A Hero for the Americas “Statue of Gonzalo Guerrero by Raul Ayala Arellano, 1974” by Feliks, 2008 (original in colour). Used under a Creative Commons licence. A Hero for tHe AmericAs The Legend of Gonzalo Guerrero robert cAlder © 2017 Robert Calder All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means — graphic, electronic, or mechanical — without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or placement in information storage and retrieval systems of any sort shall be directed in writing to Access Copyright. Printed and bound in Canada at Friesens. The text of this book is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with earth-friendly vegetable-based inks. Cover design: Duncan Campbell, University of Regina Press Text design: John van der Woude, jvdw Designs Copy editor: Dallas Harrison Proofreader: Kristine Douaud Indexer: Sergey Lobachev, Brookfield Indexing Services Cover art: Detail of sculpture by Carlos Terrés. “Allegory of mestizaje,” 1981, terroca and reinforced concrete, 35 x 19 m, City of Chetumal Quintana Roo. Used with permission. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Calder, Robert Lorin, 1941-, author     A hero for the Americas : the legend of Gonzalo Guerrero / Robert Calder. Includes bibliographical references and index. Issued in print and electronic formats. isbn 978-0-88977-509-1 (softcover).—isbn 978-0-88977-510-7 (pdf).—isbn 978-0-88977-511-4 (html) 1. Guerrero, Gonzalo, -approximately 1528. 2. Spaniards—Mexico—Biography.  3. Shipwreck victims—Mexico—Biography. 4. Mayas—Mexico—History.  5. Mexico—History—Conquest, 1519-1540.  6. Yucatán Peninsula—History.  i. Title. f1435.c35 2017 972'.02092 c2017-905023-0 c2017-905024-9 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 University of Regina Press, University of Regina Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, s4s 0a2 tel: (306) 585-4758 fax: (306) 585-4699 web: www.uofrpress.ca We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our pub- lishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. / Nous reconnaissons l’appui financier du gouvernement du Canada. This publication was made possible with support from Creative Saskatchewan’s Creative Industries Production Grant Program. For Holly CONTENTS maps Map 1. Spain ix Map 2. The Caribbean x Map 3. The Yucatán Peninsula xi introduction “A Haunting, Tantalizing Tale” 1 chapter one “No White Man Ever Enters It”: The Yucatán Peninsula 9 chapter two “To Serve God and . . . to Get Rich”: The Lure of the New World 22 chapter three “It Seemed the End of the World”: Balboa, Pizarro, and the Perils of Darién 41 chapter four “It Will Never Do to Leave Him Here”: Shipwreck, Enslavement, and Hernán Cortés 66 chapter five “What Would the Spanish Say Should They See Me in This Guise?”: Gonzalo Among the Maya 87 chapter six “Language Is the Perfect Instrument of Empire”: Aguilar and the Conquest of the Aztecs 112 chapter seven “Gonzalo, My Brother and Special Friend”: Guerrero the Warrior and the Battle for Yucatán 139 chapter eight “The Power of Narrative Is Absolute”: Guerrero in the Contemporary Mexican Consciousness 165 afterword “We Are a Métis Civilization” 184 Acknowledgements 191 Notes 193 Bibliography 201 Index 209 maps ix FRANCE Azores n PORTUGAL SPAIN a ic Oce Mediterrranean Sea t Strait of Gibraltar n a A tl Madeira MOROCCO ALGERIA Canary Islands n o g a r A SPAIN Castil a e PORTUGAL ur d a m e Extr Niebla LepeHuelva Rio Tinto SMeovgiluleer Écija Granada Mazagón Palos de Sanlúcar de Barrameda la Frontera Cadiz Strait of Gibraltar Mediterranean Sea Source: Natural Earth Cartography: J. Siemer, University of Regina, 2107 Map 1. Spain