Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 237, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 October 1916 — Early Inhabitants of Mexico. [ARTICLE]

Early Inhabitants of Mexico.

Before its discovery by the Spaniards, Mexico was occupied by several Indian races, the Nahuas, known as Aztecs, predominating. In 1518 the exploration of the Gulf coast by Grijalva was followed by the Spanish invasion in 1519, and the capture of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, in 1521. The Spanish colony thus formed was created into a viceroyalty, and became the richest European possession in the new world, with the exception of Peru. The ’ Spaniards extended their’conquests even into what is now the territory of the United States. The viceroys had full sway over all the territory, which was from the southern boundary of Costa Rica to Florida, as well as the West Indies. However, in the eighteenth century the East Indies and Guatemala, or Central America, were separated. With the exception of ja few Indian wars nothing molestvd -the lives of splendor led by the viceroys. Great fortunes were amassed in the silver mines and in the East India trade.