Chapter XVI: Tlaxcala

Tlaxcala was the ancient republic for many years before the Conquest, and retained its independence against the Aztecs. It is noted in history as being the place where Cortés met with so much encouragement and help from the Tlaxcalans, after he had fought them and shown his strength. It looks like a place that had always been old and always picturesque. Romance is in the air at every turn. Of Cortés’s sojourn, there are many mementoes, an old silken banner which he presented to the Tlaxcalan chiefs, a curious piece of silken embroidery depicting the battle between the invaders and the natives, and a grant to Tlaxcala made by the Emperor Charles V., whose signature it bears. There is also to be seen a number of idols which have been dug up from time to time in the neighborhood. The baptismal robes of the chiefs, the genealogical tree of chief Xicotencatl, the charter of Philip II. to the city, bearing his signature and portrait, in the form of a beautiful parchment book bound in vellum, May 10, 1585, more than three hundred years ago. Tlaxcala abounds in interesting relics of ancient times. Among them are some very old portraits of the heroes of former days, a cloak which belonged to a noble Indian of that time who was the first to receive Christian baptism, and the wonderful standard which once belonged to Cortés. The Church of San Francisco was the first Catholic Church erected in the New World. Its architecture is very original inside and out and dates from 1524. The pulpit has a very peculiar form and exquisite filigraned work full of gilt carvings; and the sacred vestments, beautifully embroidered in silver and gold, were brought over from Spain and used in the first Roman Catholic service in this country. These vestments are shown to-day, with the first baptismal fountain. The Sanctuary is dedicated to the miraculous Virgin of Ocotlan, and is situated on the summit of a little hill close to the city. One curious thing about the temple is that one half of it is an architecture of several centuries ago, the walls being covered with the finest chiselled workmanship possible to imagine, and richly gilt, while the other half is entirely of modern style splendidly sculptured by modern artists. On the walls are hundreds of wax reproductions of human limbs, left there by invalids who had been miraculously cured of various diseases, and who celebrated their cures by giving the church these symbols.

Tlaxcala is the capital of the State, which is bounded on the northeast and south by the State of Puebla and on the west by Mexico. Historically it is one of the most interesting states in the republic. Almost every building in the capital is a relic of the olden times. The Municipal Palace and a few modern homes, built with the open courtyard, are the only new houses. This presents a marked contrast with the old architecture. Through the enchanting San Martin valley will run a new railroad that will prove a boon to the grain growers. It will not only be an outlet for many rich properties and the grain of the fertile valley but it will be the most picturesque route in the republic. Wherever the railroads have gone the Indians are beginning to forsake their native speech. In Tlaxcala one realizes that the Aztec is not a dead language. The Governor of Tlaxcala, Colonel Prospero Cahuantzi, has done much to develop and perpetuate Indian tradition and institutions. He has published books to that end and also an ancient Tlaxcalan record which gives a curious history of the conquest told in pictures. He writes and speaks this language which is fast becoming extinct. The Governor is a pure blooded Indian, born in Ixtulco, a town situated a short distance from the City of Tlaxcala. For nearly twenty years he has governed the State so wisely and so well that new life has sprung into the old capital. Schools and private colleges are now established and industry has entered upon a period of development. There will be inaugurated this year an irrigation plant which will be of great benefit to the vegetation of the State. The city is alive with business and everything looks in a condition of prosperity. The political division of the State consists of six districts, which are subdivided into municipalities. Tlaxcala is the principal and most important. It has a population of seven thousand five hundred. Three railroads cross the State: the Mexican railroad which runs from Mexico to Vera Cruz and the Apizaco branch to Puebla, the Interoceanic from Mexico to Vera Cruz and Acapulco, and the Santa Anna and Tlaxcala road. The State has various good wagon roads which lead to the neighboring states. The telegraphic and telephonic service is good and extensive.

The soil is productive and the lands are suitable for the cultivation of all classes of fruits of the cold zone and all kinds of medicinal plants. The maguey is extensively grown and produces large quantities of pulque, a drink for the middle classes. It has excellent medicinal qualities and is very nutritious, and is consumed greatly by the inhabitants of the southern part of the republic. It is useful for fibre of the best class and also makes good alcohol. The State includes fertile and extensive plains, being occasionally broken by deep ravines or bare hills. The most important mountain range in Tlaxcala is that formed by the beautiful mountain of Malinche, or Malintzin. This peak rises to a height of four thousand four hundred and sixty-one metres above sea level and captivates the fancy by its imposing and fantastic figure, as it represents the body of a woman covered by a shroud and the head shining with the snow which forms a crown. Sometimes the figure is lost among the clouds which envelop a part of the mountain. Often these clouds are agitated by storms which render a spectacle startling to look on and without equal in the republic of Mexico. The climate is healthy, dry and cold, especially in the mountains, where frosts are frequent throughout the winter. The mining in the state is of importance. There are some silver, copper and lead mines. Iron, lime, chalk, and clays of good quality exist.

Corn is the principal product, although everything grows in this rich soil, and through the introduction of modern methods of agriculture the produce of the State has been doubled.

There are distilleries for the production of alcohol, flour mills, and factories of cotton goods and prints. These are all equipped with the latest machinery.

In the Cuauhtemoc district there is a foundry for artistic bronze work which has been doing work of great credit to the State.

Tlaxcala was the scene of much human tragedy during the Cortés conquest. It is one of the oldest places in Mexico and it was founded by the Chichimecs. They came on the grand plateau about the same time as the kindred races, at the close of the twelfth century, and planted themselves on the western border of Lake Tezcuco. Here they remained many years engaged in the usual pursuits of a bold and partially civilized people. From some cause they incurred the enmity of the surrounding tribes; a coalition was formed against them and a bloody battle was fought on the plains of Poyauhtlan in which the Tlaxcalans were completely victorious. Disheartened with their residence among nations with whom they found so little favor the conquering people resolved to migrate. They separated into three divisions, the largest of which taking a southern course by the great volcano of Mexico, wound round the ancient city of Cholula and finally settled in the district of country overshadowed by the Sierra of Tlaxcala. The warm and fruitful valleys locked in the embrace of this brotherhood of mountains afforded means of subsistence for an agricultural people, while the bold eminences of the Sierra presented secure positions for their town. Yellow harvests of maize and the bountiful maguey covered the rocky hillside and contributed to the wealth of the little republic. Their geographical position was encompassed with mountains and their warlike bravery gave them a reputation as soldiers and excited the wonder of Cortés and his army. Nowhere else did the Spaniards encounter such troops or meet with such determined resistance, and the Spaniard was quick to see that the Tlaxcalans would serve him much better as friends than as enemies.

“Nothing could be more picturesque than the aspect of these Indian battalions, with the naked bodies of the common soldiers gaudily painted, the fantastic helmets of the chiefs glittering with gold and precious stones, and the glowing panoplies of feather-work which decorated their persons. Innumerable darts and spears, tipped with points of transparent iztli, or fiery copper, sparkled bright in the morning sun, like the phosphoric gleams playing on the surface of a troubled sea, while the rear of the mighty host was dark with the shadows of banners on which were emblazoned the armorial bearings of the great Tlaxcalan and Otomi chieftains. Among these, the white heron on the rock, the cognizance of the house of Xicotencatl was conspicuous and still more the golden eagle with outspread wings, in the fashion of a Roman signum, richly ornamented with emeralds and silver-work, the great standard of the republic of Tlaxcala.

“The common file wore no covering except a girdle around the loins. Their bodies were painted with appropriate colors of the chieftain whose banner they followed. The feather-mail of the higher class of warriors exhibited also a similar selection of colors for the like object, in the same manner as the colors of the tartan indicate the peculiar clan of the Highlander. The caciques and principal warriors were clothed in quilted cotton tunics two inches thick, which, fitting close to the body, protected also the thighs and the shoulders. Over these the wealthier Indians wore cuirasses of thin gold plate or silver. Their legs were defended by leathern boots or sandals trimmed with gold. But the most brilliant part of their costumes was a rich mantle of the _Plumaje_ or feather work, embroidered with curious art, and furnishing some resemblance to the gorgeous surcoat worn by the European knight over his armor in the middle ages. This graceful and picturesque dress was surmounted by a fantastic head-piece, made of wood or leather, representing the head of some wild animal, and frequently displaying a formidable array of teeth. With this covering the warrior’s head was enveloped, producing a most picturesque and hideous effect. From the crown floated a splendid panache of the richly variegated plumage of the tropics, indicating by its form and colors the rank and family of the wearer. To complete this defensive armor, they carried shields or targets made sometimes of wood covered with leather, but more usually of a light frame of reed quilted with cotton, which were preferred as tougher and less liable to fracture than the former. They had other bucklers in which the cotton was covered with an elastic substance, enabling them to be shut up in a more compact form, like a fan or umbrella. These shields were decorated with showy ornaments, according to the taste or wealth of the wearer, and fringed with a beautiful pendant of feather-work.

“Their weapons were slings, bows and arrows, javelins, and darts. They were accomplished archers, and would discharge two or even three arrows at a time. But they most excelled in throwing the javelin. One species of this, with a thong attached to it, which remained in the slinger’s hand that he might recall the weapon, was especially dreaded by the Spaniards. These various weapons were pointed with bone or the mineral iztli (obsidian), the hard substance already noticed as capable of taking an edge like a razor, though easily blunted. Their spears and arrows were also frequently headed with copper. Instead of a sword they bore a two-handed staff about three and a half feet long, in which at regular distances were inserted, transversely, sharp blades of iztli, a formidable weapon, which, as an eye-witness assures us, he had seen fell a horse at a blow.

“Such was the costume of the Tlaxcalan warrior, and of that great family of nations generally who occupied the plateau of Anahuac.”

Their weapons, even with their bravery, were no match for the military science of the Spaniards; and after four terrible battles, preceded by a good deal of sharp skirmishing, the Tlaxcalans were defeated. After some political delays they were completely subdued and became the faithful allies of the Spaniards. Had this not been effected, it is doubtful if Cortés’s name would have descended as “the great conqueror,” at least in Mexico.

Tlaxcala City dates far back of Cortés’s arrival in the place, where he fought and subdued with such excellent effect. The very air is alive with romance and tradition. Age, hoary and musty, is stamped everywhere, although the people are wideawake and prosperous.

The houses were built for the most part of mud or earth, the better sort, of stone and lime, or of bricks dried in the sun. They were unimproved with doors or windows but in the apertures of the former hung mats fringed with pieces of copper or something which by its tinkling sound gave notice of anyone’s entrance.

The streets were narrow and dark. The people gathered in the market places on a public day. These meetings were fairs, held, in all great towns, every fifth day, and attended by the inhabitants of the adjacent country, who brought there for sale every description of domestic produce and manufacture with which they were acquainted. They peculiarly excelled in pottery, which was considered equal to the best in Europe. It is further proof of civilized habits that the Spaniards found baths, both of vapor and of hot water, familiarly used by the inhabitants. A still higher proof of refinement was discerned in the existence of a vigilant police which suppressed everything like disorder.

The ancient capital, through one-quarter of which flowed the rapid current of the Zahuatl, stretched along the summits and sides of the hills, at whose base are now gathered the remnant of its once flourishing population. Far beyond, to the southeast, extended the bold Sierra of Tlaxcala, and the huge Malinche, crowned with the usual silver diadem of the highest Andes, its shaggy sides clothed with dark green forests of firs, gigantic sycamores, and oaks whose towering stems rose to the height of forty or fifty feet unencumbered by a branch. The bleak winds of the Sierra gave an austerity to the climate unlike the sunny skies and genial temperature of the lower regions; it was far more favorable to development of both the physical and the moral energies. A bold and hardy peasantry was nurtured among the recesses of the hills, fit equally to cultivate the land in peace and to defend it in war. Unlike the spoiled child of Nature, who derives such facilities of subsistence from her too prodigal hand as supersede the necessity of exertion on his part, the Tlaxcalan earned his bread--not from an ungrateful soil--by the sweat of his brow. He led a life of temperance and toil. Cut off by his long wars with the Aztecs from a commercial intercourse he was driven chiefly to agricultural labor, the occupation most propitious to purity of morals and sinewy strength of constitution. His honest breast glowed with patriotism, or local attachment to the soil, which is the fruit of its diligent culture, while he was elevated by a proud consciousness of independence, the natural birthright of the child of the mountains. Such was the race with whom Cortés was associated for the achievement of his great work.

Few people, perhaps none except scientists, know that in the heart of this ancient State is a race of pygmies. They are small of stature, with dark-brown skin, broad faces, and shocks of black tangled hair. They are very shy and wild-looking and wear serapes made of coarse sacking. Fine clearings on the hill-slopes extend almost to the crest of the mountains. Flourishing fields of grain, cattle grazing in the pastures, and log houses of substantial construction surrounded by neat little enclosures are occupied by these peaceful little men and women.

Up in that region, between Ajutla and Juquila, is a marvelous lake of clouds. A deep blue sky and brilliant southern sun, without a suggestion of mist in the still air, make the place wonderful on a grand scale. Clad with foliage clear to the summit, the great ridge forms half of a mighty amphitheatre whose sides are furrowed by mountain torrents. Five distant mountains form the wall of an oval valley with lower peaks running parallel. At one side a spur juts out, making the only notable break in the enclosing rim. The great lake seems to approach this edge like a mighty river and pour over the great precipice like a dozen Niagaras combined in one. It is a cloud-lake, mighty, mysterious and noiseless, making one of the greatest wonders in this region of wonders.

The Tlaxcala of to-day is situated in the centre of a beautiful country and has illimitable advantages. It is a favorite spot for the artist and student. Governor Prospero Cahuantzi has a most interesting and unique personality, and his hospitality to strangers is one of the reasons of the popularity of the capital city. A visit to Mexico is not complete without seeing this remarkable old historical place.