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An Unexplored Realm in the Heartland of the Southern Gulf ... - Famsi

An Unexplored Realm in the Heartland of the Southern Gulf ... - Famsi

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Figure 3.12. Alcaldias Mayores <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn <strong>Gulf</strong> Lowlands. In <strong>the</strong> 16 th to 18 th<br />

Centuries this region was referred to as <strong>the</strong> Sotovento veracruzano by <strong>the</strong> Spanish<br />

(after Delgado-Calderón 2000:31).<br />

<strong>the</strong> heavily populated Coatzacoalcos lower dra<strong>in</strong>age was beyond <strong>the</strong> tribute boundary <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> Aztec Empire and, <strong>in</strong> 1522, dispatched Gonzalo (Gustavo) de Sandoval on an<br />

expedition to rectify that situation (Thomas 1993:549-556, 2000). Sandoval “founded <strong>the</strong><br />

Villa de Espiritu Santo on <strong>the</strong> right bank <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Rio Coatzacoalcos three leagues<br />

upstream” from <strong>the</strong> <strong>Gulf</strong> (Scholes and Warren 1965:777). There, he distributed land and<br />

natives to his Spanish counterparts, but <strong>the</strong> imposition was not accomplished without<br />

significant conflict with <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>digenous <strong>in</strong>habitants. These were some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> first<br />

encomiendas granted <strong>in</strong> New Spa<strong>in</strong>, but <strong>the</strong> Spanish quickly realized <strong>the</strong> “wealth” <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

88

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