Juan de Grijalva in the context of "Coatzacoalcos River"

Pedro de Alvarado (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo ðe alβaˈɾaðo]; c. 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, adelantado, governor and captain general of Guatemala. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of the Yucatán Peninsula and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the conquest of the Aztec Empire led by Hernán Cortés. He is considered the conquistador of much of Central America, including Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and parts of Nicaragua.

While a great warrior, Alvarado developed a reputation for greed and cruelty, and was accused of various crimes and abuses by natives and Spaniards alike. In 1541, Alvarado was crushed by a horse while attempting to quell a native revolt in Mexico, dying a few days later.

The Papaloapan River (Spanish: Río Papaloapan) is one of the main rivers of the Mexican state of Veracruz. Its name comes from the Nahuatl papaloapan meaning "river of the butterflies".

In 1518 Juan de Grijalva's expedition spotted the river, naming it Río de Alvarado. The Papaloapan rises in the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca on the border between the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca. It is formed where the Santo Domingo River and the Valle Nacional River join to the southwest of San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec in Oaxaca. The Tonto River is another major tributary.The Papaloapan meanders for 122 km (76 mi) in a northeasterly direction through the coastal plain before draining into Alvarado Lagoon.The river basin covers 46,517 km (17,960 sq mi), the second largest in Mexico, and contains 244 municipalities with a population of about 3.3 million people.The cities of San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec and Tlacotalpan (Veracruz) are situated on the banks of the Papaloapan.

Champotón is a small city in Champotón Municipality in the Mexican state of Campeche, located at 19°21′N 90°43′W / 19.35°N 90.72°W / 19.35; -90.72, about 60 km south of the city of Campeche where the small Champotón river meets the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. At the 2010 census it had a population of 30,881.

Champotón, historically also called Chakanputun, Chanpaton and Chanputun, was a city of the Maya civilization dating back to at least the 10th century before it was conquered by Spain in the 16th century. There the famous battle "Mala Pelea" occurred. In the first Spanish exploration (1517), they were defeated by the Maya. Juan de Grijalva's expedition exacted revenge in 1518.

The Province of Pánuco was a province of the Spanish colony of New Spain. It was probably discovered by Amerigo Vespucci in 1498, and later by Juan de Grijalva. It was located on the Mexican gulf coast centered on Santiestebán de Pánuco, from the river of Tuxpan and extending into the current state of Tamaulipas. Originally inhabited by Huastecs, it was claimed both by conquistador Hernán Cortés who sent Francisco de Montejo to claim the area and by Francisco de Garay, governor of Jamaica, who sent Alonso Alvarez de Pineda. The province was the object of a power struggle between supporters of Cortés and his opponents, first divided into encomiendas and allotted to Cortés supporters.

A gobierno (governorate) of San Esteban de Pánuco was created in 1523. Its territory may have corresponded to the Huasteca, as far north as the Pánuco River. This gobierno was absorbed by New Spain in 1534.