Diego de Ordaz

In recognition of De Ordaz's military deeds, on October 22, 1525, the emperor Charles V issued a decree permitting him to use a coat-of-arms featuring a view of the volcano.

When - prior to the final conquest - the Spaniards were forced to flee from the capital in a nocturnal action known as La Noche Triste ("the sad night"), De Ordaz was wounded.

He returned again to Spain and was appointed "Governor of the Islands in the Rio Marañon",[2] the estuary area of the Amazon River (discovered by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón in 1500, but not explored since).

During his travels, he learned from the natives of an El Dorado-like kingdom known as Meta (possibly the same location as the Manõa recorded in secondary sources) said to exist beyond a mountain on left bank of the Orinoco River.

Diego de Ordaz was one of the principal characters in the anonymous historical novel Jicoténcal published in Philadelphia in 1826 and attributed to several different writers like Felix Varela, José María Heredia, and Félix Mejía.