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Chapter I Velasquez in Cuba—Hernandez de Cordova Discovers Yucatan—The Natives on the Mainland are Hostile—Grijalva Advances from Yucatan Farther Northward—He is the First European to Step upon Mexican Soil
In the year 1511 Diego, Columbus’ son, finding that the gold mines of Hispaniola were nearly exhausted, decided to take possession of the neighboring island of Cuba, or Fernandina, as it was called, in honor of the King of Spain. The force which he sent for the capture of the island was placed under the command of Velasquez,[1] a man described by his contemporaries as possessing extraordinary experience as a soldier, having served seventeen years in European campaigns, also of a renowned family and name, eager for glory and yet ambitious for wealth.
Velasquez speedily subjugated the whole island and at once actively busied himself with the adoption of measures for its welfare. He established many settlements, secured farmers by free grants of land and slaves, devoted special attention to the raising of sugar-cane, such a valuable article of commerce in later times, and, above all, to the development of gold mines, which promised better returns than those of Hispaniola. But the subjugation of Cuba was too small a matter to satisfy his ambition, as he would remain subject to the higher authority of Diego Columbus, from which he wished to free himself. The best means for accomplishing this seemed to him the making of important discoveries which would secure him an independent sovereignty. With this end in view, he turned his attention to the westward, in which direction he had every reason to believe he should find a great mainland region which no European had ever reached.
Chance favored his plans. Hernandez de Cordova, a Spaniard,[2] undertook an expedition from Cuba in 1517, with three vessels, to a neighboring island for the capture of slaves. Storms drove him upon the coast. In reply to his question as to the name of the country the natives said, “Tektetan,” meaning in their language, “I do not understand you.” The Spaniards thought this was the name of the place and distorted it into “Yucatan.” Thus the peninsula of the mainland, which lies opposite Cuba and divides the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, came by its present name. Cordova first landed at the northeastern end of the peninsula, at Cape Catoche, then sailed along the peninsula, stopping at various places, and at last came to the region of the Campeche of to-day, where the sea forms the Bay of Campeche.