Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
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Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (ca. 1510 – September 22, 1554) was a Spanish conquistador, who between 1540 and 1542 visited New Mexico and other parts of the southwest of what is now the United States. He was born in Salamanca, Spain.
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[edit] Mounting the expedition
Coronado was governor of Nueva Galicia (New Galicia, the contemporary Mexican states of Jalisco, Sinaloa and Nayarit). As such, he had already sent out Friar Marcos de Niza and Narváez expedition survivor Estevanico on a voyage north to New Mexico. When Marcos returned, he told about a wealthy, golden city, called Cíbola. He also reported that he traveled the length of the trail, while Estevanico was killed by the Zuni citizens of Cíbola. Though he did not claim to have entered the city of Cíbola, he reported that it stood on a high hill and that he was able to observe that the city was made of gold. Marcos also claimed that he could see the Pacific Ocean off to the West. Based on this report, Coronado sent out an expedition with two components. One component would travel by sea, and would carry the majority of the expedition's supplies. The other component would travel by land along the trail Friar Marcos de Niza traversed. Coronado and Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza invested large sums of their own money into the venture. Mendoza, being 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. Coronado set out in early 1540, joined by a large expedition of 335 Spanish, 1,300 Mexican natives, four Franciscan monks (the most notable of whom was Juan de Padilla and the newly appointed provincial superior of the Franciscan order in the New World, Marcos de Niza), and several slaves, both Native Americans and Africans.
He followed the Sonoran coast northward, keeping the Sea of Cortez to his left. At the last Spanish settlement, San Miguel de Culiacán, he rested his expedition before they traveled over the inland trail. Scouts were sent on the trail to find out if the land along the route would be able to support a large body of soldiers and animals. The scouts reported was that it could not, so Coronado had 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 camps, Coronado established camps and garrisoned soldiers to keep the main supply route open. Once the scouting and planning was done, Coronado led the first group of soldiers on the trail. They were horsemen and foot soldiers who were supposed to travel quickly, while the main bulk of the expedition would arrive in timed intervals behind them. After leaving the last Spanish settlement, they traveled northward through Sonora and crossed the Gila River, Mogollón Rim, Little Colorado River. They then followed the Zuni River drainage into Cíbola, in the western part of present-day New Mexico. There he was met by crushing disappointment. Cíbola was nothing like the great golden city that Marcos had described. Instead, it was just regional complex of simple pueblos of the Zuni Indians. The soldiers openly contemplated killing Marcos, and Coronado had to send him back to Mexico in disgrace.
[edit] Conquest of Cíbola
Coronado traversed Arizona's Mogollón Rim and from the head waters of the Little Colorado he continued on until he came to the Zuni River. 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 Hawikuh. The natives refused, and denied the expedition entrance to the village or trade. Coronado and his frustrated soldiers entered Hawikuh by force of arms and took the food they needed. Thereafter, the remaining local villages did not contest Coronado's demands when the Spanish requested intelligence and resources. This constitutes the extent of what can be called the "Conquest of Cíbola." During the battle at Hawikuh, Coronado was injured and he 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 to the Hopi villages, with the expectation that this region may contain the wealthy Cíbola. Upon arrival, the Spanish were denied entrance to the first village they came across, and once again resorted to using force to enter. Afterwards the remaining villages did not dare fight the Spanish. Materially, the Hopi region was just as poor as the Zuni, but the Spanish did find out that a large river (the Colorado) lay to the west.
The scouting party returned to Zuni territory and reported their findings. Coronado sent another scouting expedition led by Garcia Lopez de Cárdenas 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 Canyon and the Colorado River, and became 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, which were located along the Rio Grande River in New Mexico.
[edit] Exploration of the Colorado River
Melchior Díaz was the local commander of a camp along the main supply route. When Coronado was not able to establish contact with the ships from his camp in the Zuni region, Díaz was sent to establish contact with Hernando de Alarcón. Alarcón's fleet was hauling supplies for Coronado. Díaz 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 river and Gila river. There the local natives 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 died on the trip back to Zuni territory.
[edit] The Tiguex War
Hernando de Alvarado was sent to the east, and found several villages around the Rio Grande. Coronado set up his winter quarters in one of them, Tiguex, which is across the river from present-day Bernalillo near Albuquerque, New Mexico. During the winter of 1540-41, his army found themselves in conflicts with the Rio Grande natives, conflicts which led to the brutal Tiguex War. This war resulted in the destruction of the Tiguex pueblos and the death of hundreds of natives.
[edit] The search for Quivira
A Native American, whom Coronado called the Turk, had told him about Quivira, a rich country in the northwest. Deciding to look for Quivira, he took the Turk as his guide and traversed the Llano Estacado and what is now the Texas Panhandle. However, Coronado suspected the Turk was lying about the route and executed him. Other guides led him further north to Quivira, and he reached a village near present-day Lindsborg, Kansas. But his disappointment was repeated: the Quivira people (later known as Wichita) were not rich at all. The village consisted mostly of thatched huts, and not even small amounts of gold could be found. Coronado returned to Tiguex, where his main force had remained behind. Here he spent another winter. Near present day Dodge City, Kansas, Coronado held the first Christian mass in the interior of North America. The site of this mass is presently marked by a large concrete cross called Coronado's Cross to commemorate the event, which took place on June 29, 1541.
[edit] Return to Mexico
In 1542 Coronado was ordered back to central New Spain so that his troops could help put down the The Mixtón Rebellion. He left behind two Franciscan missionaries who insisted that they stay, and returned to Mexico by roughly the same route he had come. When he arrived back in Mexico, the Mixtón Rebellion was already over. Only 100 of his men made it back with him. Although the expedition was a complete failure, he remained governor of New Galicia until 1544, but the expedition had bankrupted him. In 1544, Coronado retired to Mexico City, where he died on September 22, 1554.
[edit] Legacy
There is a large hill near Lindsborg that is called Coronado Heights. The former owner of the land built a small castle at the lofty summit to commemorate him. 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.
In 1952, the United States established Coronado National Memorial near Sierra Vista, Arizona to commemorate his expedition.
Popular culture (namely Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) references a Cross of Coronado. According to the film, this gold cross, discovered in a Utah cave system, was given to Coronado by Hernán Cortés in 1520. It is unclear if any such item ever existed. In addition to this, when Indy captures the cross from robbers aboard a ship off the coast of Portugal, the name of the ship can be seen as 'Coronado'.
There is also a mall in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that bears his name: Coronado Mall.
In the Western video game Gun Coronado, and especially Coronado's fabled golden cross, is a central part of the plot. The game's villain, Thomas Magruder, stops at nothing to retrieve the cross he believes leads to Quivira. In addition, Coronado's "second search" for Quivira in 1542 is shown in a graphic prologue at the beginning of the game; however, Coronado and his associates are slaughtered by the Wichita tribe.
A South-Western themed Disney resort hotel is named the Coronado Springs.
A high school in Lubbock, Texas bears his name: Coronado High School. A high school in Scottsdale, Arizona also shares the same name.
The Coronado National Forest is located in southeastern Arizona, named in honor of the explorer.
At Palo Duro Canyon, Texas, on May 23, 1541, his group celebrated the first Thanksgiving in North America, after finding food supplies. (Although it's not the same type of Thanksgiving celebrated today)[citation needed]
[edit] Further reading
- Pedro de Castañeda, translated with an extensive introduction by George Parker Winship, modern introduction, Donald C. Cutter, The Journey of Coronado, Fulcrum Publishing, 1990, hardcover, 233 pages, ISBN 1-55591-066-1
- Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
[edit] External links
- 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
Categories: Articles lacking sources from November 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1510 births | 1554 deaths | Explorers of North America | History of Kansas | Spanish explorers and conquistadores
