Image (after Codex Telleriano- Remensis) from the Lord Kingsborough Antiquities of Mexico. Courtesy of the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Library, University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas.
y name is Alonso de Mesa. I came from an honorable family in Toledo, Spain. My people were merchants and notaries. My parents wanted me to enter the clergy, but when I heard that Pizarro was recruiting men, I decided to follow him. I was only 18 years old when I marched with Francisco Pizarro as a footman to Cajamarca in the Peruvian highlands in 1532. Going to the New World was my best chance to make a fortune and assure a patrimony for my descendents. I knew, being a younger son, that I would not inherit my father’s estate in Spain.I made a name for myself at Cajamarca- with my own hands, I helped capture the Inca king, Atahualpa. After obtaining a roomful of gold and silver as ransom, Pizarro had Atahualpa killed. I received a share of the gold and silver and used it to buy a good horse from another Spaniard. As a cavalier, I fought at Cuzco, and received my own encomienda. In time I ran a very great estate in Cuzco and became a wealthy man. Unlike some of my compadres, I never returned to Spain nor took a Spanish wife. I married an Inca noblewoman, doña Catalina Huaco Ocllo, who bore me several strong sons.
And when I lay on my death bed, I, Alonso de Mesa, encouraged by my confessor, bequeathed some of my fortune to the Indians whose suffering had made me rich.
Sor Juana Inés de la CruzIndian MinerGuaman Poma de Ayala
Conquistador/Settler
Canary Islander