Tlacopan

“ The only doubt was as to the time of doing so, and the route. The Spanish commander called a council of officers to deliberate on these matters. It was his purpose to retreat on Tlascala, and in that capital to decide according to circumstances on his future operations. After some discussion, they agreed on the causeway of Tlacopan as the avenue by which to leave the city. It would, indeed, take them back by a circuitous route, considerably longer than either of those by [64] which they had approached the capital. But, for that reason, it would be less likely to be guarded, as least suspected ”

“ The shrieks of wounded and dying men began to rise from the hurrying column and the despairing cries of others, overthrown and dragged to the canoes. Above all and drowning all, rose the shrill, exultant yell of "Tlacopan! Tlacopan!" made, for the time being, the Aztec war-cry and taken up by a myriad of fresh voices with each passing minute.
From the distant rear came the roar of Mesa's guns. There the cowardly enemy will be checked at251 any rate! But they are not. No longer do belching cannon nor levelled lances possess any terror for those whom the war-like Cuitlahua leads to battle. ”

“ Surrounded as he was on every side by thousands of fierce enemies determined to stretch every Spaniard upon the stone of sacrifice, Cortes saw the impossibility of maintaining the unequal fight and determined on retreat. Accordingly on the night of July 1, 1520, the Spaniards and their native allies sallied from the fortress, and laden with gold from Montezuma's treasury, took the route of Tlacopan. ”

“ What was left of the conquered pueblo was made a slave mart for the Aztecs, and the remnant of the people were removed to the neighbouring pueblo of Tlacopan, which was made tributary to Mexico. By this great victory the Aztecs also acquired secure control of the springs upon Chepultepec, or 'Grasshopper Hill,' which furnished a steady supply of fresh water to their island pueblo. The next step was the formation of a partnership between the three pueblo towns, Tenochtitlan, Tezcuco, and Tlacopan, for the organized and systematic plunder of other pueblos. ”

“ Under the new dispensation of affairs, Mexico, by whose aid chiefly Azcapuzalco had been humbled, received rank and dominion at least equal to that of Tezcuco, while from motives of policy, and in order, so far as possible, to conciliate the good will of a strong though conquered people, Tlacopan, under a branch of the Tepanecs, with a less extensive domain, was admitted to the alliance. ”

“ The Tecpanecs, who dwelt in Tlacopan, Coyohuacan, and Huitzilopocho, were also typical Nahua. The name, as we have already explained, indicates that each settlement possessed its own tecpan (chief's house) , and has no racial significance. Their state was probably founded about the twelfth century, although a chronology of no less than fifteen hundred years was claimed for it. This people composed a sort of buffer-state betwixt the Otomi on the north and other Nahua on the south. ”

“ The enemy which had especially obstructed us on this march, consisted of the inhabitants of Xochimilco, Cuyocan, Huitzilopochco, Iztapalapa, Mizquic, and five other towns, all of considerable size, and built on the edge of the lake, near one another, and not far from Mexico. On the third morning we marched for Tlacopan or Tacuba, harassed as usual by the enemy, but our cavalry soon forced them to retire to their canals and ditches. ”

“ All agree respecting the inferior position of Tlacopan and her share of the spoils, but Ixtlilxochitl, p. 455, makes both pay a small tribute to Tezcuco. Veytia makes Nezahualcoyotl superior in nominal rank as above; Ixtlilxochitl in most of his relations makes him and Itzcoatl equal in this respect; while Torquemada, Clavigero, Gomara, and Duran make Itzcoatl supreme, and give to Mexico two thirds instead of one half of the spoils after deducting the share of Tlacopan. The chief support of the latter opinion is the great proportional growth of the Mexican domains in later times ”

“ Stealthily they creep down the temple square and reach the Tlacopan road. [18] The streets are wholly deserted. All is quiet, save the dull rumble of tramping soldiers. The blessed rain, or some supernatural interposition, seems to keep the whole city within doors. And if this kind power will but have patience and not desert them for one brief hour — ah, it is so easy for Omnipotence to help! Along the road like a phantom the army moves. The van picks up the guard at the canal crossings. The causeway is almost reached. Already they begin to breathe freer ”

“ An eclipse of the sun which took place about the time the temples were completed, was thought to portend disaster, and was followed within a period of two years by the death of the Tepanec and Acolhua monarchs. Totoquihuatzin, king of Tlacopan, died in 1470 at an advanced age and after a long and prosperous reign, during which he had gained the respect of his subjects and colleagues, fighting bravely in the wars of the empire and accepting without complaint his small share of the spoils as awarded by the terms of the alliance. He was succeeded by his son Chimalpopoca. ”

“ This seizure scattered the conspirators and their schemes to the winds, and the demoralization was completed by the arrest of several of the more important personages, such as the king of Tlacopan and the lords of Iztapalapan and Coyuhuacan, who were also shackled. ”

“ On the east of Tenochtitlan there was no access but by water. On the other three sides the entrances were by causeways. That of Iztapalapan, built out from the mainland to the city, on the south. That of Tepejacac on the north, which, running through the heart of the city as its principal street, met the southern causeway. And lastly, the dike of Tlacopan, connecting the island city with the continent on the west. [10]
This last causeway, which a short time hence Cortes and his companions were to have the bitterest reasons for remembering, was about two miles in length. ”

“ Early this morning we rode to the Convent of San Joaquin, belonging to friars of the CarmeHte order, passing through Tacuba, the ancient Tlacopan, once the capital of a small kingdom, and whose monarch, Tetlepanquetzaltzin, (short and convenient name) Cortes caused to be hanged on a tree for a supposed or real conspiracy. ”

“ First marched the priests with the idols of the gods, next the Mexican veterans, followed by the less experienced; following them came the forces of Tezcoco and Tlacopan, and finally the fighting-men of allied provinces. When the forces were drawn up, new fire was made by the priests, and the attack commenced. The actual combat does not seem to have been attended by great slaughter, since the chief object of each individual fighter was not to kill his foe, but to make him prisoner. ”

“ Zurita also affirms this: 'Dans certaines, les tributs étaient répartis en portions égales, et dans d'autres on en faisait cinq parts: le souverain de Mexico et celui de Tezcuco en prélevaient chacun deux, celui de Tacuba une seule.' Rapport, in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série ii., tom. i., p. 12. 'Quedó pues determinado que á los estados de Tlacopan se agregase la quinta parte de las tierras nuevamente conquistadas, y el resto se dividiese igualmente entre el príncipe y el rey de Méjico.' Veytia, Hist. Ant. ”

“ It was decided that the retreat should be by the241 causeway of Tlacopan, which, being but two miles in length, and thus much shorter than the one by which they had entered the city, would soonest lead them to the mainland, where they could fight to advantage.
In the meantime, as in their frequent sorties, the Spaniards had suffered their greatest annoyance through missiles showered down from the housetops, Cortes had designed and caused to be built three wooden towers that he termed mantas. ”

“ The southern causeway to Iztapalapan was two leagues in length, and provided with seven drawbridges, besides a strong fortress, which rendered it impassable to an enemy. The northern, leading to Tepeyacac, was one league long, while the shortest, conducting westward to Tlacopan, half a league distant, was broken by only three bridges. [779] Cortés resolved to undertake the passage by this last named causeway. During the night had been completed three mantas, of light framework and planks, each to hold twenty musketeers and archers, with which it was hoped to check the assailants on the roofs. ”

“ These were twenty in number, consisting of Coanaco, the deposed lord of Tezcuco, the lord of Tlacopan, and several other caciques and dignitaries, whose rank, probably, had secured them some exemption from the general calamities of the siege.{101} When the captives were seated on the deck of his vessel, Holguin requested the Aztec prince to put an end to the combat by commanding his people in the other canoes to surrender. But, with a dejected air, he replied, “It is not necessary. They will fight no longer, when they see that their prince is taken.” ”

“ About one hundred years before the Europeans made their appearance in the valley, the Tezcucans—who were on the losing side in a conflict with their neighbors, the Tepanacs, who appear at that time to have been masters of the table-land—entered into a league with the Aztecs and Tlacopans. In gratitude for the valuable assistance rendered by the former tribe at a time when their nation was nearly crushed, the Tezcucans gave their once-despised neighbors the tribute they levied on the conquered Tepanacs, and henceforth the Aztecs were masters of the valley. ”

“ Tlascalans, “Men of Bread,” who, after living for a time with the Tepanecans, finally settled beyond the valley eastward, at Tlascala; 7. The Aztecs, who came last and occupied the site of the present city of Mexico.198 Acosta further observes that they came “from far countries which lie toward the north, where now [Pg 190] they have found a kingdom which they call New Mexico.”199 The same tradition is given by Herrera,200 and also by Clavigero.201 It will be noticed that the Tlacopans are not mentioned. ”

“ We are told that his arms and legs were dressed and cooked for the tables of the nobles and priests, and it has been often repeated that the children sacrificed to Tlaloc were likewise prepared for the table; but many think there is not sufficient evidence on which to accuse these Aztecs of cannibalism.
Races between the students, dances, offerings to the idol and a general dismissal from the seminaries of all boys and girls of a marriageable age, terminated the festivities in honor of the great god, Tezcatlipoca. The god of war, Huitzilopochtli, demanded a festival in this month. ”

“ There is nothing but its historical memories of special interest in Tlaxcala. It is a town of some 3000 inhabitants, a few hundred feet higher than Mexico City, with many ancient buildings, mostly of stone, often mere ruins, from the seams of surely half of which sprout grass and flowers, as they do between the cobbles of its streets and its large rambling plaza. I visited the old church on the site of which Christianity—of the Spanish brand—was first preached on the American continent. Here was the same Indian realism as elsewhere in the republic. ”

“ Tlaloc was the god of rain and moisture. In a country such as Mexico, where the success or failure of the crops depends entirely upon the plentiful nature or otherwise of the rainfall, he was, it will be readily granted, a deity of high importance. It was believed that he made his home in the mountains which surround the valley of Mexico, as these were the source of the local rainfall, and his popularity is vouched for by the fact that sculptured representations of him occur more often than those of any other of the Mexican deities. ”

“ Although there is no personage of all the Maya pantheon more easy to recognize in the form of a statue than Tlaloc, there is great difficulty in being certain of all the hieroglyphs which relate to him. There is every reason to believe that in Yucatan, as in Mexico, there was a family of rain-gods, Tlalocs, and the distinguishing signs of the several members are almost impossible of separation, so long as we know so little of the special functions of each member of this family. ”

“ The capital town of Tlascala is situated between two mountains, in 19° 16' of north latitude, and 58' east longitude from Mexico, near the only stream of importance in the territory, known as the Rio Atoyac or Papagallo, under which name it passes through the State of Puebla on its way to the Pacific. The ancient numerous population of Tlascala is no longer found within its limits, and perhaps not more than four or five thousand individuals now inhabit it. ”

“ There are still, any number of old churches, scattered here and there all over the wide landscape; but where the one hundred thousand people, who inhabit the little State of Tlaxcala, live, is more than I could see.
The present town, which is mostly Spanish-built, is situated on the flat between the heights, and may contain five thousand people, I should say at a venture. It has many buildings unquestionably dating back to the days of Cortez, and is a place no intelligent traveler in Mexico can afford to omit visiting. ”

“ It is not gloomy; there are no forests; the country is open and rolling; and the name "Tlaxcala," it now appears, is fertility, the "Land of Bread." I left at 11 A.M., and arrived at the village of Santa Ana, on the railroad to Apizaco, in a couple of hours. After a time a conveyance was to be had, in the shape of a dilapidated hack drawn by three horses, in the lead, and two mules. This was run as a stage-line to Tlaxcala; and in an hour more, largely of floundering over ruts and following the beds of swollen brooks—for nobody ever thinks of mending a road in Mexico—we were there. ”