[VIII-47] It was constantly brought forward that while other states had seceded from the confederation, Guatemala alone had contributed to the common budget, and furnished the national executive arms and money to wage war against the rebellious states.
[VIII-48] Martial law was proclaimed Jan. 16, 1838, in the departments of Sacatepequez and Guatemala. Two days later La Antigua rebelled, appointing a provisional government, and subsequently Chiquimula and Salamá followed the movement. Marure, Efem., 42-3; Squier's Travels, ii. 431; Guat., Recop. Leyes, i. 858-9.
[VIII-49] The provisional government was placed in charge of Marcelo Molina, José M. Galvez, and José A. Aguilar. The assembly of Guatemala simply referred the matter to the federal congress, which recognized the new state. Montúfar, Reseña Hist., iii. 9-23; Guat., Recop. Leyes, i. 43.
[VIII-50] Marure, Efem., 47.
[VIII-51] The state comprised, on the north, the districts of Huehuetenango, Sacapulas, Malacatan, Tejutla, Cuilco, Jacaltenango, and Sololá, together with all the territory between the river Pasion and Chiapas, to where it touched the undefined boundaries of Tabasco and Yucatan; on the west, Ostuncalco and San Márcos; on the south, Cuyotenango and Mazatenango; on the east, Atitlan, Sololá, Joyabaj, Quiché; and in the centre, Totonicapan and Quezaltenango. Montúfar, Reseña Hist., iii. 391-3.
[VIII-52] Dated July 12, 1839. Id., 394-7.
[VIII-53] Galvez, José F. and Juan Barrundia, Simon Vasconcelos, and others.
[VIII-54] On the 28th of Jan. a body of Quezaltec troops, under Colonel Corzo, was defeated by the Guatemalans, under Gen. Monterrosa. It had been stationed in the hacienda of Bejucal, with the double object of guarding on the coast side the territory of Los Altos, and of forming a combination with the men of Salvador, who were about to invade Guatemala from the river Paz frontier. The treatment of the fugitives by the Indians was shocking. Corzo and Lieut-col Córdoba perished at their hands. Carrera, after defeating, on the 29th of Jan., the Quezaltec troops that attempted to check him on the heights of Sololá, entered Quezaltenango unresisted, and put an end to that state. Its towns were taken under Guatemalan protection, on the fiction of their voluntary annexation, by decree of Feb. 26, 1840. Marure, Efem., 52; Guat., Recop. Leyes, i. 43-50.
[VIII-55] It was claimed that Carrera could not prevent these abuses, which were committed by the very people of Los Altos who rose against the partisans of the government. The fact is, they were savage Indians under Carrera's protection. This chief returned in triumph to Guatemala, and was received amid the plaudits of his clerico-aristocratic supporters and the rabble. His victorious army brought in the rear the armament and spoils of Quezaltenango, and upwards of 100 prisoners, among them Guzman, Mariscal, and Soto. The first named was wounded, and tied to a mule. The rabble made him the special object of their scoff. Montúfar, Reseña Hist., iii. 439-41.
[VIII-56] Deprived of the office Jan. 30, 1839; restored Apr. 13th of the same year; held it till Dec. 13, 1841. May 14, 1842, he assumed for the third time the executive office, with the title of president of the state. Guat., Recop. Leyes, i. 175; Marure, Efem., 61-2. Stephens, who saw Rivera Paz in 1840, speaks well of him, saying that 'in all the trying positions in which he was afterward placed, he exhibited more than ordinary prudence and judgment.' Cent. Am., i. 201.