish explorers. But they had no idea what lay beyond Cuba; the waters were still uncharted. Before Hernan Cortes set sail from Spain, a small fleet of conquistadors set out to explore the Yucatan. Led by Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, this mission quickly became a cautionary tale. Here's how it started.
Very little is known about Hernandez's life before the expedition; the details of the trip come from Bernal del Castillo, one of the sailors. Alive in Cuba in 1517, Hernandez was a Spanish native; he ended up with a lot of property and other wealth on the island, so it's a good bet that he participated in its conquest. Along with Castillo, he fell in with a group of bored Spaniards; with his funding, the men petitioned Governor Diego Velazquez to allow them to travel westward and explore new lands.
Hernandez's expedition left Havana on February 8 1517, with three warships and a crew of just over 100 men. After three weeks of sailing on open water, the crew spotted the shore of the Yucatan peninsula--and a cluster of solidly built houses close to the shore. This was a momentous occasion: the Europeans had never before seen an advanced civilization, a city, in the Americas. They had no idea that such a thing existed, and had written off all natives as savages and half-wits. The locals--members of the Maya civilization--sent out their large canoes to greet the Spaniards as Hernandez sent his own rowboats out to investigate. The natives indicated that they would guide the ships onto land the next day, by using basic signs, and the Spanish interpreted this as a welcome.
Hernandez armed his men with muskets and crossbows before they rowed to shore, and it's impossible to know what he expected to happen at the time, but he was wary. However they were out-gunned, so to speak, in terms of weaponry; they were ambushed as they approached the town of Catoche, attacked by warriors wielding pikes and slings. The crew escaped by sheer luck; the Spaniards were able to flee back towards their boats and re-embark with haste because the natives were surprised by the power of the Spanish weapons. This was the discovery of the Yucatan--and so far, it wasn't going well.
The men continued on their journey, convinced that the Yucatan was another island. They would find another shore, drop anchor securely, and explore. But there was a problem; the ships were running low on water. Leaking constantly, their stores were insufficient for long voyages. Fifteen days after the initial battle at Catoche, the crew landed near a small Maya village to fill their water casks. The locals were, once again, friendly; they brought the Spaniards into town, showing them idols, gold statues, and Maya priests. But once again, friendliness become animosity; warriors forced the Spaniards back onto their boats simply by threatening to attack. Hernandez and his crew sailed on, totally unaware that they had just discovered the city of Campeche. The exploration mission was rough, sure, but it seemed inevitable that their luck would turn around.
