Five Centuries of European Presence in Honduras

This year, 2024, marks 500 years of a permanent European presence in Honduras. The civilization brought here by Spanish conquistadors half a millennium ago set Honduras on a path to poses a common language, Christianity, an administrative system, schools, roads, and a legal system. All which glues Honduran society together began in March 1524. Yet, you would not know that living here.
The Honduran government held no celebrations to mark this occasion. The Catholic Church in Honduras held no celebrations of 500 years of presence of Catholic sacraments in the country. Even the Spanish embassy in Honduras showed limited interest in talking about the mid-millennial anniversary with Paya Magazine. This willful disinterest in celebrating – or even acknowledging – the Christian, western roots of Honduras signifies something. It signifies that the powers that control the discourse in Honduras hold European and Christians culture in little regard. That of the religion and Christianity of the country’s fathers and forefathers.
There are also no Spanish embassy lectures or exhibitions. Spanish themselves have bought into the idea that for 300 years they have raped and pillaged the indigenous population, and that there is no reason to celebrate the half-millennium anniversary this year.
Honduras has but a peripheral battlefield in the culture wars taking place across the globe. The European and Christian civilization is increasingly vilified and devalued. There are groups interested in debasing not only European culture, but Christianity in particular.

The reality was that the Spanish came to the Americas for a variety of reasons. Some came to gain fame, glory, and riches. Other came to set up roads and build churches and cities. Others yet came to spread Christian faith and educate the natives.

That is a rich tapestry of Spanish men, who sacrificed, suffered, and died while creating the foundation of what is today Honduras. They brought with them the Catholic sacraments, Spanish language, Latin alphabet, a moral code, construction, administration, and a monetary and legal system.

All that laid a foundation of today’s Honduran identity.

You would not know this by visiting the museum of National Identity in Tegucigalpa. There, the Spanish across 300 years are given almost no credit. The sad fact is that Honduras’ history and identity has been captured by forces opposed to Western and Catholic values.

European and Christian civilization is increasingly vilified and devalued.

The 500 year anniversary of European and Christian presence in Honduras was not and will not be celebrated. Except for local events in Tela, there were no celebrations of the events that took place exactly 500 years ago in what is today Honduras. There were no celebrations of first European colonist’s arrival in the country. There were no celebrations of the arrival of Christianity and the first sacraments that took place in Honduras in 1524.

Honduras’ Discovery

On Columbus’s fourth voyage (1502-04) to the Americas, the great explorer finally set foot on the American continent. He did this on Honduran soil. This fact is little appreciated and even less celebrated in this Central American nation. His fourth expedition was made in his final attempt to find a maritime route to the Far East. While failing to do so, Columbus begun a chapter in Spanish and European colonization of the Americas.

The explorer’s first sitting of what is today Honduras took place on July 30, 1502, when he visited Guanaja, which he named Isla de Pinos – Pine island. He spent several days with the local Paya Indians and then continued to the coast, visible in the distance only 40 miles away. He named the mainland Honduras – depths after the deep water off the coast.

Capitanía, Santiago, Gallego and Vizcaíno, sailed 40 miles south to reach Punta Castilla.

While at sea Columbus came upon a Maya canoe on a trading expedition to the Payas. The canoe, captained by an elderly man, likely came from Nito – a Mayan port 200 miles west at the mouth of Río Dulce. The Mayan canoe was large and seaworthy: eight feet wide and 100 feet in length.

The canoe was covered by a canopy in its middle portion. It accommodated 25 men, women, and children. It carried large and varied goods: cacao, cotton ornamented garments, crucibles for melting copper, flint-edged wooden swords, stone axes, and knives. This was the first interaction between Europeans and Mayas.

Columbus’ four Spanish ships: Capitanía, Santiago, Gallego and Vizcaíno, sailed 40 miles south to reach Punta Castilla. It was the first landing of the Spanish on the American mainland, and it took place in Honduras. It took the Spanish a decade of exploration in the Caribbean to finally land on the mainland.

On August 13, 1502, the first Catholic mass was celebrated on the American continent. Brother Alejandro of Barcelona celebrated that mass in Puerto Castilla, and then named Punta Caxinas. Columbus, who was given the authority of the Spanish crown to do so, claimed the territory that we know today as Honduras for the king, Ferdinand the V of Spain.

Unlike the 2024 missing celebrations, on August 13, 2002, Honduran and other bishops celebrated the 500 year anniversary of the first mass on the American continent. This was celebrated near Punta Caxina, or just outside of Puerto Castillo. Columbus also sailed further into the Trujillo Bay, to Trujillo itself.

Honduras’ Conquista

After the conquest of Mexico in 1519-1521 the Spanish turned their attention to lands south: Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. They also continued looking for a maritime passage to the East Indies.

The terra incognita that was America was still mostly an unexplored and open book. While Hernán Cortés was the grand explorer of Mexico, his captains kept discovering populous areas full of riches promising them income from tributes, plantations, and gold. The idea of being a governor of a large province made one Spanish conquistador turn against the other. The territory of Honduras and Nicaragua attracted three suitors. The permanent presence of the Spanish in Honduras came three years later, in the spring of 1524.

Velázquez managed to convince Olid to betray Cortés.

The first to land in Honduras was Gil González Dávila, who claimed the land under the auspices of the Spanish crown. The Spanish king authorized González to seek passage to the Pacific along the Honduran coast. On March 19, 1524 González left Santo Domingo with four ships. He commanded an impressive force of 300 men and 50 horses. He landed in an area called Cieneguita, and funded Villa de la Natividad de Nuestra Señora near today’s Puerto Cortés.

He had to lighten the ship by throwing 17 of his 50 horses overboard, hence the name Puerto Caballos (now Puerto Cortés). González then sailed further west, to the Bay of Amatique and the Río Dulce, where he founded the town of San Gil de Buenavista.

The second conquistador to arrive in Honduras was Cristóbal de Olid. Olid was Cortés’ trusted and tested man. He had served Cortés well being one of his four captains that lead Spanish forces in the conquest of Mexico. Olid helped to capture Xochimilco in a key battle of the Mexican campaign. At one point Olid even saved Cortés from certain death as Cortés was captured by the Aztecs.

The Spanish conquest of the Americas was full of intrigue between the conquistadores themselves who competed not only in spreading the Spanish empire, but in creating provinces and territories of which they could become governors.

Olid was camp commander in May 1520, while a trial of Juan de Villafaña, on charge of plotting to assassinate Cortés, was being held. Four years later, as a form of reward, Hernán Cortés dispatched Olid by ship to Honduras with orders to establish a town.

In January 1524, Olid departed with six ships and 400 men for Cuba. He also brought many arms, artillery pieces, and 8,000 pieces of gold to buy horses and vestments. In Cuba, he met with Diego Velázquez, the island’s governor and a known political enemy of Cortés.

Velázquez was aware of Cortés being appointed by King Carlos, governor of New Spain, and resented his success. Velázquez managed to convince Olid to betray Cortés and accept his sponsorship during the conquista of Honduras.

On May 3, 1524 Olid landed in today’s Tela bay, likely to avoid confronting the expedition of González which had arrived in Puerto Cabezas just a few weeks earlier. Thus Olid founded the port of Triunfo de la Cruz, a town that is known today as Tela.

Upon landing on Honduras’ coast, Olid acted in a resolute manner. He decided not to act quickly, but to better establish himself, gain strength, and gather knowledge in order to truly understand if the new lands were worth the political risk of standing up to Cortés. Olid took position of Honduras in the name of Cortés, but held papers that referred to himself, a shrewd but ultimately disastrous strategy.

Olid can arguably be considered the founder of what would eventually become Honduras.

In June 1524, Cortés acted upon his knowledge of Olid betraying him. He sent his trusted lieutenant and cousin Francisco de Las Casas with five well-armed ships and men to Honduras to confront and arrest Olid. All of a sudden, Olid found himself fighting on two fronts. He was confronting the expedition of Gil González Dávila on land and de las Casas at Sea.

Fate intervened as Las Casas sailed to Puerto Caballos, now controlled by Olid. “Olid decided to launch an attack with two caravels. Las Casas returned fire and sent boarding parties, which captured Olid’s ships. Under the circumstances, Olid proposed a truce to which Las Casas agreed, and he did not land his forces. During the night, a fierce storm destroyed his fleet and about a third of his men were lost. The remainder was taken prisoner after two days of exposure and without food. After being forced to swear loyalty to Olid, they were released,” writes Robustiano Vera in his 1899 book “Notes on the history of Honduras.”

Fate has favored Olid until that time. “Las Casas was kept a prisoner, soon to be joined by González, who had been captured by Olid’s inland force,” writes Robustiano Vera. As he fled, González was surprised near Choloma and brought to Olid by Briones, one of Olid’s captains.

Olid became victorious against two divided foes, and moved the men to the town of Naco, a large pre-Hispanic town right outside of the Maya territory, but certainly with contact and trade with the Maya. While Naco today is an unimpressive dirt road settlement, 500 years ago it was the center of a three way competition of Spanish conquistadores trying to secure land that promised perhaps as many resources and opportunities as Mexico just a couple of years before.

Fortunes turned on Olid’s miscalculation. Olid allowed his two prisoners to leave their prison and have dinner with him. “One night after the snack, and Olid being alone with his prisoners, Las Casas got up and grabbed Olid by the beard and buried a sharp knife that he had hidden under his dress in his throat. Gil González threw himself at the same time and also cruelly wounded him… Thus he was able to escape and went to hide in some bushes,” writes Robustiano Vera in his 1899 book “Notes on the history of Honduras.”

Olid was eventually found out and brought back. Olid was accused of treason against the Spain’s royal power. A brief trial took place and Olid was found guilty and sentenced to death. On January 16, 1525, his head was cut off and placed on a spike on the main plaza in the town of Naco. This rushed judgment and execution came into question soon after in Mexico. Even the locals felt this was not a fair treatment for Olid.

The relationship with the new Spanish bosses and local population deteriorated. The locals refused to supply more food and the Spanish left. Las Casas and González left for Mexico, and other settler went to establish settlements in other parts of Honduras.

Olid can arguably be considered the founder of what would eventually become Honduras. To other conquistadors, Olid was seen as an independent operator, dangerous to other Spanish players – especially Cortés.

When Las Casa and González returned to Mexico, the new man in charge – Salazar de la Pedrada – had replaced Cortés as governor and didn’t like them making themselves the judge and executioner of a well respected Olid. What didn’t help was that the two continued to insist they owed their alliance to Cortés and not to Pedrada. So Salazar de la Pedrada had them arrested and tried for Olid’s execution. He was determined to execute them, but finally, the two were taken to Spain as prisoners and avoided further consequences.

Cortés himself avoided travelling through Naco.

Cortés in Honduras

Hernán Cortés decided to head to Honduras himself in 1525, via a land route. Cortés’s main force headed for the coast, while a smaller force travelled by land, south to Naco.
When Cortés arrived in Nito, on the tip of the Bay of Honduras on his overland journey from Mexico, the settlement was manned with a few dozen Spaniards, ill-provisioned and unhealthy form malaria and other diseases. A Spanish ship full of provisions arrived just in time.

The Spanish raced to repair a caravel and a brigantine and sail east to arrive in Honduras by sea. Nito was judged too unhealthy to remain. Cortés himself avoided travelling through Naco on his march across Mayan country and travelled from Río Dulce via boat to Puerto Cortés, then Trujillo, then set off north to Havana.

Captain Sandoval of Cortés’s crew went with soldiers and settlers to the valley of Naco, where Olid made his headquarters earlier. Sandoval found Naco deserted right before their arrival. This was not uncommon. The Spanish would find abandoned towns on their paths of conquest as populations fearing for their lives would scatter and leave everything behind. “We took up our quarters in some very large courts where they had beheaded Cristobal de Olid. The pueblo was well provisioned with maize and beans and Chili peppers, and we also found a little salt which was the thing we needed most,” wrote Bernal Díaz of his arrival in Naco. Even though Spanish conquest disrupted trade, Naco recovered and continued operating as a trade center.

Paya Magazine went looking for the unknown burial site of de Olid.

Nonetheless, the Spanish were impressed with the natural resource of the valley and Naco river. “In this pueblo is the best water we have found in New Spain, and a tree which in the noon-day heat, be the sun ever so fierce, appears to refresh the heart with its shade, and there falls from it a sort of very fine dew which comforts the head,” according to 1539 accounts of Francisco de Montejo.

1525 and After

One of Francisco de Las Casas parting contributions to Honduran History was the founding of the country’s third oldest city, and later its first capital, Trujillo. On May 18, 1525 de las Casas founded Trujillo before departing with his prisoner Gil González Dávila.

Later in 1520s Honduras saw several explorers and conquistadores from Spain. One of them was the Juan de Grijalva who explored Cuba in 1511 and then Mexican coasts on Yucatan and Tabasco in 1518. In 1527 de Grijalva joined Pedro Arias Dávila in exploration of Honduras and Nicaragua. Grijalva was killed by natives in Olancho and buried there.

Olid’s Lost Grave

Without a doubt the principal historical figure of Honduras’ Conquista was that of Cristóbal de Olid. He is the country’s forgotten conquistador, and an overlooked hero that brought the first vestiges of western civilization, Christianity, and European administration.

Paya Magazine went looking for the unknown burial site of de Olid. We made two trips to Naco, Cortés, and areas surrounding that town. While Naco is now a backwater town, it was once a well known and well inhabited place.

The town is located where Naco river runs into Chamelecón river and where the valley widens, allowing ample area for cultivation. The Naco Valley is situated in the middle part of the Chamelecón Valley. In the 1500s, Naco was estimated to have as many as 10,000 inhabitants and was located on the edge of Mayan civilization. Mayan language was certainly spoken, or at least known to the natives. The Spanish were already familiar with Mayan civilization and dialects during their conquest of Mexico in the years prior.

His contribution to the Honduran nation remain unacknowledged.

The foothill area where we focused our search for de Olid’s grave is known to be under control of narco gangs. While we looked for Olid’s grave, we found many abandoned graves but nothing dating further than maybe a century.

While Naco is forgotten, it is still one of Honduras’ premier colonial archeological sites. It was located in a transitional zone between the Maya to the west and non-Maya tribes to the East. “Historical and archaeological evidence indicates that Naco, one of the principal late pre-Hispanic centers in the region, maintained strong ties with the rest of the Maya world and with non-Maya Central America,” writes John Henderson of Cornell University.

The archeological location of the Naco can be traced to Naco Nuevo and Las Flores de Naco. Local oral tradition remembers “El Rey” who fled wounded to the El Salto waterfall on the Naco River. According to the story, he was brought back from there and killed. In high likelihood, the story described Cristobal de Olid final days.

Where to Honduran Man?

A man who not knows his father, will not know his past and will not be in control of his destiny. The people who are in charge in Honduras, those obliging memorization of national hymns and requiring school children parades in Lempira costumes, are interested in keeping the memory of Olid and other Spanish conquistadors unknown.

While Olid was accused of treason and executed, that is nothing new. Fierce competition and even summary execution of conquistadors was not without precedent.
Olid met the same fate as reputed founder of Nicaragua, Francisco Hernández de Córdoba, two years later in 1526. Cordoba, the founder of Granada and Leon, was executed in Leon Viejo by the order of Pedro Arias de Ávila, the colonial administrator who was named governor of Nicaragua a year later.

Since Córdoba was accused as an insurrectionist and a traitor, he was beheaded. His headless remains were discovered in 2000, in a crypt at the church of La Merced in León Viejo. That same year his remains were moved to a monument at the old Managua cathedral and honored with a 21 cannon salute.

Olid’s remains, on the other hand, remain undiscovered. His contribution to the Honduran nation remain unacknowledged. While ignored, the undisputed fact is that Cristobal del Olid was a first class adventurer and valiant conquistador. There is a valid case for Hondurans to claim Olid as their founding father.

I spoke with old heads in Trujillo, taxi drivers in La Ceiba, shop keepers in Olancho, and doctors in Tegucigalpa. Apparently, that basic question was far from the minds of Hondurans. Some felt it was curious no one ever asked them that before, or taught them in school.

The concept of a country’s founder is universally accepted. Just about all Americans will agree that George Washington was their country’s founder. Mexicans will say it was Hernán Cortés – like him or not, he had that honor. Nicaraguans will say it was Francisco de Córdoba. Both Guatemalans and Salvadorians will point to Pedro de Alvarado as the founding figure of their nation. But Honduras, when asked about their country’s founder, find themselves perplexed. After traveling across Honduras, we have concluded that the basic concept of “father of a nation” is foreign to most of Hondurans.

There was an attempt to point to Honduras’ founder. Some of those interviewed by us would say this man is Christopher Columbus. That could not be, however. The fact is that Christopher Columbus discovered Honduras in 1502, but left without leaving settlement behind or much of a mark.

Others said the founder is chief Lempira, the leader of the Lenca people who fought Francisco de Montejo in 1530s. Yet Lempira, if not a fictional figure, is a symbol of indigenous resistance to Spanish colonization who fought for tribal self determination, and who resisted today’s Honduras being organized into any type of larger entity. He was definitely not a founder, but more like someone would resist founding of any entity resembling the state of Honduras.

Christopher Columbus discovered Honduras in 1502, but left without leaving settlers behind or much of a mark.

Some people said the founder of Honduras was Hernán Cortés. Cortés even has a Honduran department named after him, a fact which supports that claim. Yet, Cortés sailed to Honduras in 1525-6 for a brief stay and only after several other Spanish captains preceded him more than a year earlier.

Some Hondurans suggested that Francisco Morazán is Honduras’ founding father. Yet José Francisco Morazán Quesada was more of a visionary thinker and political martyr. Morazán was a liberal politician, general, and a freemason who served as the president of the Federal Republic of Central America after he was head of state of Honduras. He was also head of state of El Salvador and Costa Rica. Morazán is much more a symbol of Central American unity other than Honduran nationhood.

I’ve also had someone tell me that Honduras didn’t really have a founder. Well, that would make Honduras a nation born without a father, an idea not only sad, but impossible. A nation that doesn’t have a father, or grows up without knowing who the father was, is at a great disadvantage. It is like not knowing where you came from, not knowing your roots or ancestors.

Studying Honduran history in some detail, one finds out quickly that there is a man who can place a rightful claim on being Honduras’ founder. A brave, handsome, and adventurous man born in 1487 in Andalucía, whose body has been buried in an unknown place somewhere around Naco, Cortés. His name was Cristóbal de Olid.

One historical fact has been confirmed by several credible historical sources: 500 years ago, on May 3, 1524 Cristóbal de Olid landed on modern day Tela, and with settlers and religious figures, he founded a town he named Triunfo de la Cruz, or Triumph of the Cross. Cristóbal de Olid claimed the land for Hernán Cortés and later for himself.

Olid came with 400 Spanish and launched what was to be a Christianization and spreading of Western Civilization that bore fruits in churches, cities, and universities. While forgotten, and called a traitor by Cortés, de Olid should be called the father of Honduras.

1524 was a pivotal year in Honduran history. There were in fact three conquistadors roaming the country’s northern coast, bringing in settlers and planting flags. In March 1524, Gil González Dávila landed near Puerto Cortés and founded a town he named Natividad de Nuestra Señora. A few months later, Cortés sent Francisco de las Casas with more men and ships to quell Olid’s ambitions.

In a three way confrontation, it was de las Casas and Dávila who gained the upper hand and had Olid tried for treason in the town of Naco. Olid was found guilty and beheaded. His head was displayed on a wooden spike in the town’s main plaza. While the execution of 36-year-old Olid was later condemned by a Mexican court, none of his executioners suffered punishment.

Olid should be called the father of Honduras.

Having a father of a nation accused of treason is nothing new. One only has to look at Nicaragua and Panama to prove that. Nicaragua celebrates executed Francisco Hernández de Córdoba as a founder of their nation.

Also, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the founder of Panama, was tried and executed by his countrymen and his remains are still missing. Olid, Córdoba and Balboa were executed as traitors and their headless bodies were missing for centuries.

Only Nicaraguans were able to locate the body of the country’s founder. In the year 2000, Córdoba’s headless skeleton was discovered in a crypt of a church in León Viejo. Panamanians are still looking for Balboa’s grave and Hondurans didn’t seem to care much where Olid was buried. The Catrachos are even less interested in acknowledging Olid’s parental rights to their country.

Hondurans stand in sharp contrast to Panamanians and Nicaraguans as far as their pursuit of recognizing their Spanish ancestors. One diversion is how the three countries call their currencies. Nicaraguans replaced their peso in 1913 with, Córdoba notes, acknowledging the contribution of the Spanish Conquistador in bringing in Christianity and civilization to their country. Gaining independence from Colombia in 1904, Panama replaced their Colombian Peso with Balboas.

Honduras did the exact opposite, and in 1931 it replaced their peso note with the Lempira note. The currency named after a cacique figure who opposed the Spanish conquistadores.

Naming currency after a Spanish fighting cacique is unique in Central America, and in fact Latin America in general. It’s a bit like if the US would rename their dollar to Geronimo, acknowledging the Apache chieftain resistance to American western conquest.

Spanish speaking nations either called their money after Spanish like Columbus in Costa Rica, Córdoba in Nicaragua, or Balboa in Panama. Several countries like Mexico and Argentina left their currency name peso like the original Spanish currency. Guatemalans went for something neutral and named their currency after a national bird.

So here is an idea. While El Salvador is stealing everyone’s thunder in Central America, there is something Honduras at least can do and reclaim its rightful father all in one sweep. What about creating a new Honduran currency, tying it to Bitcoin and laming it Olid?