El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-05-17
By
Frank G. Carpenter

by white men on IIe w III 80
Continent. and it bears the Cortez coat
of arms over its doorway. similar IN
scriDtions have been found IN CueTna-
vaca VeracruZ and OaNaca-
This COyohuacan palace IS ruue
building. without much architectural
beauty. The doorway inside the patio
is Moorish and the cO-nice OF the build
ing is very plain. The walls are thick
and the house was evidently a fOrtifi-
cation as wei as home. Not FAR
from If is the church of John the Bap-
fist. which was erected about the same
time. and not far away is the Domini-
can monastery. near where Cortez is
said to have strangled his Cuban wife.
Founded by COrteE.
When Cortez died. he gave some OF
his Cuernavaca lands TO the hospltal
and church Of Jesus of Nazareth. which
still stands. not far from the cathedral
in Mexico City. and in which his pat
ent OF nobility is. The archives of the
hospital have also his land grants. The
hospital stands on the site of Monte
zuma's palace, and it is said that Mon
tezuma was killed while standing upon
its roof by stone thrown from a mob
Of indians whom he was trying to
pacify.
Cortez built palace at Cuernavaca
after he came back from Spain, in 1880,
and this for a time formed his favOrite
residence. He personally superlntended
his vast estates and cultivated them.
and erected sugar mills and other
works. Most of the estates have been
more or less subdivided, and the town
Of Cuernavaca. which contains about
1000 people, has grown up on his land
The place is noted for its beautiful
views and is celebrated as a health re-
sort It has recently been the scene
Of the operations Of the rebels, and
travel there is unsafe
The cathedral Of Cuernavaca is one
of the Oldest and quaintesJ in Mexico
It is known as the church Of San
Francisco. and 1t was founded at the
instigatiOn of COrteZ. Il was for years
the most important Franciscan temple
of the new world The tower contains
a clock which the emperor Charles V
gave to COTteZ at the time he granted
him the most Of his great valley, which
can be seen from the top Of the tower
This clock is run by weights. which
swing almost to the ground. They are
wound up at intervals By a mechanism
at the top
In the Footsteps of COrtez.
It is interesting TO follow the foot
steps Of COrtez through Mexico He
out OF the haTbOr OF Santiago de Cuba,
over the very place where Robson sank
the MerTimac during our war with
Spain He coasted along the Mexican
gulf to NeracrCz. and there made his
first settlement building rude huts and
mounting his guns to protect his party
from the indians. He had at this time
10 vessels in the harbOr and his force
consisted Of about 700 Spaniards, IS
horses and some plceS OF cannon He
had already Learned Of MOnteZuma at
TabaScO. and as soon as ne landed at
Neracruz, the Aztec chief OF that place.
by means of picture writing. sent
message from him to the emperor. say
ing that he. COrteZ. came as an am
bassadOr of a mighty ruler beyond the
seas to carry present to him, Monte
-suma.
The postal service OF the Aztecs was
such that an answer came back inside
OF 2 week, and this notwtths standing
Mexico City was over 200 miles away.
The reply from MOnteZuma was that
CoTtez had best not come to the capt
tai and that the road was long and
dangerous He also added. You had
better go back to your own country
with our greetings to your mighty
kinS.
WITH this letter AOntezuma sent pres
ents, and among them two nIE2 plates,
one of solid gold and the other Of sill
yer Each plate was as big around as
Q cart wheel, or about % feet in cir
cumference, and the gold wheel was
estimated to be worth $3.50
COG There were also necklaces of ru-
bies and pearls and many golden
shields. inlaid and decorated.
On the Way Over Mountains.
Where Cortez landed there have
cruz, at which a dozen or more of the
best known lines of steamers call
every month. There are railroads run
ming from there to the capital. the
lstnmus Of Tehuantepec and in other
parts Of the republic. and about the
harDOr is city of 10000 or more
which has streets paved with asphalt
and new buildings beside those Of the
style Of old Spain The country about
Is taken up with fruit gardens and
tropical plantations, and passing over
he q fnf laTn L
to the capital YOU go through banana
fields and great coffee estates. climb
ing higher and higher in plain sight Of
the snOW-clad peaks Of Oriza ba. until
at last YOU traverse the pass, and come
down into the famed valley of Mexico
where. amid the lakes. is situated the
capital Of the Mexican republic, and
Just where about 100 years ago was
the capital of the MOntezumas
me distance from the coast is a bout
zoe miles and COrtez drafted 1000 in
glan porpers to transport his baggage
The most of his Wav was through. the
and it was at the town Of
IlaGcala- near Puebla- that he fought
WIN inc lndlans OF that name and made
them his allies Tlaxcala is now a
sha bby village whose chief interest is
IN its collection Of COrtez relics.
1t was at this point that some Of the
opanIards turned aside to ascend POpO-
for sulphur TO be used in max
Ing Eunpowder and they entered the /
Mexican valley by way of Amecameca,
which is still a small town on the slope
Of that mountain. 1t is where one
leaves the railroad and starts up the /
Volcano on foot
In Mexico City.
As far as the Mexican capital is con- I
eerned, it is full of the remains Of I
Cortez and Montezuma- The Aztec city 1
was like Venice. in that ii was built I
lDOn islands with numerous bridges.
Since then the land has been drained {
and the spaces between the islands so 4
Tiled that the city is now solid land. 4
Nevertheless, the old places of note can I
be picked out The cathedral stands Z
where the great TeOcaH or mound upon (
which the sacrifices took place once !
vas The Hospital Of Jesus is where |
4OnteZuma welcomed the SDaniards I
md at ChapulteDec. which is now a
beautiful park where the president has 4
lis summer home. was the summer res
dence Of the emperor. Montezuma, /
where he had his favOrite wives. mis- /
iSh ponds. aviary and hunting lodge
You can ride out to it now on the /
street car. The Spaniards made their
way there in boats and on foot. Earth I
r out Of the city you may trace the /
'auseway by which COrtez entered the
aDital. and find the place where the
amOus gardens in which MOntezuma
md GuauhtemOc entertained the Span
ards.
The Tomb Of COrtez-
There is one spot however. which 4
-Ou win fail to find and that is where
,OrteZ lies buried. Where that is no