almost 300 years earlier, when conquistador hernan cortes conquered the country, he started building ranches or haciendas to manage the cattle needed to feed the new settlers coming from spain. trying to stop a rampaging cow on thousands of acres of ranch became a great skill. the haciendas would compete against each other in events known as charreadas. they became a national sport, and not just for the men. in the 1800's, the government gave massive tracts of land to middle-class mexicans to farm cattle and to expand the state into uncharted territory. but this land is occupied by indigenous and understandably hostile apache indians. i met pancho rentaria, who has lived in chihuahua all his life. he agreed to show me around an original hacienda now being turned into a museum. so tell me about this place, pancho. >> this place is called hacienda las carolinas, or quinta carolina. the place was built for mr. luis terrazas. >> who was he? >> he was...he was considered the richest man in mexico at the end of the 19th century. he was once owner of more than 2/3 of the land in the state o

conquistador. in 1529, hernan cortes finally received his reward for conquering the aztecs. this is where cortes built his family home after being given a vast amount of land from the spanish crown. now, the aztecs built temples all around here, and cortes destroyed the pyramid that once stood here and used the stone to build his home. [singing in spanish] it remained part of cortes' family for 200 years and then became a barracks and a jail during the mexican war of independence. now it's a museum. i'm now heading to the final destination on my journey. i'm in the town of tepotzlan. over 1,200 years ago, this was the birthplace of quetzalcoatl, the peaceful god of the aztecs. [mariachi band playing] i have a feeling i'm being followed. musicians again. musicians follow me wherever i go. what's the deal with that? it's so beautiful, though. another song about me. hey! gracias! what a serenade. i've been invited by some locals to try the traditional mexican food and to meet the local character, alberto. oh, alberto. como estas? [speaking spanish] we're going to eat and drink