Background
Coronado was born in Salamanca, Spain, in 1510 and came to Mexico with Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza in 1535. In Mexico he married DoñaDona Beatriz, daughter of Alonso de Estrada, late treasurer of New Spain.
Coronado was born in Salamanca, Spain, in 1510 and came to Mexico with Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza in 1535. In Mexico he married DoñaDona Beatriz, daughter of Alonso de Estrada, late treasurer of New Spain.
In Mexico he rose rapidly to positions of honor and responsibility. In 1538 he became a member, or regidor, of the town council of Mexico City, and in August of that year, acting governor of Nueva Galicia (in the west of Mexico).
The Nueva Galicia frontier was at that time a center of great excitement because of the return of Cabeza de Vaca from the interior in 1536 with stories of new kingdoms in the north, stories which presumably were verified by Fray Marcos de Niza in 1539 on an exploration as far as the present Zuñi,Zuni, New Mexico, and his account of the seven wealthy cities of Cíbola.Cibola. Viceroy Mendoza, tempted by the prospect of wealth, authorized the conquest of these regions in the north and commissioned Coronado as leader of the expedition. By Feb. 22, 1540, the entire force, consisting of more than 300 Spaniards and 1,000 Indian allies, gathered at Compostela for a formal review in the presence of Mendoza and other dignitaries and began the march into the interior of the continent.
Exploration and Conquest. The route led through Culiacán,Culiacan, where Coronado set out in advance with one hundred picked men, leaving the main body under TristánTristan de Arellano to follow more leisurely with the baggage and cattle train. Coronado kept to old trails close to the Gulf of California, then veered inland along the Sonora and San Pedro rivers, crossed the White Mountains of Arizona, and on July 7, 1540, entered Cíbola,Cibola, which he took by conquest after a stubborn fight.
CíbolaCibola proved a great disappointment, for it had none of the treasures Fray Marcos had reported. Coronado reasoned that they must, therefore, be elsewhere, perhaps at the kingdom of Tusayán--theTusayan--the Hopi pueblos--which Coronado soon heard of and sent Pedro de Tovar to explore. The Hopi pueblos proved equally poor, but the people told of a great river, which LópezLopez de CárdenasCardenas explored on Tovar's return to Cíbola.Cibola. Cárdenas,Cardenas, going far to the west, discovered the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, but was unable to reach the bottom of the great gorge.
At Cíbola,Cibola, Coronado received visitors, one of whom, Bigotes, told about the buffalo and the wonders of the country to the east. To reconnoiter, Coronado sent another captain, Hernando de Alvarado, who at once urged the army to come to Tiguex, in heart of the Rio Grande Valley near modern Albuquerque, where there were many pueblos. When the main body of the expedition under TristánTristan de Arellano joined Coronado at CíbolaCibola late in November 1540, all soon set out for the Rio Grande and went into winter quarters at Tiguex.
On Arellano's march to Cíbola,Cibola, a midway post had been established in the Sonora Valley, with Melchior DíazDiaz in charge. DíazDiaz was instructed to get in touch with Hernando de Alarcón,Alarcon, in command of a sea expedition which had been sent up the Gulf of California to cooperate with Coronado. AlarcónAlarcon sailed up the Gulf, discovered the Colorado River, and ascended it as far as Yuma, but gave up the exploration when he could find no way of reaching Coronado, then far inland. After his departure, DíazDiaz by land reached the same spot, near Yuma, and found a message left by Alarcón,Alarcon, but the incident had only geographic significance.
Meantime, at Tiguex, during that first winter in New Mexico, the Indians rebelled at providing the housing and food exacted by the Spanish invaders. The pueblos of Arenal and Moho were the chief centers of resistance. Arenal was burned, and Moho was besieged for 50 days before it finally surrendered.
Return to Mexico. After the revolt, the Spaniards prepared to explore a kingdom to the east called Quivira, said to be rich and populous. That spring, 1541, Coronado set out to find it, reaching finally the area of the Wichita Indians at the Great Bend of the Arkansas River in Kansas. But there was no gold, only naked, hostile Indians and great herds of buffalo, and he went back to Tiguex for another winter. There he was wounded in the head while jousting with his men; he returned to Mexico in 1542, broken in health and reputation and disillusioned in his hope of finding great wealth.
Several Franciscan missionaries accompanied the Coronado expedition, one of whom, Fray Marcos, left after they reached Cíbola.Cibola. Two others remained behind when Coronado left for Mexico, and vanished without a trace.
Even though Coronado's star sank rapidly after his return from New Mexico, he served as governor of Nueva Galicia until 1544. He was acquitted of misconduct as leader of the expedition, but was fined on some charges growing out of his governorship. On leaving Nueva Galicia, Coronado moved to Mexico City, where he continued to serve as a city councilman. During these years he was much troubled with illness stemming from his New Mexico injury. Mendoza and Coronado remained firm friends until the viceroy left for Peru in 1551.