Background
Marcos de Niza was born about 1495 in Nice, France.
(This is a new release of the original 1939 edition.)
This is a new release of the original 1939 edition.
https://www.amazon.com/Personal-Narrative-Arizona-Discovered-Entered/dp/1258981459?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1258981459
Marcos de Niza was born about 1495 in Nice, France.
Niza went to Santo Domingo as a missionary in 1531 and from there to Peru. He is said to have been present at the capture and execution of the Inca, Atahualpa, and is credited with having founded the Franciscan province of Lima, with having written several works which deal with the conquest and native races of Ecuador and Peru, and with having supplied Las Casas with information concerning the treatment of the Indians of Peru by the Spaniards.
From Peru, Fray Marcos went to New Spain by way of Central America and soon was sent to the province of Nueva Galicia, of which Francisco Vazquez Coronado became governor in 1538. Fray Marcos was highly esteemed, and in 1539 became vice-commissary-general of the Franciscan Order in New Spain. The following year he was elected provincial of the province of Santo Evangelio and held that office for three years. By Viceroy Mendoza, he was sent in 1539 to investigate reports brought to New Spain in 1536 by Núñez Cabeza de Vac concerning a high civilization in the present states of New Mexico and Arizona, and it is for this expedition that he is best known. A former negro slave who accompanied Núñez was selected as guide and went on in advance. Upon reaching one of the Zuñi pueblos in western New Mexico he was murdered by the inhabitants. Accordingly, Fray Marcos contented himself with viewing the pueblo from a safe distance, and returned to New Spain to report that he had seen a city that was "greater than the city of Mexico. " Bandelier believes that he did not deliberately lie, reasoning that in the desert atmosphere the pueblo appeared larger from a distance than was the case; he argues, furthermore, that the comparison was with the newly founded Spanish town of Mexico, not with the old city which had been destroyed in 1521. Whatever his intentions, Fray Marcos' report was exaggerated and quickly spread over New Spain, with the result that Coronado was commissioned to conquer the region. When his spectacular expedition set out in 1540 the Franciscan went along as a guide. Zuñi proved to be disappointing and the prestige of Fray Marcos waned correspondingly; in fact, "such were the curses that were hurled upon him" by the disappointed treasure-seekers that he soon returned to New Spain. The chief result of the Coronado expedition which the earlier report of Fray Marcos had inspired was the military occupation by the Spaniards of the upper Rio Grande Valley for two winters. On his northern expeditions the friar lost his health.
(This is a new release of the original 1939 edition.)