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. |
CONQUISTADOR/SETTLER 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 Cruz Indian Miner Guaman Poma de Ayala Conquistador/ Settler Canary Islander |