Tochtepec

Tochtepec, the Nahuatl hill of rabbits, was a leading town on the Papaloapan River, linking the Chinantec and Mixtec lands with the Gulf of Mexico.

Aztec armies under Moctezuma I began conquering the region, and Axayacatl campaigned through Tochtepec in 1475. The district became a tributary province with a garrison and Mexica governor, sending cacao, rubber, cochineal, feathers and gold to court. Pedro de Alvarado entered the Papaloapan in 1518, and Gonzalo de Sandoval took the province for Spain in 1521.