(Editor’s Note: Part I appeared in a previous edition.)

Shortly after Columbus came to the shores of the New World and landed in Hispaniola, Spain began a quest of exploration sending many explorers to the new found land that is now Mexico, America, Central America, and South America. It was the time of conquistadores and explorers searching for adventure and riches. At the same time the expeditions to the new world were dangerous and uncertain. The mandate of the Catholic king and queen, to spread Catholicism throughout the new world, was effectively being carried out by the first Spaniards coming to America, or Nueva Espana, as it was called.

Between 1492 and 1518 Spain had a very productive period of exploration in the New World. Several explorers traveled to the Americas, and Colon himself sailed on four different voyages to the New World: in 1492, 1493, 1498, and 1502. In 1499, Monso de Ojeda and Juan De La Cosa and Pealonso Nuno sailed to Venezuela and Vincente Yanez Pinzon sailed to the Brazilian coast. Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, Africa, to the Indies in 1497-99, and the Portuguese Pedro Alvares Cabral sailed to the Brazilian coast in 1500. Amerigo Vespucci sailed with the Ojeda expedition in 1499 to the New World and became famous for his descriptions of the new found land; consequently, the name America was adopted for this new continent by his supporter and geographer Martin Waldseemuller. Spain, however, continued to use the name “Las Indias” for this new western region of the world. Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first to see the Pacific Ocean at Panama in 1513. The Magellandel Cano expedition sailed around the world during the years 1519 – 1521, but Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521, and Juan Sebastian del Cano assumed command and continued the voyage to the Spice Islands, around Africa, and back to Spain. Ponce de Leon visited Florida in 1513 searching for the fountain of youth; Juan Diaz de Solis discovered the Plata River in South America in 1516; and Juan de Grijalva and Francisco Hernandez de Cordova reported in 1517 that there were wealthy native cultures on the Mexican mainlands after their coastal explorations.

Spain had done well in its venture to explore new lands. Her intrepid explorers were the precursors of the conquistadors yet to come. Because of the reports of the early explorers to the King of Spain, others were inspired to continue the quest for land, riches, and glory, which would later be claimed in the name of the church for the crown.

This was the beginning of a movement that found its way into Texas and the American Southwest and where the Tejanos were born.

The most significant event in exploration and conquest has to be the entrance of Hernando Cortez into Tenochtitlan, the land of the Aztecs. Leaving a hundred men in Veracruz, Cortès marched on Tenochtitlan in mid-August 1519, along with 600 men, 15 horsemen, 15 cannons, and hundreds of indigenous warriors. On the way to Tenochtitlan, Cortés made alliances with native American tribes such as the Nahuas of Tlaxcala, the Tlaxcaltec, who surrounded the Spanish and about 2,000 porters on a hilltop and the Totonacs of Cempoala. In October 1519, Cortés and his men, accompanied by about 3,000 Tlaxcalteca, marched to Cholula, the second largest city in central Mexico.

By the time they arrived in Tenochtitlan the Spaniards had a large army. On November 8, 1519, they were peacefully received by the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II, due to Mexican tradition and diplomatic customs. Moctezuma deliberately let Cortés enter the heart of the Aztec Empire, hoping to get to know their weaknesses better and to crush them later. Moctezuma made a bad tactical mistake by letting the Spaniards in. He gave lavish gifts in gold to the Spaniards that enticed them to control the Aztecs. In his letters to Charles V, Cortés claimed to have learned at this point that he was considered by the Aztecs to be either an emissary of the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl or Quetzalcoatl himself — a belief which has been contested by some historians. Cortès learned that Spaniards on the coast had been attacked, and decided to take Moctezuma as a hostage in his own palace, requesting him to swear allegiance to Charles V.

In January 1521, Cortés countered a conspiracy against him, headed by Villafana, who was hanged. Finally, with the capture of Cuauhtémoc, the Tlatoani (ruler) of Tenochtitlán, on 13 August 1521, the Aztec Empire disappeared, and Cortés was able to claim it for Spain, thus renaming the city Mexico City. From 1521 to 1524, Cortés personally governed Mexico and thus the rule of the Spanish began.

Culturally, the Spanish brought the European renaissance to the New World. Corky Gonzalez describes who we are in his famous poem “I am Joaquin” and claims “I am Joaquin, I am Cuauhtémoc, I am Nezahualcóyotl, I am the sword and flame of Cortes.” Without a doubt we are many cultures and we live a little of each, the Spanish, the Aztec, the Mexican or Mestizo, and we also bring forth those pieces of our past when Spain was overrun by the Celts, the Romans, the Goths, and Visigoths, the Moors, until Spain became independent in 1492 with the union of Castile and Aragon. The Romans gave us our first identity as a group of people they called Hispanic and “Santiago,” St. James the Apostle, gave us our beginning as Catholics when he came to preach in Spain in the first century AD.

When the Spanish came to America they brought with them the Franciscans who traveled with them on every expedition with the goal of converting indigenous people to Catholicism. Friar Juan Perez was able to sail with Columbus on his second voyage in 1493. He is credited with celebrating the first Mass in the New World. Probably the most significant influence the Spaniards had on the New World was the introduction of Catholicism and the most significant occurrence was the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.

To a neophyte, fifty five years old, named Juan Diego, who was hurrying down Tepeyac hill to hear Mass in Mexico City, on Saturday, 9 December, 1531, the Blessed Virgin appeared and sent him to Bishop Zumárraga to have a temple built where she stood. She was at the same place that evening and Sunday evening to get the bishop’s answer. The Bishop, at first, did not believe Juan Diego. He questioned him with disbelief and then asked for a sign from the lady who said she was the mother of the true God. Juan Diego agreed to ask for any sign she could give him so that the Bishop could believe in her. Juan, now St. Juan Diego, was occupied all Monday with Bernardino, his uncle, who seemed to be dying of fever. Indian rituals failed; so at daybreak on Tuesday, December 12, the grieved nephew was running to the St. James’s convent for a priest. To avoid the apparition and untimely message to the Bishop, he took another route, but the Blessed Virgin moved to meet him and asked: “What road is this thou takest son?” Reassuring Juan about his uncle whom at that instant she cured, appearing to him also and calling herself Holy Mary of Guadalupe she asked him to go again to the Bishop. Without hesitating he eagerly asked for the sign. She told him to go up to the rocks and gather roses. He knew it was neither the time nor the place for roses, but he went regardless and found them. Gathering many into the lap of his tilma, a long cloak used by Mexican Indians, and then came back. The Holy Mother, rearranging the roses, asked him to keep them untouched and unseen till he reached the Bishop. Upon appearing before Bishop Zumárraga, Juan offered the sign. As he unfolded his cloak the roses fell out, and he was startled to see the Bishop and his attendants kneeling before him as the life size figure of the Virgin Mother, just as he had described her, was glowing on the poor tilma. A great mural decoration in the renovated basilica commemorates the scene. The picture was venerated, guarded in the Bishop’s chapel, and soon after carried processionally to the preliminary shrine.

Sworn evidence was given at various commissions of inquiry corroborating the traditional account of the miraculous origin and influence of the picture. Some wills connected with Juan Diego and his contemporaries were accepted as documentary evidence. Vouchers were given for the existence of Bishop Zumárraga’s letter to his Franciscan brethren in Spain concerning the apparitions. In 1568 the renowned historian Bernal Díaz, a companion of Cortez, refers incidentally to Guadalupe and her daily miracles. For Catholics, the Virgin of Guadalupe became the patron Saint of the Americas.

Although the Indians themselves vanished through the ages, it was not really the conquest that caused their defeat, nor was their culture overtaken completely by the Spaniards way of life. The great Aztec nation succumbed to diseases such as small pox, an unfortunate by product of the conquest. Culturally, the Indians resisted change for the better part of the next two centuries. Today that culture lives in such forms as our calendar, corn, and the “medicinales” which make up some of the contributions the Aztec bestowed on us. Nevertheless, the most powerful institution to emerge in the New World was the Catholic Church. By 1527, the first Bishop of Mexico, Francisco Juan de Zumarraga, was appointed. By the late 16th century, the age of conquest and discovery had ended, and the beginning of colonial expansion became the focus of Spanish interest.

The Hispanics were the first to colonize the Americas, deriving strength and direction from their crown and their religion. The Catholic Church became the fulcrum with which these “Pobladores” shaped their destiny and ours and the Aztecs were introduced to Christianity.

The public is invited to a genealogical survey workshop, the second in a series of workshops, on Spanish Colonialism at the Institute of Rural Development, 915 S. 9th, sponsored by speakers Ben Figueroa and Juan Escobar, who are both accomplished genealogists and well versed in Spanish Colonial history. A special presentation will be made by David Q. Trevino on his genealogy and how he accomplished it. David Trevino grew up on the King Ranch and will share some of his experiences as well. It will be an evening of learning about your past and how to find your ancestors. The workshop is scheduled 6:30 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, April 14, and will conclude with a question and answer period. For more information call Ben Figueroa at 522-2666.

We are also formally announcing the establishment of the newly formed nonprofit, “The Descendants of Spanish Colonial America”, ( Descendientes de Hispano Pobladores de America), the Founders and Board of Directors include Ben Figueroa, Juan Escobar, David Q. Trevino, Dr. Andres Tijerina, and Dr. Emilio Zamora.

The Descendants of Spanish Colonial America is organized for the purpose of establishing a historical society for the study of genealogy, history, and culture, as it relates to the Spanish colonization of America. The discovery of America by Christopher Columbus brought about a cultural exchange between the old and new world that has had a lasting impact on the development of America. Throughout the 16th, 17th and beginning of the 18th Century the Spanish explored America extensively in much the same manner that we today explore the universe, the ocean, and many parts of the world in search of knowledge. The study of history, our ancestors, and culture is an exciting journey into our past that provides opportunity to examine many facets about history so that we may understand the present better.

The Descendants of Spanish Colonial America is also organized for the purpose of providing education in Spanish Colonial history to the youth of America. Educational lessons presented by DSCA are related to Spanish Colonial history, genealogy research, and the cultural exchange experienced in early Spanish American Colonial history.

The organization will publish a journal twice a year with topics related to Spanish Colonial History, Spanish Genealogy, and the cultural exchange found in America between 1492 and 1821.

To be recognized as a Descendant of Spanish Colonial America participants will be required to accomplish their genealogy beginning in 1821 the year of Mexican Independence from Spain.