With only 618 soldiers and sailors, four cannon, several brass guns, and sixteen horses, Hernàn Cortéz – also known as Hernando Cortés – brought about the collapse of the Aztec Empire, thereby accomplishing the Conquest of Mexico, considered by historians the greatest military feat in history. Historians also agree that without the help of a […]
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A young Belgian botanist established a business exporting Mexican cacti to Europe back in the 1840s. Henri Guillaume Galeotti was born on September 10, 1814, in Paris. In early childhood, he moved, with his Milanese father, to Belgium, where he studied natural history at the Establissement Géographique de Brussels. This school had been founded in […]
Continue ReadingCORO Mexicanos, al grito de guerra El acero aprestad y el bridon; y retiemble en sus centros la tierra Al sonoro rugir del cañon. Ciña ¡oh patria! tus sienes de oliva De la Paz el arcangel divino, Que en el cielo tu eterno destino Por el dedo de Dios se escribió. Mas si osaré un […]
Continue ReadingFather Alonso Ponce and Friar Antonio de Ciudad Real were probably Mexico’s first ever tourists. Father Alonso Ponce de León arrived in Veracruz in September 1584 and spent the next five years traveling to every corner of New Spain as Visitor of the Franciscan Provinces. In this time, he visited all 166 Franciscan monasteries in […]
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Mexico’s equivalent of the Domesday book was compiled in the sixteenth century. History shows that conquerors often have very little idea of what they have really acquired until it is firmly within their grasp. One of their first steps following victory is a comprehensive survey of everything of value, or potential value. For instance, in […]
Continue ReadingDateline – Tlaxco, Tlaxcala, Mexico August 3, 1998 Night-shadows play over the weathered stone markers in the small abandoned graveyard. A soft breeze rustles the leaves of the tall camphor trees like spirits whispering in the darkness. Last night the ghost of Don Miguel was sighted again on the other side of the ravine. He […]
Continue ReadingFollowing a policy of keeping the boys and the girls seperated, Martita and Vidal seldom saw each other at school. It must have been some comfort just knowing that the other was close by. Marta’s dormitory was upstairs in a long building along the side of the complex. The bottom floor served as classrooms. There […]
Continue ReadingA couple of years ago I wrote a booklet about the Central High Plains with the idea that I would offer my services as a guide. This idea, as a lot of my other ideas, fell flat. However, I was asked if I would present the material, in a series, to be included in Mexico […]
Continue ReadingThose who characterize liberals as wimps or ineffective bleeding hearts would think twice if they lived in the era of a fiery and committed jurist and reformer named Santos Degollado. Along with the politician-scientist Melchor Ocampo and the poet-journalist Guillermo Prieto, Degollado was one of the bright young men in the inner circle of Progressives […]
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