PEACE OFFERING or DID THE SPANISH GET PUNKED?
NEXT TIME TELL THEM TO BRING THE SALAD INSTEAD!
Originally Published the Week of March 14, 2018 in Western Outdoor News
I’m a fan of history and enjoy finding little obscure bits of historical trivia. I recently came across a story about our own city of La Paz where we live.
If you ever have a chance to visit the city, I hope you get the opportunity to visit the city cathedral in the town square. It’s not a big city. The cathedral is not hard to find.
The first thing that will strike you is that it sure doesn’t look like your typical Spanish-style mission so common up-and-down the Baja and into California.
It is strikingly absent of the long sepia-colored arched breezeways and adobe walls usually associated with mission architecture. On the contrary, the La Paz cathedral is kind of square and blocky-looking.
It has two atypical massive bell towers that look more fortress-like than other mission churches. Heavy stone blocks and concrete masonry have been described as “sober neo-classical” in design. It doesn’t sound too exciting, but nonetheless, it’s a big church!
Indeed, it looks different because it is.
Most other missions were constructed by Spanish Jesuit missionaries and conquistadores in the 1600’s and 1700 hundreds. La Paz didn’t complete it’s house of worship until the latter part of the 1800’s.
According to the history, when the Spanish first arrived, they didn’t come as benevolent emissaries of church and crown. Actually, they showed up as violent buttheads and took a heavy brutal hand to the local indigenous population. They had no problem applying armor, cannons and musket to get their point across.
The locals didn’t take kindly to it and battled back. And won. Booted the Spanish right out.
This happened again and again. Something between 5 and 8 incursions by the Spanish were made in La Paz to set up a colony. In each case, the locals either whupped up on the padres and their military escorts or simply made it difficult to for the Spanish colonists to sustain the outpost.
The natives would cut off water; damage crops; and made it impossible for supply trains and ships to replenish and re-inforce the beleaguered colonists. Life in the New World was hard and brutal enough let alone being harassed by belligerent tribes.
So, the Spanish would pack up and sail away.
At least until the next intrepid group of helmet-headed imperialists showed up.
According to the story, during one of these attempts, the Spanish thought they were making some headway with the locals. Rather than attack, the tribesmen presented the Spanish with many loaves of native papaya bread.
A welcome gift and gesture indeed! The Spanish were thrilled with this apparently peaceful overture. So, thrilled that they decided to have a fiesta to celebrate the wondrous gift of the delicious bread. A bit like the colonists at the first Thankgiving.
It was during this fiesta that the Spanish found out that the natives had a special method to making their bread.
The natives loved papaya and would consume the entire fruit wasting nothing. This included the skin, meat and seeds. It was their traditional way.
So far so good. The key words are “wasting nothing.”
The most interesting part was that the tribespeople would then gather up the “previously digested seeds.” Use your imagination.
The seeds ground into the flour used to make this special “Baja Bread” …wasting nothing!
Upon hearing this, the Spanish pretty much choked and gagged in” mid-chew” thinking about the origins of their yummy bread.
They were mad. Fighting mad at what they perceived was a cruel and sinister joke. No one was laughing. The Spaniards thought they got punked big time. Talk about a “party fail!”
And once again, hostilities broke out. The Spanish had no sense of humor and much blood was spilled over breaking bread.
A peace offering misunderstood and gone awry? Or a dastardly prank pulled on the Spanish masters and padres?
We will never know.
But the natives again rose up and pummeled the Spanish back to the mother country.
I love history.
That’s my story!
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Jonathan Roldan has been writing the Baja Column in Western Outdoor News since 2004. Along with his wife and fishing buddy, Jilly, they own and run the Tailhunter International Fishing Fleet in La Paz, Baja, Mexico www.tailhunter-international.com. They also run their Tailhunter Restaurant Bar on the famous La Paz malecon waterfront. If you’d like to contact him directly, his e-mail is: jonathan@tailhunter.com
Or drop by the restaurant to say hi. It’s right on the La Paz waterfront!
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Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website:
www.tailhunter-international.com
Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: http://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/
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