Source: WTL course files
Map: Cortés and his forces land at San Juan de Ulúa on the Gulf of Mexico at the right. They found the government of the future city of Veracruz (Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz / Rich City of the True Cross). Then they march west through the mountains to Lake Texcoco on the far left side of the map. The Aztec capital is on an island in Lake Texcoco.