Trujillo

“ Opening it, I let in a whirl of wind and sand and also this Mexican lad, Trujillo.
“I was desperate for companionship just then, and, although he did not speak English, he could understand my Spanish and I told him my woes. When the tale was finished, the sandstorm had passed. Silently the stranger arose. I believed that he was leaving without a word of gratitude for the refreshment I had given him. I watched him mount his weary horse and ride down to the bunk house. He called to the peons and they gathered about him. ”

“ The insurgents, masters of the position as they feel themselves to be, invite the royalist troops to join their cause; and so favorably are their proposals regarded by some of Trujillo's officers, that they induce him no less than three times to hold a parley with the enemy in front of his line of infantry. Hostilities, meanwhile, have ceased. Friendly and specious are the words which Trujillo uses, and at each conference the insurgents, gathering in crowded ranks about their spokesman, draw nearer and nearer. ”

“ Two days after I arrived at this port of Trujillo, I sent a Spaniard, who understood the language, and three Indians of Culua with him, to those towns which the settlers had mentioned to me, instructing the Spaniards and Indians very exactly what they were to say to the chiefs and natives of the said towns, and especially that I myself had come to those parts; for owing to the great traffic many people there had heard of me and of the events in Mexico. The first towns they visited were Chapagua and Papayeca, which are seven leagues from Trujillo, and two leagues distant from one another. ”

“ Men, women, and children in wild alarm were rushing through the streets, shrieking and wailing, and proclaiming that the city was in the power of the insurgents. Soldiers were flying from their posts, and all seemed lost. Trujillo, however, displayed rare courage and presence of mind. Raising the cry of victory, and that Calleja was approaching, he succeeded in allaying the panic, and hurried forward to the Santa Catalina gate.
There the greatest disorder prevailed; the artillery was dismounted or in the hands of the enemy ”

“ As the insurgents drew near they were met by the army of the viceroy, and a fierce battle took place upon an elevation called the Monte de la Cruces, outside the city. A hot fire of artillery swept the ranks of the insurgents, but, filled with enthusiasm, and greatly outnumbering the royal troops, they swept resistlessly on, bearing down all before them, and sweeping the viceroy's soldiers from the field with heavy loss. Only his good horse saved Trujillo, the commanding general, from death or capture, and bore him in safety to the city. ”

“ Francisco Trujillo also testified that his father, who was Ventura Trujillo, had brought a very rich woman from the Comanches, and after that, the Mexican government made this grant to his father, and that there was an order signed by the government (governor) with a man to go and deliver the land to his father. That he knows the order was signed by Governor Armijo, and declared (directed) Damasio Salazar to go and deliver the land. ”

“ For this purpose strong detachments of the better armed Indians, both of foot and horse, were sent by long detours to take possession of various heights commanding Trujillo's flanks, and a force of 3,000 foot and horse was despatched to occupy the road to Mexico in the rear of the enemy. Moreover, a select body of 1,200 of the best disciplined men of all arms was thrown out on the right flank, and took up a position out of range of Trujillo's artillery, and opposite to the place where Bringas was ambushed. ”

“ Such a discipline is hardly likely to develop the softer virtues; and, as the young Pizarro received no care,—either from his father, who was a distinguished colonel under El Gran Capitan, or from his mother, a humble peasant,—as he was never taught to read or to write, and spent his boyhood tending swine, it is not difficult to imagine what extraordinary influences must have moulded his character, and transformed the swineherd of Trujillo into the fearless soldier of fortune, known to history as the cruel, rapacious, and perfidious, though consummately daring, Conqueror of Peru. ”

“ Gaz. de Mex., 1811, ii. 28, 31-3. ↑ A copy of his circular is given in Id., 20-8. ↑ Trujillo had accompanied Cruz from Mexico as far as Huichapan, whence he returned to the capital and rejoined Cruz at Valladolid Jan. 2, 1811. The viceroy associated with him in his command the aged brigadier García Dávila, 'para que contuviera su juvenil ardor.' Bustamante, Campañas de Calleja, 59. Calleja described Trujillo as a madman with a sword. Alaman, Hist. Mej., ii. 78. ↑ The insurgents lost 600 men, while the royalists had only two killed and one wounded. ”

“ These, however, held their ground, and replied with their artillery, while a brisk fire was maintained all along the fronts, with no little loss on both sides, the insurgents suffering most. Trujillo, perceiving that he could hold the enemy's centre in check, now ordered Bringas to engage their right wing, and sent a detachment of three companies of the Tres Villas infantry under the command of Iturbide to occupy an almost inaccessible height covered with pine trees, at a considerable distance on his right flank. ”

“ Hist., i. 76. ↑ The forces placed under Trujillo's command were the infantry regiment of Tres Villas, which had lately arrived, a battalion of the provincial militia of Mexico, and a portion of the dragoons of Spain. These were afterward reenforced by 50 volunteers with two cannon, commanded by Juan Bautista de Ustariz, a lieutenant of the navy, and about 330 men drawn from the haciendas of Yermo and a Mexican named Manzano. Authors differ as to the total number. ”

“ Trujillo, with lower mountains, borders on Zulia, Lara, Portuguesa, Zamora, and Mérida. The fertile valleys produce the finest cacao, there are large sugar estates; wheat grows higher, cattle and goats find suitable pasturage. Northwest are forests largely unexplored; oil springs give promise of future wealth.
Trujillo, the capital, is a busy town with roads in several directions; it is 19 miles from the railway station at Motatán. Other towns of some importance are Valera, Bocono, and Carache.
The Guayana Highlands have a single State and one territory. ”

“ A feeling of discontent and unrest pervaded the community, and many of the leading colonists gathering together their effects cast in their lot with the governor. But instead of marching against the hostile natives he led his followers to the territory of a friendly chieftain, 150 and there for several months they wasted their time and substance in revelry and ostentatious display, leaving Trujillo unprotected and the rebels unpunished. ”

“ Trujillo claimed that the valor displayed by a portion of his troops caused the insurgents to withdraw; but the more probable explanation is that advanced by Bustamante, namely, the failure of ammunition and the envy and jealousy of Muñiz, who, being the only one who had sustained repulse during the day, refused to furnish the other chiefs with cartridges when their own supply became exhausted. [47] With criminal selfishness he refused to others the success in which he could not share. ”

“ GARCÍA DE PAREDES, DIEGO (1466-1534) , Spanish soldier and duellist, was a native of Trujillo in Estremadura, Spain. He never commanded an army or rose to the position of a general, but he was a notable figure in the wars of the end of the 15th and beginning of the 16th century, when personal prowess had still a considerable share in deciding the result of actions. His native town and its district, which lie between Talavera and Madrid, produced many of the most noted conquistadores of America, including the Pizarro family. ”

“ In answer to the petition of the settlers at Trujillo, the emperor appointed as ruler of Honduras and Higueras Francisco de Montejo, the governor of Yucatan. It is not recorded that he brought with him either reënforcements or supplies in aid of the fast decaying colony. On his arrival he found a small band of starving men, destitute of all resources. The Spaniards who were able to make their way out of the province had already taken their departure. ”

“ Francisco de las Casas provided us with everything we needed, appointed a captain over us, and directed us to come to this coast and colonise for your worship, in the name of His Majesty; and he nominated sheriffs, municipal officers, a notary public, a procurator of the town council, and an alguacil, ordering us to call the town Trujillo; he promised us and pledged his faith as a gentleman, that he would procure from your worship more people and arms and horses for the pacification of the country. ”

“ Fearing that the settlers would break out into open revolt, Herrera proposed to abandon Trujillo and establish elsewhere in the province a new and independent colony. Cereceda, knowing that such a measure would be fatal to the prosperity of the settlement, strove to prevent it by encouraging intermarriage between the families of the rival cliques and dividing among them a portion of the slaves which had fallen to his share at the division of Salcedo's property. ”

“ Trujillo's position was now hopelessly exposed; in fact, he was completely surrounded. On his right the piece of artillery planted by Allende on the abandoned height was in a position to enfilade his ranks; a large force of the enemy lay between him and the capital; on his left was Aldama now strongly reënforced, and with two pieces of artillery mounted in a commanding position; while in front Mendívil was not only himself severely wounded, but many of his most efficient men were slain or hors de combat, and his artillery ammunition was exhausted. ”

“ In a letter addressed by Pedraza to the audiencia of the Confines, dated May 1, 1547, he states that the seven Spanish towns which the province then contained [XVII‐9] "were always increasing as were the villages;" and yet we find that Trujillo, which had then become the largest of them, contained but fifty settlers, while none of the others numbered more than thirty. The absence of communication with the South Sea, and the distance from the highways of commerce between Spain and the new world, no doubt retarded greatly the increase of population ”

“ A large force was sent to punish the natives, and the remains of the missionaries were recovered but their murderers had fled to the mountain fastnesses. The bodies of the martyred men were conveyed to Trujillo, where they remained until the city was captured by pirates, when the guardian of the convent had them removed to Santiago, and they were there interred with great ceremony in the church of San Francisco. ”

“ By necessary implication in the passage already quoted from the testimony of Ramon Sena, he also affirms the official character of Trujillo as an alcalde or justice of the peace.
By the Mexican law in force at the time of the making of the alleged grant a justice of the peace exercised his authority over a designated area known as a demarcation. Contemplating the contingency of the absence or inability from other cause of such an appointed official to act, there was an official known as a juez de paz suplente or substitute justice of the peace. ”

“ In Honduras, and Higueras as the northern portion of this territory was termed, there were, it will be remembered, but seven Spanish colonies about the middle of the sixteenth century; [XXXIV‐1] and of these, Trujillo, the largest, contained only fifty settlers. It is probable that the entire number of Spaniards in the province at this time did not exceed two hundred; and so slightly had the resources of the country been developed that the few who lived there were by no means wealthy. ”

“ Continuing southward some distance beyond the site of Trujillo, a city subsequently founded by him, the evidences of wealth and intelligence meanwhile diminishing, and the reports of an imperial city where dwelt the ruler of all that region becoming fainter, Pizarro returned to Panamá, carrying back with him two native youths, one of whom, called by the Spaniards Felipillo, became notorious during the conquest. 12 The men had been ordered to treat gold with indifference, that the future harvest might be greater. ”

“ To this petition of Cereceda the emperor and his council listened with favor, and granted the greater part of his requests.
GOVERNOR WANTED.
Meanwhile the remnant of the Honduras colonists who remained at Trujillo also clamored for an increase of population, and for a governor. They claimed that the city possessed a good harbor, and a dry and wholesome situation; that rich mines lay undeveloped in its vicinity, and that the soil was fruitful and well watered. ”

“ Rojas, for that matter, proceeded on the march to Natividad, while Hurtado returned to Olancho to protect his interests there. The Trujillo party pursued the latter, and a fight ensued wherein they proved victorious, after losing two men. These broils 591 the natives observed, and saw therein their opportunity. They attacked Natividad, and the Spaniards, driven forth after a fight in which several fell, took refuge in a natural stronghold, there to remain until aid could arrive. ”

“ Let us go to Padre Trujillo at Ensenada. They say he is good and kind to his Indians. He will marry us. I have the money to pay his fee. When we are once married, my joy, we are safe. They cannot separate us when the padre has joined us for ever. They cannot do anything to us then; our own padre himself would forbid it."
"We would be safe then, indeed," sighed Josefa. "Oh, if we could only manage it! What shall we do for a horse? the horse herd is away in the sierra, and they will not bring it down till Sunday."
"Sunday will be too late for us," said Felipe sadly. "We want a horse now, at once ”