Francisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján (1510 – 22 September 1554) was a
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
conquistadorConquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
, who visited
New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
and other parts of what are now the southwestern
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
between 1540 and 1542. Coronado had hoped to conquer the mythical
Seven Cities of GoldThe Seven Cities of Gold is a myth that led to several expeditions by adventurers and conquistadors in the 16th century. It also featured in several works of popular culture.-Origins of myth:...
.
Early life
Coronado was born into a well-to-do family in Salamanca, Spain, in 1510, the second son of Juan Vásquez de Coronado y Sosa de Ulloa and Isabel de Luján. Juan Vásquez held various positions in the administration of the recently captured
Emirate of GranadaThe Emirate of Granada , also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada , was an emirate established in 1238 following the defeat of Muhammad an-Nasir of the Almohad dynasty by an alliance of Christian kingdoms at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212...
under Iñigo López de Mendoza, its first Spanish governor.
Americas
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado went to
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in 1535 at about age 25, in the entourage of its first
ViceroyA viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
,
Antonio de MendozaAntonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, Marquis of Mondéjar, Count of Tendilla , was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from April 17, 1535 to November 25, 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from September 23, 1551 to July 21, 1552...
, the son of his father's patron. In Mexico, he married Beatriz de Estrada, called
the Saint (
la Santa), sister of Leonor de Estrada, ancestor of the de Alvarado family and daughter of
TreasurerA treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
and
GovernorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Alonso de Estrada y Hidalgo, Lord of
PicónPicón is a municipality in Ciudad Real, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It has a population of 661.a type of traditional parang music....
, and wife Marina Flores Gutiérrez de la Caballería, from a
conversoA converso and its feminine form conversa was a Jew or Muslim—or a descendant of Jews or Muslims—who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries. Mass conversions once took place under significant government pressure...
Jewish family. Coronado inherited a large portion of a Mexican estate from Beatriz and had eight children by her.
Mounting the expedition
Coronado was the conqueror and Governor of the Kingdom of
Nueva GaliciaEl Nuevo Reino de Galicia or Nueva Galicia was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was named after Galicia in Spain...
(New Galicia, a province of New Spain located northwest of Mexico and comprising the contemporary Mexican states of
JaliscoJalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
,
SinaloaSinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....
and
NayaritNayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico...
). In 1539, he dispatched Friar
Marcos de NizaFray Marcos de Niza was a Franciscan friar. He was born in Nice , which was at that time under the control of the Italian House of Savoy....
and
EstevanicoEstevanico , "Black Stephen", "Esteban", "Esteban the Moor", "Estevan", "Estebanico", "Stephen the Black", "Stephen the Moor", "Stephen Dorantes" after his owner Andres Dorantes, and "Little Stephen") was the first known person born in Africa to have arrived in the present-day continental United...
, a survivor of the
Narváez expeditionThe Narváez expedition was a Spanish attempt during the years 1527–1528 to colonize Spanish Florida. It was led by Pánfilo de Narváez, who was to rule as adelantado....
, on an expedition north from
CompostelaCompostela is the name of both a municipality and the town within that municipality that serves as the seat. They are in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The population of the municipality was 62,925 in a total area of 1,848 km²...
, in the present state of
NayaritNayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico...
, toward
New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. When Marcos de Niza returned, he told about a city of vast wealth, a golden city called
CíbolaQuivira is a place first mentioned by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1541, who visited it during his searches for the mythical "Seven Cities of Gold". The location and identity of the "Quivirans" has been much debated over a wide area, including Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri...
, and that Estevanico had been killed by the Zuni citizens of Cíbola. Though he did not claim to have entered the city of Cíbola, he claimed that the city stood on a high hill, that it was made of gold, and that he could see the Pacific Ocean off to the west.
Coronado assembled an expedition with two components. One component carried the bulk of the expedition's supplies, and traveled by guadelope river under the leadership of Hernando de Alarcon. The other component traveled by land, along the trail Friar Marcos de Niza had used. Coronado and Viceroy
Antonio de MendozaAntonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, Marquis of Mondéjar, Count of Tendilla , was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from April 17, 1535 to November 25, 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from September 23, 1551 to July 21, 1552...
invested large sums of their own money in the venture. Mendoza, Coronado's friend and fellow investor, appointed him as the commander of the expedition, with the mission to find the seven golden cities and take their gold. This is the reason he pawned his wife's estates and was lent 70,000 more pesos.
In the autumn of 1539, Viceroy Mendoza ordered Melchor Diaz, the commander of San Miguel de
CuliacánCuliacán is a city in northwestern Mexico, the largest city in the state of Sinaloa as well as its capital and capital of the municipality of Culiacán. With 675,773 inhabitants in the city , and 858,638 in the municipality, it is the largest city in the state of Sinaloa...
, to investigate Friar de Niza's findings, and on November 17, 1539 Diaz departed on the trail to Cíbola, with fifteen horsemen. At the ruins of Chichilticalli, he turned around because of "snows and fierce winds from across the wilderness". Diaz encountered Coronado before he had departed San Miguel de Culiacán, and reported that initial investigations into Friar de Niza's report disproved the existence of a bountiful land. Diaz' report was delivered to Viceroy Mendoza on March 20, 1540.
Coronado set out from Compostela on February 23, 1540, at the head of a large expedition composed of 335 Spaniards, 1300 natives, four Franciscan monks (the most notable of whom were
Juan de PadillaFather Juan de Padilla , born in Andalusia, was a Spanish Roman Catholic missionary who spent much of his life exploring North America with Francisco Vasquez de Coronado....
and the newly appointed
provincial superiorA Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
of the Franciscan order in the New World, Marcos de Niza), and several slaves, both natives and Africans
He followed the Sinaloan coast northward, keeping the Sea of Cortez to his left until he reached the northernmost Spanish settlement, San Miguel de Culiacán, about March 28, 1540, whereupon he rested his expedition before they began trekking the inland trail on April 22, 1540. Aside from Diaz's mission to verify Fray de Niza's report, he also took notice of the forage and food situation along the trail, and he reported that the land along the route would not be able to support a large concentrated body of soldiers and animals. Coronado decided to divide his expedition into small groups and time their departures so that grazing lands and water holes along the trail could recover. At intervals along the trail, Coronado established camps and garrisoned soldiers to keep the supply route open. For example, in September, 1540, Melchior Diaz along with "seventy or eighty of the weakest and least reliable men" in Coronado's army remained at the town of San Hieronimo, in the valley of Corzones or Hearts. Once the scouting and planning was done, Coronado led the first group of soldiers up the trail. They were horsemen and foot soldiers who were able to travel quickly, while the main bulk of the expedition would set out, at intervals, later.
After "leaving Culiacan on April 22, Coronado followed the coast, "bearing off to the left," as Mota Padilla says, by an extremely rough way, to the Cinaloa. The configuration of the country made it necessary to follow up the valley of this stream until he could find a passage across the mountains to the course of the Yaquimi. He traveled alongside this stream for some distance, then crossed to Sonora river. The Sonora was followed nearly to its source before a pass was discovered. On the southern side of the mountains he found a stream he called the
Nexpa, which may have been either the Santa Cruz or the Pedro of modern maps. The party followed down this river valley until they reached the edge of the wilderness, where, as Friar Marcos had described it to them, they found Chichilticalli. Chichilticalli is in southern Arizona in the Sulfur Springs Valley, within the bend of the Dos Cabeza and
Chiricahua MountainsThe Chiricahua Mountains are a mountain range in southeastern Arizona which are part of the Basin and Range province of the southwest, and part of the Coronado National Forest...
. This fits the chronicle of Laus Deo description, which reports that "at Chichilticalli the country changes its character again and the spiky vegetation ceases. The reason is that the gulf reaches as far up as this place, and the mountain chain changes its direction at the same time that the coast does. Here they had to cross and pass the mountains in order to get into the level country". There he met a crushing disappointment. Cíbola was nothing like the great golden city that Marcos had described. Instead, it was just a complex of simple
puebloPueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
s constructed by the Zuni Indians. The soldiers considered killing Marcos for his mendacious imagination, but Coronado intervened and sent him back to
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in disgrace.
Conquest of Cíbola
Coronado traversed Arizona's
Mogollón RimThe Mogollon Rim is a topographical and geological feature running across the U.S. state of Arizona. It extends approximately from northern Yavapai County eastward to near the border with New Mexico.-Description:...
, and from the headwaters of the Little Colorado he continued on until he came to the
Zuni RiverThe Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, has its origin in Cibola County, New Mexico, at the Continental Divide, flowing generally in a southwesterly direction through the Zuni Indian Reservation to join the Little Colorado River in eastern Arizona...
. He followed the Zuni until he found the region inhabited by the Zunis. The members of the expedition were almost starving and demanded entrance into the village of
HawikuhHawikuh Ruins, or Hawikuh is a National Historic Landmark located 12 miles southwest of Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, on the Zuni Indian Reservation...
. The natives refused, denying the expedition entrance to the village or trade. Coronado and his frustrated soldiers entered Hawikuh on Coronado's demands, when the Spanish requested intelligence and resources. The ensuing skirmish constituted the extent of what can be called the Spanish "Conquest of Cíbola." During the battle, Coronado was injured and had to stay with the Zuni while healing. From the knowledge gathered during this time he sent out several more scouting expeditions.
The first scouting expedition was led by Pedro de Tovar. This expedition headed northwest to the Hopi villages, which they recorded as
Tusayan. Upon arrival, the Spanish were denied entrance to the village they came across, and once again resorted to using force to enter. Afterwards, the remaining villages dared to fight the Spanish, but held a meeting and decided not to. Materially, the Hopi region was just as poor as the Zuni, but the Spanish did find out that a large river (the Colorado) lay in the west.
The scouting party returned to Zuni territory and reported their findings. Coronado sent another scouting expedition led by
Garcia Lopez de CárdenasGarcía López de Cárdenas, , is credited with the first European discovery of the Grand Canyon.- Life :Cárdenas was born in Llerena, Spain, son to Alonso de Cárdenas y doña Elvira de Figueroa and Maria García Osorio. He was the comendador of Caravaca.López de Cárdenas was conquistador attached to...
to find the Colorado River. This expedition returned to Hopi territory to acquire scouts and supplies that could be used to find this river. Members of this expedition reached the
Grand CanyonThe Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
and the Colorado River, becoming the first Europeans to see the magnificent canyon.
After trying and failing to climb down into the Grand Canyon to reach the river below, the expedition reported that they would not be able to use the Colorado to link up with their ships. After this, the main body of the expedition began its journey to the next populated center of pueblos, along the
Rio GrandeThe Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
River in
New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
Exploration of the Colorado River
Three leaders affiliated with the Coronado Expedition were able to reach the Colorado River. The first was
Hernando de AlarcónHernando de Alarcón, a Spanish navigator of the 16th century, noted for having led an early expedition to the Baja California peninsula, meant to be coordinated with Francisco Vasquéz de Coronado's overland expedition, and for penetrating the lower Colorado River, perhaps as far as the modern...
, then Melchior Díaz and lastly Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas. Alarcón's fleet was tasked to carry supplies and to establish contact with the main body of Coronado's expedition, but was unable to do so because of the extreme distance to Cibola. He traveled up the Colorado river until the river entered the lower half of the Grand Canyon. In this exploration he hauled some supplies for Coronado, but eventually he buried them with a note in a bottle. Melchior Díaz was sent down from Cibola by Coronado to take charge of the camp of Corazones and to establish contact with the fleet. Soon after arriving at the camp he set out from the valley of Corazones in Sonora and traveled overland in a north/northwesterly direction until he arrived at the junction of the
Colorado RiverThe Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
and
Gila RiverThe Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
. There the local natives, probably the CocoMaricopa (see Seymour 2007b), told him that Alarcón's sailors had buried supplies and left a note in a bottle. The supplies were retrieved and the note stated that Alarcón's men had rowed up the river as far as they could, searching in vain for the Coronado expedition. They had given up and decided to return to their departure point because worms were eating holes in their ships. Díaz named the river the "Firebrand (Tison) River" because the natives used firebrands to keep their body warm in the winter. Díaz died on the trip back to the camp in the valley of the Corazones. Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas saw the Colorado River from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon while looking for a route that would connect them with Alarcón's fleet.
The Tiguex War
Hernando de Alvarado was sent to the east, and found several villages around the
Rio GrandeThe Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
. Coronado set up his winter quarters in one of them,
TiguexTigua, Tiguex, Tigüex, Tíwan, and Tiwesh may refer to:* Southern Tiwa language, a pueblo language group in New Mexico;* Southern Tiwa people, a pueblo people in central and northern New Mexico;...
, which is across the river from present-day Bernalillo near
Albuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
. During the winter of 1540-41, his army found themselves in conflicts with the Rio Grande natives, conflicts which led to the brutal
Tiguex WarThe Tiguex War was the first war between Europeans and Native Americans in what is now the American West. It was fought in the winter of 1540-41 by the army of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado against the twelve to twenty now disappeared pueblos of Tiwa Indians along both sides of the Rio Grande,...
. This war resulted in the destruction of the Tiguex pueblos and the death of hundreds of Native Americans.
The Search for Quivira
From an Indian the Spanish called "the Turk," Coronado heard of a wealthy civilization called
QuiviraQuivira may refer to:*Quivira, a place first visited by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado while in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold*Quivira National Wildlife Refuge, a salt marsh located in south central Kansas...
far to the east. In spring 1541 he led his army and priests and Indian allies onto the
Great PlainsThe Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
to search for Quivira. The Turk was probably either a Wichita or a Pawnee and his intention seems to have been to lead Coronado astray and hope that he got lost in the wilderness.
With the Turk guiding him, Coronado and his army crossed the flat and featureless steppe called the
Llano EstacadoLlano Estacado , commonly known as the Staked Plains, is a region in the Southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, including the South Plains and parts of the Texas Panhandle...
in the
Texas PanhandleThe Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
, passing through the present-day communities of
HerefordHereford is a city in Deaf Smith County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,597 at the 2000 census. It is the only incorporated Hereford in the country. It is the county seat of Deaf Smith County....
and
CanadianCanadian is the county seat of Hemphill County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,233 at the 2000 census. It is named for the Canadian River, a tributary of the nearby Arkansas River. Canadian is sometimes called "the oasis of the Texas Panhandle."-History:The trails along the river are...
. The Spanish were awed by the Llano. "The country they [the buffalo] traveled over was so smooth that if one looked at them the sky could be seen between their legs." Men and horses became lost in the featureless plain and Coronado felt like he had been swallowed up by the sea.
On the Llano, Coronado encountered vast herds of
bisonMembers of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
--the American buffalo. “I found such a quantity of cows...that it is impossible to number them, for while I was journeying through these plains...there was not a day that I lost sight of them.”
The Querechos and the Teyas
Coronado found a settlement of Indians he called
QuerechosThe Querechos were a Native American people.In 1541 the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vazquez de Coronado and his army journeyed east from the Rio Grande Valley in search of a rich land called Quivira...
. The Querechos were not awed or impressed by the Spanish, their weapons, and their "big dogs" (horses). "They did nothing unusual when they saw our army, except to come out of their tents to look at us, after which they came to talk to the advance guard, and asked who we were." As Coronado described them, the Querechos were nomads, following the buffalo herds on the plains. The Querechos were numerous. Chroniclers mentioned one settlement of two hundred tipis—which implies a population of more than one thousand people living together for at least part of the year. Authorities agree that the Querechos (Becquerel's) were
ApacheApache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
Indians.
Coronado left the Querechos behind and continued southeast in the direction in which the Turk told him that Quivira was located. He and his army descended off the tabletop of the Llano Estacado into the caprock canyon country. He soon met with another group of Indians, the
TeyasTeyas were a Native American people discovered near Lubbock, Texas by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado in 1541.The tribal affiliation and language of the Teyas is unknown, although many scholars believe they spoke a Caddoan language and were related to the Wichita tribe who Coronado found in Quivira...
, enemies of the Querechos.
The Teyas, like the Querechos, were numerous and buffalo hunters, although they had additional resources. The canyons they inhabited had trees and flowing streams and they grew or foraged for beans, but apparently not corn because one of the Coronado chroniclers would probably have mentioned it if the Teyas had grown corn. The Spanish, however noted the presence of mulberries, roses, grapes, walnuts, and plums.
An intriguing event was Coronado's meeting among the Teyas an old blind bearded man who said that he had met many years before "four others like us." He was probably talking about Cabeza de Vaca who with three shipmates made his way across southern Texas a decade before Coronado.
Scholars differ in their opinions as to which historical Indian group were the Teyas. A plurality believe they were Caddoan speakers and related to the Wichita. The place where Coronado found the Teyas has also been debated. The mystery may have been cleared up—to the satisfaction of some—by a discovery of a likely Coronado campsite. While Coronado was in the canyon country his army suffered one of the violent climatic events so common on the plains. ”A tempest came up one afternoon with a very high wind and hail...The hail broke many tents and tattered many helmets, and wounded many of the horses, and broke all the crockery of the army, and the gourds which was no small loss."
In 1993, Jimmy Owens found crossbow points in
Blanco CanyonBlanco Canyon is a canyon located in the U.S. state of Texas. Eroded by the White River into the Caprock Escarpment on the east side of the Llano Estacado, the canyon runs for in a southeasterly direction, gradually widening from its beginning in southwestern Floyd County to across at its mouth...
in
Crosby County,
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, near the town of
FloydadaFloydada is a city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,038 at the 2010 census.-History:According to the Texas State Historical Association, the community of Floydada, originally named Floyd City, was established on 640 acres of land donated by James B....
in
Floyd County. Archaeologists subsequently searched the site and found pottery sherds, more than forty crossbow points, and dozens of horseshoe nails of Spanish manufacture, plus a Mexican-style stone blade. These finds strengthens the evidence that Coronado found the Teyas in Blanco Canyon.
Quivira
The Teyas told Coronado that he was going the wrong direction. Quivira lay to the north. By this time, Coronado seems to have lost his confidence that fortune awaited him. He sent most of his army back to New Mexico and continued with only forty Spanish soldiers and priests and an unknown number of Indian soldiers, servants, and guides. Coronado, thus, dedicated himself to a reconnaissance rather than a mission of conquest.
After more than thirty days journey, Coronado found a river larger than any he had seen before. This was the
ArkansasThe Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
and the location he reached it was probably a few miles east of present day
Dodge City, KansasDodge City is a city in, and the county seat of, Ford County, Kansas, United States. Named after nearby Fort Dodge, the city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,340.-History:The first settlement of...
. The Spaniards and their Indian allies followed the Arkansas northeast for three days and found Quivirans hunting buffalo. The Indians greeted the Spanish with wonderment and fear, but calmed down when one of Coronado's guides addressed them in their own language.
Coronado reached Quivira itself after a few more days of traveling. He found Quivira "well settled....along good river bottoms, although without much water, and good streams which flow into another" Coronado believed that there were 25 settlements in Quivira. The Quivirans were simple people. Both men and women were nearly naked. Coronado was impressed with the size of the Quivirans and all the other Indians he met. They were "large people of very good build." Coronado spent twenty-five days among the Quivirans trying to learn of richer kingdoms just over the horizon. He found nothing but straw-thatched villages of up to two hundred houses and fields containing corn, beans, and squash. A copper bell was the only evidence of wealth he discovered. The Quivirans were almost certainly the ancestors of the Wichita people.
Coronado was escorted to the further edge of Quivira, called Tabas, where the neighboring land of Harahey began. He summoned the "Lord of Harahey" and he with two hundred followers came to meet with the Spanish. He was disappointed. The Harahey Indians were "all naked -- with bows, and some sort of things on their heads, and their privy parts slightly covered." They were not the wealthy people Coronado sought. Disappointed, he returned to New Mexico. Before leaving Quivira Coronado ordered the Turk garroted.
Where were Quivira, Tabas, and Harahey?
Archaeological evidence strongly suggests that Quivira was in central
KansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
with the western-most village near the small town of
LyonsLyons is a city in and the county seat of Rice County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,739.-History:Although Coronado's exact route across the plains is uncertain and has been widely disputed, he and his men are thought to have camped near the present...
on Cow Creek, extending twenty miles east to the
Little Arkansas RiverThe Little Arkansas River is a river located in south-central Kansas. It rises in northern Rice County just north of Lyons and flows southeast past Buhler and Halstead to meet the Arkansas River in Wichita....
, and north another twenty miles to the town of
LindsborgLindsborg is a city in McPherson County, Kansas, USA. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,458. It is known for its association with Swedish heritage and the biennial Svensk Hyllningsfest...
on a tributary of the
Smoky Hill RiverThe Smoky Hill River is a river in the central Great Plains of North America, running through the U.S. states of Colorado and Kansas.-Names:The Smoky Hill gets its name from the Smoky Hills region of north-central Kansas through which it flows...
. Tabas was likely on the Smoky Hill River. Archaeologists have found numerous 16th century sites in these areas that probably include some of the settlements visited by Coronado.
At Harahey "was a river, with more water and more inhabitants than the other." This sounds as if Coronado may have reached the Smoky Hill River near
SalinaSalina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 47,707. Located in one of the world's largest wheat-producing areas, Salina is a regional trade center for north-central Kansas...
or
AbileneAbilene is a city in and the county seat of Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 6,844.-History:...
. It is a larger river than either Cow Creek or the Little Arkansas and is located at roughly the 25 league distance from Lyons that Coronado said he traveled in Quivira. The people of Harahey seem Caddoan, because "it was the same sort of a place, with settlements like these, and of about the same size" as Quivira. They were probably the ancestors of the Pawnee.
End of the expedition
Coronado returned to New Mexico from Quivira and was badly injured in a fall from his horse on December 27, 1541 and his soldiers persuaded him to return home. Coronado and his army departed New Mexico in April 1542, leaving behind a few priests and friars. His expedition had been a failure. Although he remained governor of
Nueva GaliciaEl Nuevo Reino de Galicia or Nueva Galicia was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was named after Galicia in Spain...
until 1544, the expedition forced him into bankruptcy. Coronado retired to
Mexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, where he died on July 21, 1554.
Coronado undoubtedly caused a large loss of life among the Pueblos both from the battles he fought with them and even more from the demands for food that he levied on their fragile economies. However, 40 years later when the Spanish again visited the Southwestern United States they found little evidence that Coronado had any lasting cultural influences on the Indians. See:
The Chamuscado and Rodriguez ExpeditionThe Chamuscado and Rodriguez Expedition visited New Mexico in 1581-1582. The expedition was led by Francisco Sanchez, called "El Chamuscado," and Friar Augustin Rodriguez, the first Spaniards known to have visited the Pueblo Indians since Francisco Vasquez de Coronado 40 years...
and
Antonio de EspejoAntonio de Espejo was a Spanish explorer who led an expedition into New Mexico and Arizona in 1582-1583. The expedition created interest in establishing a Spanish colony among the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande valley.-Life:...
.
Legacy
- Also see Coronado (disambiguation)
In 1952, the United States established
Coronado National MemorialThe Coronado National Memorial commemorates the first organized expedition into the Southwest by conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. The memorial is located in a natural setting on the international border on the southeast flank of the Huachuca Mountains south of Sierra Vista, Arizona...
near
Sierra Vista, ArizonaSierra Vista is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. According to 2007 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 43,044....
to commemorate his expedition.
Indiana Jones and the Last CrusadeIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
references a Cross of Coronado. According to the film, this gold cross, discovered in a Utah cave system, was given to Coronado by
Hernán CortésHernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
in 1521. It is unclear any such item ever existed. In addition, when Indy captures the cross from robbers aboard a ship off the coast of Portugal, the ship can be seen to be named the "Coronado."
In 1992, underground found footage filmmaker Craig Baldwin made the film
"O No Coronado!" detailing the expedition of Coronado through the use of recycled images from Westerns, Conquest films and The Lone Ranger television series.
There is also a small "island" (it is actually a peninsula) near San Diego named
CoronadoCoronado, also known as Coronado Island, is an affluent resort city located in San Diego County, California, 5.2 miles from downtown San Diego. Its population was 24,697 at the 2010 census, up from 24,100 at the 2000 census. U.S. News and World Report lists Coronado as one of the most expensive...
. Most visitors cross the Coronado Bridge to get there.
The song
Coronado And The Turk from the singer-songwriter
Steve TilstonSteve Tilston is an English singer-songwriter.-Early years:Steve Tilston was born in Liverpool and raised in Leicestershire. Tilston was a graphic designer before taking up music in 1971, living in Bristol at the time, where he recorded his first album "An Acoustic Confusion". In the early...
's 1992 album
Of Moor And Mesa is based on the story of Coronado's expedition.
There is a large hill just northwest of Lindsborg, Kansas that is called
Coronado HeightsCoronado Heights is a hill northwest of Lindsborg, Kansas. It is alleged to be near the place where Francisco Vasquez de Coronado gave up his search for the seven cities of gold and turned around to return to Mexico....
. The former owner of the land built a small castle atop the hill to commemorate Coronado's 1541 visit to the area. The castle and the area around it is now a public camping and recreation area. The soft sandstone rocks at the peak of the hill are covered in the names of past visitors to the area.
Coronado High Schools in Lubbock, TX., El Paso, TX and in Scottsdale, AZ., were named for the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. A don is a name for a Spanish nobleman. Thus, the Coronado Don became the school mascot in Scottsdale.
Coronado Road in Phoenix, Arizona was named after Coronado.
Further reading
- Blakeslee, D. J., R. Flint, and J. T. Hughes 1997. "Una Barranca Grande: Recent Archaeological Evidence and a Discussion of its Place in the Coronado Route". In The Coronado Expedition to Terra Nueva. Eds. R. and S. Flint, University of Colorado Press, Niwot.
- Bolton,Herbert Eugene. (1949) Coronado: Knight of Pueblos and Plains (New York: Whittlesey; Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press).
Ebook at questia.com
- Bolton, Herbert E. (1949) Coronado on the Turquoise Trail: Knight of Pueblos and Plains. Coronado Cuarto Centennial Publications, 1540-1940, vol. 1. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. Reprinted in 1949 jointly with Whittlesey House, New York, under the title Coronado, Knight of Pueblos and Plains.
- Bolton, H. E. (1960) Rim of Christendom. Russell and Russell, New York.
- Bolton, Herbert E. (1921) The Spanish Borderlands: A Chronicle of Old Florida and the Southwest. Chronicles of America Series, vol. 23. Yale University Press, New Haven.
- Castañeda, Pedro de. (1990) The Journey of Coronado. Translated with an extensive introduction by George Parker Winship
George Parker Winship, A. M. was an American librarian and author, born at Bridgewater, Mass. He was educated at Harvard where he graduated in 1893.He was librarian of the John Carter Brown Library at Providence, R.I. from 1895 to 1915...
, modern introduction, Donald C. Cutter, The Journey of Coronado, Fulcrum Publishing, hardcover, 233 pages, ISBN 1-55591-066-1 On-line at PBS - The West
- Chavez, Fr. Angelico, O.F.M. (1968) Coronado's Friars.. Academy of American Franciscan History, Washington D.C.
- Day, Arthur Grove. (1981) Coronado's Quest: The Discovery of the Southwestern States (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1940; rpt., Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1981, ISBN 0313232075). Ebook at questia.com
- De Voto, Bernard. (1952) The Course of Empire. Houghton, Mifflin, Boston.
- Duffen, W., and Hartmann, W. K. (1997) "The 76 Ranch Ruin and the Location of Chichilticale". In The Coronado Expedition to Tierra Nueva: The 1540-1542 Route Across the Southwest. Eds. Richard Flint and Shirley Cushing Flint. University Press of Colorado, Niwot.
- (1997) The Coronado Expedition to Tierra Nueva: The 1540-1542 Route Across the Southwest, edited by Richard Flint and Shirley Cushing Flint. University Press of Colorado, Niwot.
- Flint, Richard and Shirley Cushing Flint. (1993) "Coronado’s Crosses, Route Markers Used by the Coronado Expedition". Journal of the Southwest 35(2) (1993):207-216.
- (2003) The Coronado Expedition from the Distance of 460 Years. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
- (2005) Documents of the Coronado Expedition, 1539-1541: They Were Not Familiar with His Majesty nor Did They Wish to Be His Subjects. Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas.
- Forbes, Jack D. (1960) Apache, Navaho, and Spaniard. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
- Hammond, George P. (1940) Coronado's Seven Cities. United States Coronado Exposition Commission, Albuquerque.
- Hammond, George P., and Edgar R. Goad. (1938) The Adventure of Don Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
- Hammond, George P. and Agapito Rey. (1920) Narratives of the Coronado Expedition 1540-1542. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque (reprint by AMS Press, New York, 1977).
- Hammond, George P., and Agapito Rey, eds. (1940) Narratives of the Coronado Expedition, 1540-1542. Coronado Centennial Publications, 1540-1940, vol. 2. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
- Haury, Emil W. (1984) "The Search for Chichilticale". Arizona Highways 60(4):14-19.
- Hedrick, Basil C. (1978) "The Location of Corazones". In Across the Chichimec Sea. Ed. C. Riley, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale.
- Hodge, Frederick W. and Theodore H. Lewis, ed. (1907) Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States, Vol. II (1907, xiii, 413 p.; rpt., Texas State Historical Association, 1985, 411 pages, ISBN 0876110669, ISBN 0876110677 pbk.)
- Lee, Betty Graham. (1966) The Eagle Pass Site: An Integral Part of the Province of Chichilticale. Thatcher: Eastern Arizona College Museum of Anthropology Publication No. 5.
- Mill, J. P., and V. M. Mills (1969) The Kuykendall Site: A Prehistoric Salado Village in Southeastern Arizona. El Paso Arch. Soc. Spec. Report for 1967, No. 6, El Paso.
- Reff, Daniel T. (1991) Disease, Depopulation and Culture Change in Northwestern New Spain, 1518-1764. (University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.
- Reff, Daniel T. (1997) "The Relevance of Ethnology to the Routing of the Coronado Expedition in Sonora". In The Coronado Expedition to Tierra Nueva: The 1540-1542 Route Across the Southwest. pp. 165–176, Eds. Richard Flint and Shirley Cushing Flint. University Press of Colorado, Niwot.
- Sauer, Carl O. (1932) The Road to Cibola. Ibero-Americana III. University of California Press, Berkeley.
- Schroeder, Albert E. (1955) "Fray Marcos de Niza, Coronado and the Yavapai". New Mex. Hist. Rev. 30:265-296; see also 31:24-37.
- Seymour, Deni J., (2007) An Archaeological Perspective on the Hohokam-Pima Continuum. Old Pueblo Archaeology Bulletin No. 51, December 2007:1-7.
- Seymour, Deni J. (2008) Despoblado or Athapaskan Heartland: A Methodological Perspective on Ancestral Apache Landscape Use in the Safford Area. Chapter 5 in Crossroads of the Southwest: Culture, Ethnicity, and Migration in Arizona's Safford Basin, pp. 121–162, edited by David E. Purcell, Cambridge Scholars Press, New York.
- Seymour, Deni J. (2009) Evaluating Eyewitness Accounts of Native Peoples Along the Coronado Trail From the International Border to Cibola. New Mexico Historical Review 84(3):399-435.
- Seymour, Deni J. (2009) Where the Earth and Sky are Stitched Together: Sobaípuri-O’odham Contexts of Contact and Colonialism. Book manuscript.
- Udall, Steward S. (1984) "In Coronado's Footsteps". Arizona Highways 60(4):3.
External links
- The Search for Chichilticale
- The journey of Coronado, 1540-1542, from the city of Mexico to the Grand Canon of the Colorado and the buffalo plains of Texas, Kansas and Nebraska, as told by himself and his followers, written by Pedro de Castañeda and translated by George Parker Winship, 1922 publication, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
- Coronado: Misfortune's Explorer Primary Source Adventure, a lesson plan hosted by The Portal to Texas History
- Coronado Cross June 29, 1541, Ford County, KS
- List of Men Who Were Part of the Coronado Expedition
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Coronado