Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de

I

Introduction

Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de (1510-1554), Spanish conquistador, first European explorer of the south-west of North America, and so-called conqueror of the legendary Seven Cities of Cíbola.

II

Early Career

Coronado was born about 1510 in Salamanca. He arrived in New Spain (now Mexico) in 1535 and four years later became governor of the province of Nueva Galicia (largely the modern states of Aguascalientes, Jalisco, and Zacatecas). There he learned of the tales of the Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca about the Seven Cities of Cíbola, believed to be fabulously rich Native American settlements that were to be found north-east of the province. Coming within a few years of the conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires, it was easy to believe reports that other civilizations of the New World were also fabulously wealthy in gold and precious stones. Coronado was chosen to head an overland expedition to explore and conquer the region for Spain.

III

Expedition to Cíbola

A fleet commanded by Hernando de Alarcón, in search of an inland waterway to Cíbola, maintained a parallel course along the western coast of Mexico. With about 300 Spanish soldiers and many Native Americans under his command, on February 23, 1540, Coronado left Compostela (now in Nayarit State) and followed the western slope of the Sierra Madre Occidental northwards to the present border of the state of Arizona. He then headed north-eastwards to Cíbola, which he found to be simple villages of the Zuñi people, containing no wealth. From Cíbola, Coronado dispatched a small party westward under Garcia López de Cárdenas. This was the first band of Europeans to see the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. The entire party wintered near what is now Santa Fe, New Mexico.

IV

Crossing the Great Plains

In the spring of 1541 the expedition travelled eastwards, crossing the upper Rio Grande and the Great Plains of what is now northern Texas, where they were the first Europeans to see the American bison. Turning northwards, Coronado crossed the Canadian and Arkansas rivers, seeking a supposedly wealthy kingdom called Quivira, which was actually only a village of the Wichita people in what is now Kansas.