Francisco Coronado
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Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (ca. 1510 - September 22,1554) was a Spanish conquistador, who between 1540-1542 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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Biography
Coronado was governor of New Galicia (contemporary Sinaloa and Nayarit, Mexico). As such he had already sent out Friar Marcos de Niza and Narváez expedition survivor Estevanico on a voyage to the north, to New Mexico. When Marcos returned he told about a wealthy, golden city, called Cíbola. Coronado's friend, Antonio Mendoza appointed Coronado as the commander of an expedition to go and find the seven golden cities and take all of their gold. He set out in 1540, joined by a large expedition of 335 Spanish, 1,300 Mexican Indian allies, four Franciscan monks, the most notable of which was Juan de Padilla, and several slaves, both native Americans and Africans.
He followed the coast of the Sea of Cortez northward to the Sonora, then traveled upstream on the Sonora, and crossed the Gila to Cibola, in the west of present-day New Mexico. There he was met by disappointment. Cibola was nothing like the great golden city fray Marcos had described, it was just a simple pueblo of the Zuni Indians. Marcos was sent back to Mexico in disgrace.
Coronado conquered Cibola, and explored the other six Zuni pueblos. He also sent out various expeditions. Melchior Diaz was sent out to the mouth of the Colorado river, to meet Hernando de Alarcón who would be shipping supplies for Coronado. Pedro de Tovar was sent northwest, and heard of a great river further west (the Colorado). Garcia Lopez de Cardenas was sent out to find this river, and found himself being the first European to see the magnificent Grand Canyon. Hernando de Alvarado was sent east, and found villages around the Rio Grande. Coronado set up his winter quarters in one of them, Tiguex (across the river from present-day Bernalillo near Albuquerque, New Mexico). In the winter of 1540-41 the demands of his army resulted in conflicts with the Rio Grande Indians that led to the brutal Tiguex War, which resulted in the destruction of the Tiguex pueblos and the death of hundreds of Indians.
He met an Indian, which he called the Turk, who told him about Quivira, a rich country in the northwest. He decided to look for Quivira, taking the Turk as his guide. He traversed the Llano Estacado and what is now the Texas Panhandle, and marched on further north. However, the Turk was found lying about the route, or at least Coronado thought he did so, and was executed. Other guides led him further to Quivira, and he reached a village near present-day Lindsborg, Kansas. But his disappointment was repeated: The Quivira Indians (later known as Wichita) were no rich people 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.
In 1542 he went back to Mexico through roughly the same route he had come. Only 100 of his men came back with him. Although the expedition was a complete failure, he remained governor of New Galicia until 1544, then retired to Mexico City, where he died in 1554.
Legacy
There is a hill near Lindsborg that is called Coronado Heights. A small obelisk about halfway up commemorates Coronado's expedition.
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. It is unclear if any such item ever existed.
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 (http://www.fulcrum-books.com/html/about_us.html), 1990, hardcover, 233 pages, ISBN 1-55591-066-1
- Francisco Vasquez de Coronado (http://reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/C/CoronadoF.html)
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 (http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-3161), written by Pedro de Castañeda and translated by George Parker Winship, 1922 publication, hosted by the Portal to Texas History (http://texashistory.unt.edu/).
- Coronado: Misfortune's Explorer (http://texashistory.unt.edu/young/educators/coronado/index.shtml) Primary Source Adventure, a lesson plan hosted by The Portal to Texas History (http://texashistory.unt.edu/)
- Coronado Cross (http://skyways.lib.ks.us/orgs/fordco/coronado.html) June 29, 1541, Ford County, KS