Since the time of the conquest, the Sea of Cortés Regionin particular the Baja California peninsulahas had a strategic nature as it is considered a gateway to the Asian continent, he explained. Carlos Lazcano Sahagún.
The geologist, historian and speleologist was the guest speaker at the 30th edition of the Voices from the Sea of Cortezwhere he presented the theme Discover the Origin of the Sea of Cortez Region.
Lazcano Sahagún emphasized that a community that knows its history will love its region better, and that not knowing its history has an economic cost, because in this way a town can let in other interests.
"History is one of the patrimonies of the people, it is not the patrimony of politicians, it is not the patrimony of historians, it is the patrimony of the people. People should make an important effort to know this history and those of us who are interested in its dissemination should present the options that enrich us, the history that gives us life, that helps us to move forward," he said.
In his account, the historian narrated the origin of the Sea of Cortés Regionsince it was occupied by indigenous groups that arrived, according to the hypotheses, from Siberia. Although it was accepted that these groups arrived 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, there is evidence that indicates that the origin goes back as far as 30,000 to 50,000 years.
The arrival of Europeans
Carlo Lazcano stated that when Christopher Columbus discovered America I was looking for a route to reach the Moluccas Islands, the land of spiceslocated in Southeast Asia, after the Muslim conquest of the Constantinople and closed trade between Asia and Europe.
The most important product at that time was spices, so the different European powers set about the task of exploring new routes to control the Moluccas and their trade.
"The Spaniards decided to search on the western side with Columbus' proposal and in theory they should have reached the Moluccas, which was correct, but they were unaware that the American Continent was in the way," he explained.
Lazcano Sahagún added that when Hernán Cortés left Cuba, what he was looking for was a passage that connected the Atlantic with the Pacific, but he ran into the Aztecs and began the conquest.
"The Spaniards realized that they had to conquer the new continent by force because it was the gateway to the Moluccas and if they did not conquer it, any of their enemies would conquer it and take over the spice route," he said.
The Pacific, the gateway to the spice island
After the conquest of the Aztecs, Hernán Cortés began expeditions and in 1521 he discovered the PacificThe exploration began in the areas where Guatemala, Chiapas and Oaxaca are today, and then moved northward.
"Between 1522 and 1526, he discovered almost the entire Mexican Pacific coast, up to Nayarit, interrupted for a few years and returned, went to Spain, returned in 1531, continued his explorations of the Pacific and discovered Baja California. He began a process that began in 1532 and concluded in 1540," he said.
The historian detailed that, in 1532, the first expedition reached the north of the country. Sinaloaat about the same time as Nuño de Guzmán, founded Culiacan. In 1533 he sent a second expedition under the command of Diego Becerra, in which they discovered the Bay of La PazThe expedition failed because they were attacked and defeated by the Guaycuras. The expedition failed because they were attacked and defeated by the Guaycuras.
"Cortés personally decides to explore in the following navigation, which took place between 1535 and 1536, and that is when he takes possession of the Bay of La Paz, baptizes it as Santa Cruz and sends four land expeditions to the north and south of the Bay of La Paz to explore the interior," he said.
The origin of California
In a novel of chivalry that was in vogue at the time, the adventures take place on an island named Californiawhere the Amazons lived surrounded by treasures, said Carlos Lazcano.
Many of Cortés' soldiers who participated in the expedition thought that this island existed and that it was the one they had reached, but they found neither Amazons nor treasure, only very savage native nomadic groups who lived from day to day and began to attack them.
"When Cortes finally manages to control the situation is when he sends to explore to the south and north. One of these expeditions arrives at Cabo San Lucas and there is a certain angle where you see the stone tongue that ends with the arch that is very similar to the description of the island of California in the novel, then Cortes' soldiers said, 'hey, this looks like California', referring to the island in the novel, then they named it Cape California. That was the first place that was called California, however, this was not an official name, it was given by the soldiers", he clarified.
Hernán Cortés was the first to try to colonize and establish a province on the peninsula, but he failed because he could not find a way to economically sustain his project. In the following 150 years there were many projects that tried to do the same in order to join it to the dynamics of the New Spainbut they did not prosper either.
The Manila Galleon
The Spaniards managed to reach the Moluccas, where the Portuguese had already arrived on the African side, but the territories were divided and Spain was left with Philippineswhich also produced spices, so they established the route of the Manila Galleon from Acapulco.
Lazcano Sahagún considered that Hernán Cortés was very insistent on the exploration of the Pacific in Baja CaliforniaHe realized that New Spain was in the middle of the route between Asia and Europe and was key to the spice trade. Years later, the peninsula began to have a strategic character as a result of the beginning of the route of the Manila Galleon.
"Going from Acapulco to the Philippines took three months, but in the opposite direction it took up to six months and half of the sailors died of scurvy, so the Spanish began to plan to put it as far north as possible, a port to support the galleon, and that is when they began to search the coasts of present-day U.S. California," he said.
What Father Kino's missions teach us
In his report, Carlos Lazcano stressed that a key figure for the Sea of Cortés Region was the father Eusebio Francisco Kinowho from 1683 to 1686 participated in an expedition to the Baja California peninsula that commanded Isidro de Atondowhich had as its objectives to initiate the evangelization and establish a support port for the Manila Galleon.
The mission failed, but Kino requested to be sent to Sonora to be close to the indigenous people guaycuras y cochiminear the current region of Loretowith whom he had worked.
From the Sonora missions Kino was able to support the livelihood of the missions that Salvatierra later led on the peninsula.
"Kino founded 20 missions, all of them prosperous, and he sent all the surplus cattle and grains to the California missions. Thanks to this, Salvatierra was able to sustain the missionary project and in this way he was able to move forward," he said.
These missions on the peninsula were the basis for the later initiation of the missions in the Alta Californiahe stressed.
The historian emphasized that the historical experience of the missions, the solidarity support that they gave each other and that helped all these regions to move forward, is a topic worth analyzing and from which we can learn in order to face the problems faced by the region. Sea of Cortés Region at the present time.
