Pedro de Alvarado
(1485-1541), Spain. Explorer

Explorer, officer under Hernán Cortés during the conquest of Mexico. In one of the battles between the Aztecs and the Spaniards in Mexico City (1519), Alvarado at one point found himself cut off from the rest of his troops, separated by a wide body of water. Fully armed in the Conquistador's uniform of metal, Alvarado made a running jump across the water (which those who were watching later swore no man could have made) and landed safely on the other side. The jump was so great that the battle stopped momentarily to see whether he would make it or not. When he did, both sides cheered him. Then the battle continued. This feat later became known as "Alvarado's Leap." He later was the commander who conquered Guatemala. Born in Badajoz, Spain, Alvarado went to the West Indies in 1510. He joined the expedition to Cuba in 1511 and received a grant of land there. After Cortés conquered Mexico in 1521, he sent Alvarado to seize Guatemala. Three years later, with the help of Indian allies, Alvarado succeeded. The next year he conquered El Salvador and directed the founding of the capital city, San Salvador. He became governor of Guatemala, and later of Honduras.