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ROCKY FORD ENTERPRISE.COZUMELA MEXICAN ISLAND A' *1.m*Vv'■.PAN~A/l£/?/CAN C/AVQ/V!r. ;•wrw kVlt;v* AV!rv-VIkVT//£ CHVrtCH AT £L CTDAAL.N the Caribbean sea. about twelve miles from Yucatan across the channel of that name, lies Mexico’s most easterly outpost, the island of Cozumel. The name comes from the ancient Mayan and means ‘The Isle of Swallows.” It Is included in the northern division of the territory of Quintuna Itoo, the capital of which is Santa Cruz de Bravo. named for therugged old warrior who, during the Diaz regime, administered all that part of Mexico, main land and island, which lies to the east of Yucatan. The foreign port nearest to Cozumel is Belize, Brit ish Honduras, distant about 165 miles southwest.Off to the northeast, some '210 miles away, liesCuba. Front extreme points north to south theisland, which is rhomhoidal in form, measures a little under 50 miles, and from east to west about 14 miles.Cozumel occupies a very prominent place in .Mexican history. It was the llrst land sighted by Her nando Cortez when, in 1519. lie sailed westward from Cuba on that famous voyage which had for itn object tho quest of gold and for its result the conquest of an jmpire. Cortez, however, was not the first Spaniard to set foot on Cozumel's shores. The year before he landed it was visit-d by Grijalva, the discoverer of Tabasco; and Bancroft. the historian, mentions others who touched there during the earlier cruises of the Castilians among tho Antilles.It is a matter of record that from the deck of his ’’flagship”—a little vessel of less than 100 tons burthen—Cortez counted 14 towers on the north and northwest coasts of the Island. These ho found, when he landed, surmounted as many temples, erected for idolatrous worship. When he disembarked with half of his followers (all told tho expedition numbered only 617 men), leaving the others on board his small tieet to repel possible attack, Cortez’ first act was to dismantle these temples. Fired with religious zeal, ho pushed his way through the crowd of Indians who had come down to the beach to receive him. and, mounting the steps of the principal place of worship, where the high priest and his attendants were grouped, lie harangued the natives on the sinfulness of their Idolatry, using an Indian who had been captured off the coast of Yucatan by Grijalva and who had acquired a working knowledge of Spanish in Cuba, as an interpreter. After thus giving vent in his religious fervor, and Cortez’ worst enemies could never truthfully assert that he was not sincere in his faith, he ordered his soldiers to tear down the altars dedicated to the false gods and in their place set up a cross. No arguing, no reasoning. Prompt, aggressive action, without regard to odds, and such action was Cortez' main characteristic at all times when dealing with the natives wherever he went. Doubtless much of his remarkable success with them was due to it. Although the Indians were obviously docile, the invaders were taking big chances in thus desecrating the sacred groves. But nothing happened. The audacity of the proceeding was sublime. and so great that it simply dazed the natives and left them incapable of protest.When Cortez was at Cozumel the island had apparently several thousand inhabitants; but when Stevens, a prominent American archeolo-gist and traveler, went there in the early forties of the last century he found not a single soul. The crowds seen by the Spaniards were probably transients, for, as a matter of fait. Cozumel never had a large resident population It was a sacred place to the Mayas of Yucatan and Cen-trel America, their Mecca, and a vast number of pilgrims went periodically to worship at its shrines During the intervals between pilgrimages tho priests, with their servants and retainers. were doubtless the only residents.When the Spaniards became firmly established In Yucatan they forbade the pilgrimage to Cozumel. their reasons for this course being that thev needed the unii terruptev services of the Indians as laborers. The church also took a hand In prohibiting festivals on the Island, f'hey carried the mind away from tho doctrine which the mission ratheis were propagating, and although the Indian had without very great difficulty been in ducert to accept the cross in place of the graven imago, be would, when visiting the familiar scenes, he sure to associate with them the tenets of his old belief, still ‘..rong within himNotwithstanding that the religious pereg.iuu-tions ceased. Cozumel was not entirely deserteduntil long after the invasic n Ot :rse. it tshornet■/V.•r»a sr/?££r sc£/yc//y jAs/r?/Gi/£LX:'lt;wm*'X'wV7*'T£QU/LA PIAATATJOfy JAL/SCOmimU;I?ak-mi•y'4:X£-AyWr*. »•.mm,V.-A..V1.. •* '* A m.mmore than iikeiy that thoi.e whose on the island continued to reside th.-i main body stopped coming For the -they were spiritual councilors and roc and it is very i icbable tat they wen to leave. It would lie decidedly towere alter the ater part inc men. forbiddei th* interestsof the conquerors, iiotli lay and clei a., to keep them away iron, tho masses of tho people. That there was a se tioment. and tiiat -Tnrds livedA COCO/YC/A lt;?/?OVjT Q/Y TYt£/5LA/V0in it, is proved ny Hie ruined church an a burial ground one sees a couple of miles to tho nortli of San Mig-el, the principal town Close by tho church ruins is the site ol an ancient village, now traceable only by its stone foundations.Whatever the cause may have been, it came about in the course of time that the island of Cozumel was abandoned as a place of residence. It must have remained unoccupied for several generations, (or when Stevens touched there with the object of exploring its ruined temples, of which many are known to exist, tho entire surface, with the exception of two clearings, was covered with a dense growth of dwarf but thick timber. Stevens satisfied himself that this forest covered the whole area.One of the open spaces referred to above was a clearing made by a man named Molas, a notorious character, half political refugee, half pirate, who had been exiled from Yucatan. Molas lived for many years in Cozumel, and doubtless would have died in his bed”—tho end most desired by all freebooters, wo arc told—had lie never returned to the mainland, for ills enemies were afraid to attack him in his stronghold. One fatal day, however, lie sailed Ills schooner across the channel and landed near to where the Valladolid trail comes down to th beach. Molas' two sons—who had voluntarily shared their father’s exile—accompanied him on this trip, having in vain tried to dissuade him from making it. Molas insisted that his sons should remain aboard the schooner until be gave the signal that all was clear. The signal never came. Waiting so long for it that they felt sure all was not well, the lads went ashore at last to investigate. The evor-vlgilant foe had seen Molas’ boat making for the mainland. A short distance from the beach, yet hidden by tho jungle, they found their father’s mutilated body.The boys returned to the island only to remove tbeir personal belongings and what they could carry away of the family effects, and then went to live in a remote part of Yucatan, as far removed from Cozumel and its sad associations as they could get. Thus it came about that the •Isle or Swallows” was again without human InhabitantsThe other clearing mentioned was the deserted ranch of a certain Don Albino, as Stevens calls him without revealing his surname. Stevens met Don Albino in Valladolid, and heard from the ranchman’s own Ups why he left Cozumel. In Valladolid a cotton mill—famous in the anDals of the town as the first to be erected in Mexico— had started operations, and the owner, an enter prising Spaniard, was paying high prices for the raw material and offering enticing premiums to encourage more extensive cultivation of tho plant. Now. Don Albino possessed no land, nor had he the means wherewith to buy some; nevertheless ho yearned to profit by the mill owner’s bounty. So he conceived the idea of going over to Cozumel. which by that time was regarded as a sort of “No Man’s Land.” to raise cotton. He could easily convey the lint across »he channel In canoes. and althoug.i from the coast to the mill was a journey of several days Tor pack mules there would be sufficient margin in the price to Justify tlie expense of transportation. Full of enthusiasm. Don Albino gathered around him as many of the more destitute natives as he could induce by the lavish use of glowing promises to accompany him and set sail for Cozumel.But the motley band soon tired of tho monotonous life on the lonely Island They were restless spirits, who had lived by what was really little short ot brigandage, tilling the land only to the extent of being surer of their staple food, maize and frijoles” (beans). Sullen under the cravings for the comparative excitement obtainable in their native pueblos, they before long picked a quarrel with their patron” and, seizing the only canoe, returned to Yucatan. .. •entirely alone, Don Albino could make no head way with ills project of getting rich quickly and. taking advantage of a passing vessel, went back to Valladolid. The cotton he had succeeded in planting before liis mozos deserted him was a) lowed to grow wild, and the island once more was completely abandoned by man.It was not until 1S4S that Cozumel was again inhabited. Tho revolution which caused Yucatan and Campeche to separate had deprived many citizens of the means of livelihood, and for material as well as political reasons it became necessary for them to seek pastures new Tin federal government offered to help them, provid od they would leave the peninsula. But to where could they be transplanted? Being Yucatecos. quick to resent tho paternalism of the govern ment, and always suspicious of the party li-office's bona tides, they were of a spirit difficult to keep under restraint and more than likely to soon become unruly again. Therefore to allow them to migrate to the central states, or even tc the regions bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, war out of the question: it was Imperative that t.he be kept apart from the more docile peoples of the republic lest they inoculate the latter with the politieal restlessness that had been their own un doing. Finally it was agreed that they should be taken to Cozumel This arrangement was duly consummated, and everything necessary to enabl* the exiles to make a good start was furnished gratuitously by the government. After very many vicissitudes the colony thus launched gradually settled itself into place, becoming at the expiration of a decade or so firmly estab lished. and Cozumel is today the “tierra or homeland of as hardy and independent a set of islanders—half farmers, half fishermen—as cao be found anywhere in the Antilles. iThe present population of Cozumel number* some fourteen hundred souls. The capital. San Miguel. Is credited with 900 and the village of EJ Cedral has about 150: the remainder are scat tered among the numerous ranches.San Miguel is quite a thriving, well-formed town. It has several wide, clean streets; n plaza, a very presentable little church, one large gen eral store and several small ones, an inn. and municipal offices and customhouse; it also boasts a sort of esplanade running along the entire wi. front, at one end of which is the lighthouse anC at the other a landing Jetty. Although most of tho buildings are palm-thatched cottages, there, are several strongly built stone houses and the main street has a two-story brick house and a modern bungalow.The only regular communication with the out side world is by government transport. These steamers call twice each month to leave and collect mail when en route with troops and sup plies to and from Vera Cruz and the military sta tions of Quintana Itoo.Health conditions In Cozumel are oxtro ;cly good, when the tropical climate of the island tp taken Into account. The norma! rate of mortality averages 14 per 1.000. Epidemics are very rare, indeed, practically unknownThe great majority of the Cozumei islander? are poor, so far as possessing a surplus of this world’s goods is concerned, being satisfied with a hand-to-mouth existence.Among the very few articles exported from tho island are sponges, but the quantity is limitedand the quality not very line. More than one attempt has been made by foreigners to fully exploit the sponge business here, but all efforts to make it profitable on a large scale have failed.There are very many ruins on the island— some of which I saw and to the extent of mv limited time and ability examined—the arehltee-tural beauty and general plan of which provid.. irrefutable evidence that the early Inhabitant# were Intelligent and cultured to a dlt; f lt;- mor* than surprising
Newspaper Details
Rocky Ford Enterprise
Rocky Ford, Colorado, US
Fri, Nov 05, 1915
Page 3
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Stefani M.
USA 29 Jul 2022
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Rocky Ford Enterprise
