# Stephens and Catherwood Visit Belize (1839)

URL: https://allhistories.com/belize/timeline/1839-stephens-and-catherwood-visit-belize
Location: Belize Town, Belize District
Themes: main-event

In 1839 the American diplomat and writer John Lloyd Stephens was appointed special envoy to the Federal Republic of Central America. He travelled with the English artist and architect Frederick Catherwood, intending to use the mission to explore the ancient ruins of the region, which were then little known outside it. Sailing from New York, the pair arrived at Belize in October 1839, the first stop of their journey. Stephens was struck by the small, cosmopolitan town of mostly Black and mixed-race inhabitants, its mahogany trade and its hospitality, and he described how the Superintendent, Colonel Alexander MacDonald, sent them off with a salute of guns. From Belize they travelled by steamer to Izabal and on to Copán, Quiriguá, Palenque and Uxmal. Stephens' Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatán (1841), illustrated by Catherwood, became a best-seller and introduced the Maya civilisation to a wide audience in the English-speaking world. It also contains one of the best early descriptions of Belize Town. Their work encouraged the later archaeological exploration of the Maya world, including the many sites in Belize investigated from the late nineteenth century onward. At this point in the timeline (October 1839), the Queen of the United Kingdom (Empress of India from 1876) was Victoria (20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901); the Superintendent of British Honduras was Alexander MacDonald (1837–1843).

## Why it matters
Stephens' account of Belize and the Maya ruins helped launch modern Maya studies and gave a vivid portrait of the settlement.

Ruler at the Time: [Victoria](https://allhistories.com/belize/rulers/victoria)

Superintendent of British Honduras: Alexander MacDonald

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — John Lloyd Stephens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lloyd_Stephens)
- [Wikipedia — Frederick Catherwood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Catherwood)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — John Lloyd Stephens](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=John+Lloyd+Stephens)
- [Wikipedia — St George'S Caye and The Settlement (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_St._George%27s_Caye)