Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1903-03-05
HOMES ABOVE CLOUDS
Where the TlascaIans Resisted Span,
ish Invasion of Mexico.

ism INVASION Oh mCNICOz
Although the Tlascalans were
enemies of the Aztecs, they fought
the Spaniards in four battles, under
the famous Xciontecatl. Driven from
the valley of Mexico by the strenuous
Aztecs, the TIascalans settled in Toll
lantzingo and ChOlula, ana later for
titled themselves among the noun
tains of Puebla, creating their eagle
homes above the clouds. To the
north and south were the protecting
mountains, to the west they dug d
great trench, and to the east built a
high wall six miles in length, and
within this rock eyrie upheld thei!
splendid little republic until the ar
rival of the Spaniards, the only peo-
pie to conquer them, but to no avail
The supreme power of the democracy
was vested in senate of four chosen
by the TlaScalan republic. In the
church of the sanctuary at Tlascala,
which was built after the ''pacifca-
ton" of the Aztec empire, in 1920 is
the font at which were baptized the
four senators, the first MeXicans Of
note to receive the rite of the Cath
Ollie faith. 1t was administered by the
chaplain Of the army, Fray Leon Diaz.
and the godfather was Cortez. The
| church also holds the first pulpit used
in the Americas. At that time the,
| little republic had but 900 people,
and One-tenth of them enlisted to re-
! pei the Spaniards. But they were
| strangers to military discipline, and
were poorly armed, as compared with
the Spaniards, carrying only sings
and clubs, bows and arrows, spears
| hardened in the fire, and swords
made of wood, small defense against
| the Spaniards, with quilted packets
| and armor of steel.
Tlascala, land of bread" appealed
to the Spaniards by it's resemblance
to Granada, that gem hidden in the
mountains Of Spain and which for
centuries glittered successfully in the
grasp of the Moor and the Christian
With its silver rivers and silent hills
Tlascala is but the shadow of the past.
Thousands of those brave mountain
GERS ranged themselves under the
| leadership of Cortez to conquer Mex
| leo, moved thereto by a hatred that
was traditional.
''ValOr to valOr, spear to spear
point thrust,
| Tlascalan fury and Castillian fire,
! The pagan oncry and the Christian'e
shout,
SPANS Santiago and the Serpent
Winged,
Brown against white, bare muscle
against bare STEEL
| Such is the picture Of the conflict
as given by the Rev. DR.. Francis BOr-
| ton of Puebla. Such the dark-browed
enthusiasts, who, fed by the fancy
that the wrongs Of centuries would be
righted in the dow,Nfa of the sacred
Montezuma, neiped TO realize the con-
guest of Mexico.
The legend of Quetzalcoatl, which
played such a conspicuous part in
| the conquest of Mexico, is briefly
given in Sketches of Mexico, by til
Rev. DR.. john w. Butler. The char
acter is the hero in The Fair God, by
! Gen. Lew Wallace. Nahuan history
g yes him the name QuetZalcOatl or
Plumed Serpent. Garcia, >Torquema-
da, and Sahagun believed him to
have been Saint Thomas, one Of the
| Christian apostles, the first to preach
the gospel in the Americas, in which
| event he was supposed to have
crossed over from Asia, possibly via
Bering strait. On his departure he
left evidences of his presence and
mission in the shape of crosses. He
promised, so the legend goes, to re-
turn. When Cortez was on his eX-
petition he found the cross to be an
OBJECT of worship at CoZumel. In
| Tabasco it had been revered for ages
as the emblem Of the god Of rain, and
at Palenque, another Palmyra, the
cross was found richly sculptured on
rocky walls lost in impenetrable
| forests.-Edward G. Butler in Los
| Angeles Times.