Tela was founded by the Spanish
conquistador Cristóbal de Olid on 3 May 1524 near an indigenous town named
Tehuacán, ruled by a cacique named Cucumba which had a very good source of
clean water, food and medicinal plants. Olid named his town Triunfo de la Cruz
(Triumph of the Cross) as it was founded on this Catholic holy day. The name
Triunfo de la Cruz continues to be used to day to refer to a small promontory
in the bay. There are historians who say that the origin of the name is a contraction
of Tetela, which in the Nahua language means "land of hills and craggy
