Diego de Ordaz had arrived in Cuba…
December 1519 CE
Diego de Ordaz had arrived in Cuba at a young age and, serving under the orders of Diego Velázquez, had participated in the earliest exploratory expeditions to Colombia and Panamá.
Havng accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expedition of conquest to the Mexican mainlans, he has been recognized for his contribution to the victory over the Aztecs obtained at the Battle of Centla near Río Grijalva in Tabasco on March 25, 1519.
Ordaz participated in the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital.
When prior to the final conquest, the Spaniards were forced to flee from the capital in a nocturnal action known as La Noche Triste ("the sad night"), Ordaz had been wounded.
Following the conquest of Mexico,Ordaz explores the areas of Oaxaca and Veracruz, and navigates the Río Coatzacoalos.
Together with two comrades, he is the first European to climb to the snow-covered summit of the volcano Popocatépetl, a quiescent volcano in central Mexico, rising 17,887 feet (5,452 meters) on the border between the present states of Puebla and Mexico, forty-five miles (seventy-two kilometers) southeast of Mexico City —a feat that makes a great impression on the indigenous allies accompanying Cortės.
The second-highest peak in Mexico (after Orizaba), Popocatepetl’s brilliantly colored crater, five hundred feet (one hundred and fifty-two meters) deep and twenty-seven hundred feet (eight hundred and twenty-three meters) wide, contains immense reserves of pure sulfur.
In recognition of Ordaz's military deeds, the emperor Charles V on October 22, 1525 will issue a decree permitting him to use a coat-of-arms featuring a view of the volcano.
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