Event Details

The Friends of Coronado & Jemez Historic Sites present a lecture by Oliver Horn, Ph.D., regional site manager of Fort Stanton and Lincoln Historic Sites, about the hidden stories of Spain’s Mesoamerican allies, the Tlaxcalans.

If you’ve taken a tour at Coronado Historic Site you probably heard the term "Indios amigos" or "friendly Indians." The Mesoamerican Indians that helped Cortez defeat the Aztecs, accompanied the Spanish expansion into central Mexico, Central America, and ultimately the American Southwest with Coronado in 1540 and later with Oñate in 1598 were the Tlaxcalans. They were among the first Indigenous people converted to Christianity and continued to rule themselves until the early 1600s. This lecture will reveal their often-overlooked role in the establishment of New Spain.

Oliver Horn, a native of Albuquerque, earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in U.S. International History from Georgetown University. He taught Latin American History and International Affairs at Western Caroline University before returning to New Mexico in 2020. Founding Sunmount Consulting in Santa Fe, he made significant contributions to New Mexico’s approach to historic preservation and coauthored the "New Mexico Preservation Plan 2022 – 2031." Horn has been the regional site manager of Lincoln and Fort Stanton Historic Sites since 2023.

The lecture is free and takes place at Martha Liebert Public Library in Bernalillo, 124 Calle Malinche Street, behind the Town Hall at 829 Camino del Pueblo.

Image: Lienzo de Tlaxcala, Oficina tipográfica de la Secretaría de fomento, Mexico, 1892. Bourne Book Collection - Homenaje á Cristóbal Colón 972 MexH, Digital Image © 2012 Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, NMHM.