In 1519, Hernán Cortés landed on the vast inland of Mexico along with 600 Spaniards, approximately 16 horses, and 11 boats. The Span­ish con­quis­ta­dor and his men were about to embark on a con­quest of an empire that hoarded some of the world’s great­est trea­sure. This dar­ing under­tak­ing seemed insur­mount­able because for more than 600 [...]