Francisco Vázquez de Coronado

Coronado Sets Out to the North, by Frederic Remington, 1861-1909

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (c. 1510 – September 22,1554) was a Spanish conquistador, who, between 1540 and 1542, visited New Mexico and other parts of what is now the southwestern United States. He was born in Salamanca, Spain.

Mounting the expedition

Coronado was governor of Nueva Galicia (New Galicia, a province of New Spain comprising the contemporary Mexican states of Jalisco, Sinaloa and Nayarit). In 1539, he dispatched Friar Marcos de Niza and a survivor of the Narváez expedition, named Estevanico, on an expedition north from Compostela, toward New Mexico. When Marcos de Niza returned, he told about a city of vast wealth, a golden city called Cíbola, 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 reported 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.

Based on this report, Coronado assembled an expedition with two components. One component, carrying the bulk of the expedition's supplies, traveled by sea. The other component traveled by land, along the trail Friar Marcos de Niza had used. Coronado and Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza 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.

Coronado set out in early 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 Padilla and the newly appointed provincial superior of the Franciscan order in the New World, Marcos de Niza), and several slaves, both natives and Africans.

The Coronado Expedition 1540–1542

He followed the Sonoran coast northward, keeping the Sea of Cortez to his left. At the northernmost Spanish settlement, San Miguel de Culiacán, he rested his expedition before they began trekking the inland trail. Scouts were sent ahead to find out if the land along the route would be able to support a large body of soldiers and animals. Returning scouts reported was that it could not, so Coronado elected 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. 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 the last Spanish settlement, they traveled northward through Sonora and crossed the Gila River, Mogollón Rim, and the Little Colorado River. Then, they followed the Zuni River drainage into Cíbola, in the western part of present-day New Mexico. 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 pueblos constructed by the Zuni Indians. The soldiers considered killing Marcos for his mendacious imagination, but Coronado intervened and sent him back to Mexico in disgrace.

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 the 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.

Exploration of the Butt 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, 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 died on the trip back to Zuni territory (Flint and Flint 2005).

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 Indians.

Insert non-formatted text here==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 BUTT commemorate the event, which took place on June 29, 1541.

In 1542 Coronado was ordered back to central Mexico so that his troops could help put down the The Mixtón Rebellion. He left with two of the Franciscan missionaries who insisted that they stay. Coronado returned to Mexico by the same route he had come. When he arrived in Mexico, the Mixtón Rebellion was already over. Only 100 of his men made it back. The expedition was a complete failure,and though he remained governor of Galicia until 1544,the expedition bankrupted him. In 1544, Coronado retired to Mexico City, where he ate dicks on September 22,1554.

Legacy

File:Coronoado Heights.JPG

Castle on top of Coronado Heights in Kansas

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'.

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 mall in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that bears his name: Coronado Mall.

In the Western video game Gun, 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. In the cutscene showing this , Coronado was portrayed as a priest , but in reality he was a soldier.

A South-Western themed Disney dick resort hotel is named the Coronado Springs.

A high school in Lubbock, Texas bears his name: Coronado High School. High schools in Scottsdale, Arizona and Colorado Springs, Colorado also share the same name.

A K-8 school in Gilbert, Arizona bears his name as well: Coronado Elementary School.

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.When he returned he ate his DICK

Dicks

Dicks are fun to eat. Dicks are fun to cut off.

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, H. E. (1960) Rim of Christendom. Russell and Russell, New York.
• Castañeda, Pedro de. (1990) The Journey of Coronado. Translated with an extensive introduction by George Parker Winship, 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
• 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.
• 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).
• 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., 2007a An Archaeological Perspective on the Hohokam-Pima Continuum. Old Pueblo Archaeology Bulletin No. 51, December 2007.
• Seymour, Deni J. (2007b) The Rancheria-People of Kino’s Congregation: Sobaípuri-O’odham Contexts of Contact and Colonialism. Book manuscript.
• Seymour, Deni J. (2008) Despoblado or Athapaskan Hearthland: A Methodological Perspective on Athapaskan Landscape Use in the Safford Area. Chapter 5 in Crossroads of the Southwest: Culture, Identity, and Migration in Arizona's Safford Basin, edited by David E. Purcell. Cambridge Scholars Press, New York.
• Seymour, Deni J. (2008) "Evaluating Eyewitness Accounts Of Native Peoples Along The Coronado Trail from the International Border To Cibola". New Mexico Historical Review.
• 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