The Yucatecos at one point had been nearly conquered by the indigenous Maya state of Chan Santa Cruz. The Yucatan had good relations with Texas after its breakaway from Mexico and good relations with the US. President Polk asked Congress to intervene in favor of the white Yucatecos under siege against the Mayan armies. There is a plaque in Chan Santa Cruz that talks about one of the Mayan generals having his forces skirmish with a contingent of US Marines. I was wondering if anyone had any details about this supposed event and if the plaque is accurate that the Maya army destroyed the small US Marine contingent.
This area of history is still very understudied and very controversial. The Chan Santa Cruz rebellion had roots in secret syncretic religious practices of the Maya dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Beyond the myths and stories now told in the Yucatan about talking crosses and hallucinogenic use, it is very unclear how the Chan Santa Cruz rebellion actually started, or why they chose Tulum and Chan Santa Cruz as a base of operations.
Remember that today public discussion of these events is suppressed by the Mexican government, which desires to maintain the perception of the Yucatan as a safe, stable vacation area. But right up through the 1980's Maya rebels remained active between Playa Del Carmen and Chetumal. The interior of Quintana Roo is still very inaccessible and information is not forthcoming concerning the relationship of the Mexican government and the local population.
I'm sorry to say that I don't have written sources for this, but I lived in Merida for 6 years and was intensely interested in exactly the events you describe. I had many close relationships with Maya people, but they are not usually willing to discuss Chan Santa Cruz with outsiders like myself, and it was exceedingly rare to find white Mexicans who even knew about the war. It was not discussed in school, apparently. I've heard people in Belize are more open about it, but I haven't made it down there yet.
If I might ask, where did you learn about Chan Santa Cruz? I had gringo friends who lived in the Yucatan for 2 decades and had never heard of it!