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[p329] THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1540â1542 BY GEORGE PARKER WINSHIP [p331] CONTENTS Introductory note â¦ 339 Itinerary of the Coronado expeditions, 1527â1547 â¦ 341 Historical introduction â¦ 345 The causes of the Coronado expedition, 1528â1539 â¦ 345 Alvar NuÃ±ez Cabeza de Vaca â¦ 345 The governors of New Spain, 1530â1537 â¦ 350 The reconnoissance of Friar Marcos de Niza â¦ 353 The effect of Friar Marcosâ report â¦ 362 The expedition to New Mexico and the great plains â¦ 373 The organization of the expedition â¦ 373 The departure of the expedition â¦ 382 The expedition by sea under Alarcon â¦ 385 The journey from Culiacan to Cibola â¦ 386 The capture of the Seven Cities â¦ 388 The exploration of the country â¦ 389 The Spaniards at ZuÃ±i â¦ 389 The discovery of Tusayan and the Grand canyon â¦ 390 The Rio Grande and the great plains â¦ 390 The march of the army from Culiacan to Tiguex â¦ 391 The winter of 1540â1541 along the Rio Grande â¦ 392 The Indian revolt â¦ 392 The stories about Quivira â¦ 393 The journey across the buffalo plains â¦ 395 The winter of 1541â1542 â¦ 399 The friars remain in the country â¦ 400 The return to New Spain â¦ 401 The end of Coronado â¦ 402 Some results of the expedition â¦ 403 The discovery of Colorado river â¦ 403 The voyage of Alarcon â¦ 403 The journey of Melchior Diaz â¦ 406 The Indian uprising in New Spain, 1540â1542 â¦ 408 Further attempts at discovery â¦ 411 The voyage of Cabrillo â¦ 411 Villalobos sails across the Pacific â¦ 412 The narrative of CastaÃ±eda â¦ 413 Bibliographic note â¦ 413 The Spanish text â¦ 414 Proemio â¦ 414 Primera parte â¦ 416 Capitulo primero donde se trata como se supo la primera poblacion de las siete Ã§iudades y como NuÃ±o de guzman hiÃ§oa rmada para descubrirlla â¦ 416 Capitulo segundo como bino a ser gouernador franÃ§isco uasques coronado y la segundo relaÃ§ion que dio cabeÃ§a de uaca â¦ 417 Capitulo terÃ§ero como mataron los de cibola a el negro esteuan y fray marcos bolbio huyendo â¦ 418 Capitulo quarto como el buen don Antonio de mendoÃ§a hiÃ§o jornada para el descubrimiento de Cibola â¦ 419 Capitulo quinto que trata quienes fueron por capitanes a cibola â¦ 420 Capitulo sexto como se juntaron en conpostela todas las capitanias y salieron en orden para la jornada â¦ 421 Capitulo septimo como el campo llego a chiametla y mataron a el maestre de canpo y lo que mas acaeÃ§io hasta llegar a culiacan â¦ 422 Capitulo otauo como el campo entro en la uilla de culiacan y el recebimiento que se hiÃ§o y lo que mas acaeÃ§io hasta la partida â¦ 423 Capitulo nueve como el canpo salio de culiacan y llego el general a Ã§ibola y el campo a seÃ±ora y lo que mas acaeÃ§io â¦ 424 Capitulo deÃ§imo como el campo salio de la uilla de senora quedando la uilla poblada y como llego a Ã§ibola y lo que le a uino en el camino a el capitan melchior dias yendo en demanda de los nabios y como descubrio el rio del tison â¦ 425 Capitulo onÃ§e como don pedro de touar descubrio a tusayan o tutahaco y don garci lopes de cardenas bio el rio del tison y lo que mas acaecion â¦ 428 Capitulo doÃ§e como binieron a Ã§ibola gentes de cicuye a ber los christianos y como fue her^{do} de aluarado a ber las uacas â¦ 430 Capitulo trece como el general llego con poca gente la uia de tutahaco y dexo campo a don tristan que lo llebo a tiguex â¦ 432 Capitulo catorce como el campo salio de sibola para tiguex y lo que les acaeÃ§io en el camino con niebe â¦ 432 Capitulo quinÃ§e como se alÃ§o tiguex y el castigo que en ellos ubo sin que lo ubiese en el causador â¦ 433 Capitulo desiseis como se puso Ã§erco a tiguex y se gano y lo que mas acontencio mediante el cerco â¦ 435 Capitulo desisiete como binieron a el campo mensajeros del ualle de seÃ±ora y como murio el capitan melchior dias en la jornada de tizon â¦ 438 Capitulo desiocho como el general procure dexar asentada la tierra para ir en demanda de quisuira donde deÃ§ia el turco auia el prinÃ§ipio de la riqueÃ§a â¦ 439 Capitulo desinueve como salieron en demanda de quiuira y lo que acontecio en el camino â¦ 440 Capitulo ueinte como cayeron grandes piedras en el campo y como se descubrio otra barranca donde se dibidio el campo en dos partes â¦ 442 Capitulo ueinte y uno como el campo bolbio a tiguex y el general llego a quiuira â¦ 443 Capitulo ueinte y dos como el general bolbio de quiuira y se hiÃ§ieron otras entradas debajo del norte â¦ 445 Segunda parte en que se trata de los pueblos y prouincias de altos y de sus ritos y costumbres recopilada por pedro de castaÃ±eda ueÃ§ino de la Ã§iudad de Naxara â¦ 446 Capitulo primero de la prouincia de Culiacan y de sus ritos y costumbres â¦ 447 Capitulo segundo de la prouincia de petlatlan y todo lo poblado hasta chichilticale â¦ 448 Capitulo tercero de lo ques chichilticale y el despoblado de Ã§ibola sus costumbres y ritos y de otras cosas â¦ 450 Capitulo quarto como se tratan los de tiguex y de la prouincia de tiguex y sus comarcas â¦ 451 Capitulo quinto de cicuye y los pueblos de su contorno y de como unas gentes binieron a conquistar aquella tierra â¦ 452 Capitulo sexto en que se declara quantos fueron los pueblos que se uieron en los poblados de terrados y lo poblado de ello â¦ 454 Capitulo septimo que trata de los llanos que se atrabesaron de bacas y de las gentes que los habitan â¦ 455 Capitulo ocho de quiuira y en que rumbo esta y la notiÃ§ia que dan â¦ 456 Tercera parte como y en que se trata aquello que aconteÃ§io a francisco uasques coronado estando inbernando y como dexo la jornada y se bolbio a la nueba espaÃ±a â¦ 458 Capitulo primero como bino de SeÃ±ora don pedro de touar con gente y se partio para la nueba espaÃ±a don garci lopes de cardenas â¦ 458 Capitulo segundo como cayo el general y se hordeno la buelta para la nueba espaÃ±a â¦ 459 Capitulo terÃ§ero como se alÃ§o Suya y las causas que para ello dieron los pobladores â¦ 460 Capitulo quarto como se quedo fray juan de padilla y fray luis en la tierra y el campo se aperÃ§ibio la buelta de mexico â¦ 461 Capitulo quinto como el canpo salio del poblado y camino a culiacan y lo que aconteÃ§io en el camino â¦ 462 Capitulo sexto como el general salio de culiacan para dar quenta a el uisorey del campo que le encargo â¦ 463 Capitulo septimo de las cosas que le aconteÃ§ieron al capitan Juan gallego por la tierra alÃ§ada lleuando el socorro â¦ 464 Capitulo otauo en que se quentan algunas cosas admirables que se bieron en los llanos con la faÃ§ion de los toros â¦ 466 Capitulo nono que trata el rumbo que llebo el campo y como se podria yr a buscar otra uia que mas derecha fuese abiendo de boluer aquella tierra â¦ 468 Translation of the narrative of CastaÃ±eda â¦ 470 Preface â¦ 470 First Part â¦ 472 Chapter 1, which treats of the way we first came to know about the Seven Cities, and of how NuÃ±o de Guzman made an expedition to discover them â¦ 472 Chapter 2, of how Francisco Vazquez Coronado came to be governor, and the second account which Cabeza de Vaca gave â¦ 474 Chapter 3, of how they killed the negro Stephen at Cibola, and Friar Marcos returned in flight â¦ 475 Chapter 4, of how the noble Don Antonio de Mendoza made an expedition to discover Cibola â¦ 476 Chapter 5, concerning the captains who went to Cibola â¦ 477 Chapter 6, of how all the companies collected in Compostela and set off on the journey in good order â¦ 478 Chapter 7, of how the army reached Chiametla, and the killing of the army-master, and the other things that happened up to the arrival at Culiacan â¦ 479 Chapter 8, of how the army entered the town of Culiacan and the reception it received, and other things which happened before the departure â¦ 481 Chapter 9, of how the army started from Culiacan and the arrival of the general at Cibola and of the army at SeÃ±ora and of other things that happened â¦ 482 Chapter 10, of how the army started from the town of SeÃ±ora, leaving it inhabited, and how it reached Cibola, and of what happened to Captain Melchior Diaz on his expedition in search of the ships and how he discovered the Tison (Firebrand) river â¦ 484 Chapter 11, of how Don Pedro de Tovar discovered Tusayan or Tutahaco and Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas saw the Firebrand river and the other things that had happened â¦ 487 Chapter 12, of how people came from Cicuye to Cibola to see the Christians, and how Hernando de Alvarado went to see the cows â¦ 490 Chapter 13, of how the general went toward Tutahaco with a few men and left the army with Don Tristan, who took it to Tiguex â¦ 492 Chapter 14, of how the army went from Cibola to Tiguex and what happened to them on the way, on account of the snow â¦ 493 Chapter 15, of why Tiguex revolted, and how they were punished, without being to blame for it â¦ 494 Chapter 16, of how they besieged Tiguex and took it, and of what happened during the siege â¦ 497 Chapter 17, of how messengers reached the army from the valley of SeÃ±ora, and how Captain Melchior Diaz died on the expedition to the Firebrand river â¦ 501 Chapter 18, of how the general managed to leave the country in peace so as to go in search of Quivira, where the Turk said there was the most wealth â¦ 502 Chapter 19, of how they started in search of Quivira and of what happened on the way â¦ 504 Chapter 20, of how great stones fell in the camp, and how they discovered another ravine, where the army was divided into two parts â¦ 506 Chapter 21, of how the army returned to Tiguex and the general reached Quivira â¦ 508 Chapter 22, of how the general returned from Quivira and of other expeditions toward the north â¦ 510 Second Part, which treats of the high villages and provinces and of their habits and customs, as collected by Pedro de CastaÃ±eda, native of the city of Najara â¦ 512 Chapter 1, of the province of Culiacan and of its habits and customs â¦ 513 Chapter 2, of the province of Petlatlan and all the inhabited country as far as Chichilticalli â¦ 514 Chapter 3, of Chichilticalli and the desert, of Cibola, its customs and habits, and of other things â¦ 516 Chapter 4, of how they live at Tiguex, and of the province of Tiguex and its neighborhood â¦ 519 Chapter 5, of Cicuye and the villages in its neighborhood, and of how some people came to conquer this country â¦ 523 Chapter 6, which gives the number of villages which were seen in the country of the terraced houses, and their population â¦ 524 Chapter 7, which treats of the plains that were crossed, of the cows, and of the people who inhabit them â¦ 526 Chapter 8, of Quivira, of where it is and some information about it â¦ 528 Third Part, which describes what happened to Francisco Vazquez Coronado during the winter, and how he gave up the expedition and returned to New Spain â¦ 530 Chapter 1, of how Don Pedro de Tovar came from SeÃ±ora with some men, and Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas started back to New Spain â¦ 530 Chapter 2, of the generalâs fall and of how the return to New Spain was ordered â¦ 531 Chapter 3, of the rebellion at Suya and the reasons the settlers gave for it â¦ 533 Chapter 4, of how Friar Juan de Padilla and Friar Luis remained in the country and the army prepared to return to Mexico â¦ 534 Chapter 5, of how the army left the settlements and marched to Culiacan, and of what happened on the way â¦ 537 Chapter 6, of how the general started from Culiacan to give the viceroy an account of the army with which he had been intrusted â¦ 538 Chapter 7, of the adventures of Captain Juan Gallego while he was bringing reenforcements through the revolted country â¦ 540 Chapter 8, which describes some remarkable things that were seen on the plains, with a description of the bulls â¦ 541 Chapter 9, which treats of the direction which the army took, and of how another more direct way might be found if anyone was going to return to that country â¦ 544 Translation of the letter from Mendoza to the King, April 17, 1540 â¦ 547 Translation of the letter from Coronado to Mendoza, August 3, 1540 â¦ 552 Translation of the Traslado de las Nuevas â¦ 564 RelaciÃ³n postrera de SÃ­vola â¦ 566 Spanish text â¦ 566 Translation â¦ 568 Translation of the Relacion del Suceso â¦ 572 Translation of a letter from Coronado to the King, October 20, 1541 â¦ 580 Translation of the narrative of Jaramillo â¦ 584 Translation of the report of Hernando de Alvarado â¦ 594 Testimony concerning those who went on the expedition with Francisco Vazquez Coronado â¦ 596 A list of works useful to the student of the Coronado expedition â¦ 599 [p337] ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE XXXVIII. The New Spain and New Mexico country â¦ 345 XXXIX. The Ulpius globe of 1542 â¦ 349 XL. Sebastian Cabotâs map of 1544 â¦ 353 XLI. Map of the world by Ptolemy, 1548 â¦ 357 XLII. Battista Agneseâs New Spain, sixteenth century â¦ 361 XLIII. The City of Mexico about 1550, by Alonzo de Santa Cruz â¦ 365 XLIV. Zaltieriâs karte, 1566 â¦ 369 XLV. Mercatorâs northwestern part of New Spain, 1569 â¦ 373 XLVI. Mercatorâs interior of New Spain, 1569 â¦ 377 XLVII. Abr. Orteliusâ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1570 â¦ 381 XLVIII. Douradoâs Terra Antipodv Regis Castele Inveta, 1580 â¦ 385 XLIX. Western hemisphere of Mercator, 1587 â¦ 389 L. Northern half of De Bryâs America Sive Novvs Orbis, 1596 â¦ 393 LI. Wytflietâs Vtrivsqve Hemispherii Delineatio, 1597 â¦ 397 LII. Wytflietâs New Granada and California, 1597 â¦ 401 LIII. Wytflietâs kingdoms of Quivira, Anian, and Tolm, 1597 â¦ 405 LIV. Matthias Quadusâ Fasciculus Geographicus, 1608 â¦ 409 LV. The buffalo of Gomara, 1554 â¦ 512 LVI. The buffalo of Thevet, 1558 â¦ 516 LVII. The buffalo of De Bry, 1595 â¦ 520 LVIII. On the terraces at ZuÃ±i â¦ 525 LIX. Middle court at ZuÃ±i â¦ 527 LX. ZuÃ±i court, showing âbalconyâ â¦ 529 LXI. ZuÃ±i interior â¦ 531 LXII. ZuÃ±is in typical modern costume â¦ 534 LXIII. Hopi maidens, showing primitive Pueblo hairdressing â¦ 536 LXIV. Hopi grinding and paper-bread making â¦ 539 LXV. Hopi basket maker â¦ 543 LXVI. Pueblo pottery making â¦ 547 LXVII. Pueblo spinning and weaving â¦ 551 LXVIII. The Tewa pueblo of Pâo-who-gi or San Ildefonso â¦ 555 LXIX. Pueblo of Jemez â¦ 559 LXX. Ruins of Spanish church above Jemez â¦ 562 LXXI. The Keres pueblo of Sia â¦ 569 LXXII. The Keres pueblo of CochitÃ­ â¦ 571 LXXIII. The Tewa pueblo of Nambe â¦ 573 LXXIV. A Nambe Indian in war costume â¦ 576 LXXV. A Nambe water carrier â¦ 578 LXXVI. The Keres pueblo of Katishtya or San Felipe â¦ 583 LXXVII. The south town of the Tiwa pueblo of Taos â¦ 585 LXXVIII. The Tewa pueblo of KâhapÃ³o or Santa Clara â¦ 587 LXXIX. The Tewa pueblo of Ohke or San Juan â¦ 589 LXXX. A native of San Juan â¦ 592 LXXXI. A native of Pecos â¦ 596 LXXXII. Facsimile of pages of CastaÃ±edaâs relacion â¦ 456 LXXXIII. Facsimile of pages of CastaÃ±edaâs relacion â¦ 442 LXXXIV. Facsimile of pages of CastaÃ±edaâs relacion â¦ 466 [p339] THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1540â1542 BY GEORGE PARKER WINSHIP INTRODUCTORY NOTE The following historical introduction, with the accompanying translations, is the result of work in the Seminary of American History at Harvard University. Undertaken as a bit of undergraduate study, it has gradually assumed a form which has been considered worthy of publication, chiefly because of the suggestions and assistance which have been given with most generous readiness by all from whom I have had occasion to ask help or advice. To Dr Justin Winsor; to Professor Henry W. Haynes, who opened the way for students of the early Spanish history of the North American southwest; to Dr J. Walter Fewkes, who has freely offered me the many results of his long-continued and minute investigations at Tusayan and ZuÃ±i; and to the careful oversight and aid of Mr F. W. Hodge and the other members of the Bureau of Ethnology, much of the value of this work is due. Mr Augustus Hemenway has kindly permitted the use of the maps and documents deposited in the archives of the Hemenway Southwestern Archeological Expedition by Mr Adolph F. Bandelier. My indebtedness to the researches and writings of Mr Bandelier is evident throughout. SeÃ±or Joaquin Garcia Icazbalcetaâwhose death, in November, 1894, removed the master student of the documentary history of Mexicoâmost courteously gave me all the information at his command, and with his own hand copied the _RelaciÃ³n postrera de SÃ­vola_, which is now for the first time printed. The Spanish text of CastaÃ±edaâs narrative, the presentation of which for the first time in its original language affords the best reason for the present publication, has been copied and printed with the consent of the trustees of the Lenox Library in New York, in whose custody is the original manuscript. I am under many obligations to their librarian, Mr Wilberforce Eames, who has always been ready to assist me by whatever means were within his power. The subject of this research was suggested by Professor Channing of Harvard. If my work has resulted in some contribution to the literature of the history of the Spanish conquest of America, it is because of his constant guidance and inspiration, and his persistent refusal to [p340] consent to any abandoning of the work before the results had been expressed in a manner worthy of the university. Before the completion of the arrangements by which this essay becomes a part of the annual report of the Director of the Bureau of Ethnology, it had been accepted for publication by the Department of History of Harvard University. GEORGE PARKER WINSHIP _Assistant in American History in Harvard University._ CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, _February, 1895._ [p341] ITINERARY OF THE CORONADO EXPEDITIONS, 1527â1547 1527 [Sidenote: June 17] Narvaez sails from Spain to explore the mainland north of the Gulf of Mexico. 1528 [Sidenote: April 15] Narvaez lands in Florida. [Sidenote: Sept. 22] The failure of the Narvaez expedition is assured. 1535 Cortes makes a settlement in Lower California. Mendoza comes to Mexico as viceroy of New Spain. 1536 [Sidenote: April] Cabeza de Vaca and three other survivors of the Narvaez expedition arrive in New Spain. The Licenciate de la Torre takes the residencia of NuÃ±o de Guzman, who is imprisoned until June 30, 1538. 1537 Franciscan friars labor among the Indian tribes living north of New Spain. Coronado subdues the revolted miners of Amatepeque. The proposed expedition under Dorantes comes to naught. [Sidenote: April 20] De Soto receives a grant of the mainland of Florida. 1538 [Sidenote: September] It is rumored that Coronado has been nominated governor of New Galicia. 1539 Pedro de Alvarado returns from Spain to the New World. [Sidenote: March 7] Friar Marcos de Niza, accompanied by the negro Estevan, starts from Culiacan to find the Seven Cities. [Sidenote: April 18] The appointment of Coronado as governor of New Galicia is confirmed. [Sidenote: May] De Soto sails from Habana. [Sidenote: May 9] Friar Marcos enters the wilderness of Arizona. [Sidenote: May 21] Friar Marcos learns of the death of Estevan. [Sidenote: May 25] De Soto lands on the coast of Florida. [Sidenote: July 8] Ulloa sails from Acapulco nearly to the head of the Gulf of California in command of a fleet furnished by Cortes. [Sidenote: August] Friar Marcos returns from the north and certifies to the truth [Sidenote: Sept. 2] of his report before Mendoza and Coronado. [Sidenote: October] The news of Nizaâs discoveries spreads through New Spain. [Sidenote: November] Mendoza begins to prepare for an expedition to conquer the Seven Cities of Cibola. Melchior Diaz is sent to verify the reports of Friar Marcos. De Soto finds the remains of the camp of Narvaez at Bahia de los Cavallos. [Sidenote: Nov. 12] Witnesses in Habana describe the effect of the friarâs reports. 1540 [Sidenote: Jan. 1] Mendoza celebrates the new year at Pasquaro. [Sidenote: Jan. 9] Coronado at Guadalajara. [Sidenote: Feb. 5] Cortes stops at Habana on his way to Spain. [Sidenote: February] The members of the Cibola expedition assemble at Compostela, where the viceroy finds them on his arrival. [Sidenote: Feb. 22] Review of the army on Sunday. [Sidenote: Feb. 23] The army, under the command of Francisco Vazquez Coronado, starts for Cibola (not on February 1). [Sidenote: Feb. 26] Mendoza returns to Compostela, having left the army two days before, and examines witnesses to discover how many citizens of New Spain have accompanied Coronado. He writes a letter to King Charles V, which has been lost. [Sidenote: March] The army is delayed by the cattle in crossing the rivers. The death of the army master, Samaniego, at Chiametla. Return of Melchior Diaz and Juan de Saldivar from Chichilticalli. [Sidenote: March 3] Beginning of litigation in Spain over the right to explore and conquer the Cibola country. [Sidenote: March 28] Reception to the army at Culiacan, on Easter day. [Sidenote: April] The army is entertained by the citizens of Culiacan. Mendoza receives the report of Melchior Diazâ exploration, perhaps at Jacona. Coronado writes to Mendoza, giving an account of what has already happened, and of the arrangements which he has made for the rest of the journey. This letter has been lost. [Sidenote: April 17] Mendoza writes to the Emperor Charles V. [Sidenote: April 22] Coronado departs from Culiacan with about seventy-five horsemen and a few footmen. [Sidenote: April] Coronado passes through Petatlan, Cinaloa, Los Cedros, [Sidenote: May] Yaquemi, and other places mentioned by Jaramillo. [Sidenote: May 9] Alarcon sails from Acapulco to cooperate with Coronado. The army starts from Culiacan and marches toward the Corazones or Hearts valley. [Sidenote: May 26] Coronado leaves the valley of Corazones. He proceeds to Chichilticalli, [Sidenote: June] passing Senora or Sonora and Ispa, and thence crosses the Arizona wilderness, fording many rivers. The army builds the town of San Hieronimo in Corazones valley. [Sidenote: July 7] Coronado reaches Cibola and captures the first city, the pueblo of Hawikuh, which he calls Granada. [Sidenote: July 11] The Indians retire to their stronghold on Thunder mountain. [Sidenote: July 15] Pedro de Tovar goes to Tusayan or Moki, returning within thirty days. [Sidenote: July 19] Coronado goes to Thunder mountain and returns the same day. [Sidenote: Aug. 3] Coronado writes to Mendoza. He sends Juan Gallego to Mexico, and Melchior Diaz to Corazones with orders for the army. Friar Marcos accompanies them. [Sidenote: Aug. 25 (?)] Lopez de Cardenas starts to find the canyons of Colorado river, and is gone about eighty days. [Sidenote: Aug. 26] Alarcon enters the mouth of Colorado river. [Sidenote: Aug. 29] Hernando de Alvarado goes eastward to Tiguex, on the Rio Grande, and to the buffalo plains. Pedro de Alvarado arrives in New Spain. [Sidenote: Sept. 7] Hernando de Alvarado reaches Tiguex. Diaz and Gallego reach Corazones about the middle of September, and the army starts for Cibola. Coronado visits Tutahaco. [Sidenote: September to January] The army reaches Cibola, and goes thence to Tiguex for its winter quarters. The natives in the Rio Grande pueblos revolt and are subjugated. The Turk tells the Spaniards about Quivira. [Sidenote: October] Diaz starts from Corazones before the end of September, with twenty-five men, and explores the country along the Gulf of California, going beyond Colorado river. Diego de Alcaraz is left in command of the town of San Hieronimo. [Sidenote: Nov. 29] Mendoza and Pedro de Alvarado sign an agreement in regard to common explorations and conquests. 1541 [Sidenote: Jan. 8] Diaz dies on the return from the mouth of the Colorado, and his companions return to Corazones valley. [Sidenote: March] Alcaraz, during the spring, moves the village of San Hieronimo from Corazones valley to the valley of Suya river. [Sidenote: April 20] Beginning of the Mixton war in New Galicia. Coronado writes a letter to the King from Tiguex, which has been lost. Tovar and perhaps Gallego return to Mexico. [Sidenote: April 23] Coronado starts with all his force from Tiguex to cross the buffalo plains to Quivira. [Sidenote: May] The army is divided somewhere on the great plains, perhaps on Canadian river. The main body returns to Tiguex, arriving there by the middle or last of June. De Soto crosses the Mississippi. [Sidenote: June] Coronado, with, thirty horsemen, rides north to Quivira, where he arrives forty-two (?) days later. [Sidenote: June 24] Pedro de Alvarado is killed at Nochistlan, in New Galicia. [Sidenote: August] Coronado spends about twenty-five days in the country of Quivira, leaving âthe middle or last of August.â [Sidenote: Sept. 28] The Indians in New Galicia attack the town of Guadalajara, but are repulsed. [Sidenote: Oct. 2] Coronado returns from Quivira to Tiguex and writes a letter to the King. [Sidenote: November] Cardenas starts to return to Mexico with some other invalids from the army. He finds the village of Suya in ruins and hastily returns to Tiguex. [Sidenote: December] Coronado falls from his horse and is seriously injured. The Mixton peÃ±ol is surrendered by the revolted Indians during holiday week. 1542 Coronado and his soldiers determine to return to New Spain. They start in the spring, and reach Mexico probably late in the autumn. The general makes his report to the viceroy, who receives him coldly. Coronado not long after resigns his position as governor of New Galicia and retires to his estates. [Sidenote: April 17] De Soto reaches the mouth of Red river, where he dies, May 21. [Sidenote: June 27] Cabrillo starts on his voyage up the California coast. He dies in January, 1543, and the vessels return to New Spain by April, 1544. [Sidenote: Nov. 1] Villalobos starts across the Pacific. His fleet meets with many misfortunes and losses. The survivors, five years or more later, return to Spain. [Sidenote: Nov. 25] Friar Juan de la Cruz is killed at Tiguex, where he remained when the army departed for New Spain. Friar Luis also remained in the new country, at Cicuye, and Friar Juan de Padilla, at Quivira, where he is killed. The companions of Friar Juan de Padilla make their way back to Mexico, arriving before 1552. 1544 [Sidenote: Nov. 30] Promulgation of the New Laws for the Indies. Sebastian Cabot publishes his map of the New World. 1547 Mendoza, before he leaves New Spain to become viceroy of Peru, answers the charges preferred against him by the officials appointed to investigate his administration. [Illustration: XXXVIII. The New Spain and New Mexico Country] [p345] HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION THE CAUSES OF THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1528â1539 ALVAR NUÃEZ CABEZA DE VACA The American Indians are always on the move. Tribes shift the location of their homes from season to season and from year to year, while individuals wander at will, hunting, trading or gossiping. This is very largely true today, and when the Europeans first came in contact with the American aborigines, it was a characteristic feature of Indian life. The Shawnees, for example, have drifted from Georgia to the great lakes, and part of the way back, during the period since their peregrinations can first be traced. Traders from tribe to tribe, in the days when European commercial ideas were unknown in North America, carried bits of copper dug from the mines in which the aboriginal implements are still found, on the shores of Lake Superior, to the Atlantic coast on the one side and to the Rocky mountains on the other. The Indian gossips of central Mexico, in 1535, described to the Spaniards the villages of New Mexico and Arizona, with their many-storied houses of stone and adobe. The Spanish colonists were always eager to learn about unexplored regions lying outside the limits of the white settlements, and their Indian neighbors and servants in the valley of Mexico told them many tales of the people who lived beyond the mountains which hemmed in New Spain on the north. One of these stories may be found in another part of this memoir, where it is preserved in the narrative of Pedro CastaÃ±eda, the historian of the Coronado expedition. CastaÃ±edaâs hearsay report of the Indian story, which was related by an adventurous trader who had penetrated the country far to the north, compares not unfavorably with the somewhat similar stories which Marco Polo told to entertain his Venetian friends.[1] But whatever may have been known before, the information which led to the expedition of Friar Marcos de Niza and to that of Francisco Vazquez Coronado was brought to New Spain late in the spring of 1536 by Alvar NuÃ±ez Cabeza de Vaca. In 1520, before Cortes, the conqueror of Motecuhzoma, had made his peace with the Emperor Charles V and with the authorities at Cuba, Panfilo de Narvaez was dispatched to the Mexican mainland, at the [p346] head of a considerable force. He was sent to subdue and supersede the conqueror of Mexico, but when they met, Cortes quickly proved that he was a better general than his opponent, and a skillful politician as well. Narvaez was deserted by his soldiers and became a prisoner in the City of Mexico, where he was detained during the two years which followed. Cortes was at the height of his power, and Narvaez must have felt a longing to rival the successes of the conqueror, who had won the wealth of the Mexican empire. After Cortes resumed his dutiful obedience to the Spanish crown, friends at home obtained a royal order which effected the release of Narvaez, who returned to Spain at the earliest opportunity. Almost as soon as he had established himself anew in the favor of the court, he petitioned the King for a license which should permit him to conduct explorations in the New World. After some delay, the desired patent was granted. It authorized Narvaez to explore, conquer, and colonize the country between Florida and the Rio de Palmas, a grant comprising all that portion of North America bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, which is now included within the limits of the United States. Preparations were at once begun for the complete organization of an expedition suitable to the extent of this territory and to the power and dignity of its governor. On June 17, 1527, Narvaez, governor of Florida, Rio de Palmas and Espiritu Santoâthe Rio Grande and the Mississippi on our modern mapsâsailed from Spain. He went first to Cuba, where he refitted his fleet and replaced one vessel which had been lost in a hurricane during the voyage. When everything was ready to start for the unexplored mainland, he ordered the pilots to conduct his fleet to the western limits of his jurisdictionâour Texas. They landed him, April 15, 1528, on the coast of the present Florida, at a bay which the Spaniards called Bahia de la Cruz, and which the map of Sebastian Cabot enables us to identify with Apalache bay. The pilots knew that a storm had driven them out of their course toward the east, but they could not calculate on the strong current of the gulf stream. They assured the commander that he was not far from the Rio de Palmas, the desired destination, and so he landed his force of 50 horses and 300 menâjust half the number of the soldiers, mechanics, laborers, and priests who had started with, him from Spain ten months before. He sent one of his vessels back to Cuba for recruits, and ordered the remaining three to sail along the coast toward the west and to wait for the army at the fine harbor of Panuco, which was reported to be near the mouth of Palmas river. The fate of these vessels is not known. Narvaez, having completed these arrangements, made ready to lead his army overland to Panuco. The march began April 19. For a while, the Spaniards took a northerly direction, and then they turned toward the west. Progress was slow, for the men knew nothing of the country, and the forests and morasses presented many difficulties to the soldiers [p347] unused to woodcraft. Little help could be procured from the Indians, who soon became openly hostile wherever the Spaniards encountered them. Food grew scarce, and no persuasion could induce the natives to reveal hidden stores of corn, or of gold. On May 15, tired and discouraged, the Spaniards reached a large river with a strong current flowing toward the south. They rested here, while Cabeza de Vaca, the royal treasurer accompanying the expedition, took a small party of soldiers and followed the banks of the river down to the sea. The fleet was not waiting for them at the mouth of this stream, nor could anything be learned of the fine harbor for which they were searching. Disappointed anew by the report which Cabeza de Vaca made on his return to the main camp, the Spanish soldiers crossed the river and continued their march toward the west. They plodded on and on, and after awhile turned southward, to follow down the course of another large river which blocked their westward march. On the last day of July they reached a bay of considerable size, at the mouth of the river. They named this Bahia de los Cavallos, perhaps, as has been surmised, because it was here that they killed the last of their horses for food. The Spaniards, long before this, had become thoroughly disheartened. Neither food nor gold could be found. The capital cities, toward which the Indian captives had directed the wandering strangers, when reached, were mere groups of huts, situated in some cases on mounds of earth. Not a sign of anything which would reward their search, and hardly a thing to eat, had been discovered during the months of toilsome marching. The Spaniards determined to leave the country. They constructed forges in their camp near the seashore, and hammered their spurs, stirrups, and other iron implements of warfare into nails and saws and axes, with which to build the boats necessary for their escape from the country. Ropes were made of the tails and manes of the horses, whose hides, pieced out with the shirts of the men, were fashioned into sails. By September 22, five boats were ready, each large enough to hold between 45 and 50 men. In these the soldiers embarked. Scarcely a man among them knew anything of navigation, and they certainly knew nothing about the navigation of this coast. They steered westward, keeping near the land, and stopping occasionally for fresh water. Sometimes they obtained a little food. Toward the end of October they came to the mouth of a large river which poured forth so strong a current that it drove the boats out to sea. Two, those which contained Narvaez and the friars, were lost. The men in the other three boats were driven ashore by a storm, somewhere on the coast of western Louisiana or eastern Texas.[2] This was [p348] in the winter of 1528â29. Toward the end of April, 1536, Cabeza de Vaca, Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, Andres Dorantes, and a negro named Estevan, met some Spanish slave catchers near the Rio de Petatlan, in Sinaloa, west of the mountains which border the Gulf of California. These four men, with a single exception,[3] were the only survivors of the three hundred who had entered the continent with Narvaez eight years before. Cabeza de Vaca and his companions stayed in Mexico for several months, as the guests of the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza. At first, it was probably the intention of the three Spaniards to return to Spain, in order to claim the due reward for their manifold sufferings. Mendoza says, in a letter dated December 10, 1537,[4] that he purchased the negro Estevan from Dorantes, so that there might be someone left in New Spain who could guide an expedition back into the countries about which the wanderers had heard. An earlier letter from the viceroy, dated February 11, 1537, commends Cabeza de Vaca and _Francisco_ Dorantesâhe must have meant Andres, and perhaps wrote it so in his original manuscriptâas deserving the favor of the Empress. Maldonado is not mentioned in this letter, and no trace of him has been found after the arrival of the four survivors in Mexico. All that we know about him is that his home was in Salamanca.[5] [Illustration: XXXIX. The Ulpius Globe of 1542 in Possession of the New York Historical Society] Cabeza de Vaca and Dorantes started from Vera Cruz for Spain in October, 1536, but their vessel was stranded before it got out of the harbor. This accident obliged them to postpone their departure until the following spring, when Cabeza de Vaca returned home alone. He told the story of his wanderings to the court and the King, and was rewarded, by 1540, with an appointment as adelantado, giving him the command over the recently occupied regions about the Rio de la Plata. The position was one for which he was unfitted, and his subordinates [p349] sent him back to Spain. The complaints against him were investigated by the Council for the Indies, but the judgment, if any was given, has never been published. He certainly was not punished, and soon settled down in Seville, where he was still living, apparently, twenty years later.[6] While Dorantes was stopping at Vera Cruz during the winter of 1536â37, he received a letter from Mendoza, asking him to return to the City of Mexico. After several interviews, the viceroy induced Dorantes to remain in New Spain, agreeing to provide him with a party of horsemen and friars, in order to explore more thoroughly the country through which he had wandered. Mendoza explains the details of his plans in the letter written in December, 1537, and declares that he expected many advantages would be derived from this expedition which would redound to the glory of God and to the profit of His Majesty the King. The viceroy was prepared to expend a large sumâ3,500 or 4,000 pesosâto insure a successful undertaking, but he promised to raise the whole amount, without taking a single maravedi from the royal treasury, by means of a more careful collection of dues, and especially by enforcing the payment of overdue sums, the collection of which hitherto had been considered impossible. This reform in the collection of rents and other royal exactions and the careful attention to all the details of the fiscal administration were among the most valuable of the many services rendered by Mendoza as viceroy. The expedition under Dorantes never started, though why nothing came of all the preparations, wrote Mendoza in his next letter to the King, âI never could find out.â[7] The three Spaniards wrote several narratives of their experiences on the expedition of Narvaez, and of their adventurous journey from the gulf coast of Texas to the Pacific coast of Mexico.[8] These travelers, who had lived a savage life for so long that they could wear no clothes, and were unable to sleep except upon the bare ground, had a strange tale to tell. The story of their eight years of wandering must have been often repeatedâof their slavery, their buffalo-hunting expeditions, of the escape from their Indian masters, and their career as traders and as medicine men. These were wonderful and strange [p350] experiences, but the story contained little to arouse the eager interest of the colonists in New Spain, whose minds had been stirred by the accounts which came from Peru telling of the untold wealth of the Incas. A few things, however, had been seen and heard by the wanderers which suggested the possibility of lands worth conquering. âA copper hawks-bell, thick and large, figured with a face,â had been given to Cabeza de Vaca, soon after he started on his journey toward Mexico. The natives who gave this to him said that they had received it from other Indians, âwho had brought it from the north, where there was much copper, which was highly esteemed.â After the travelers had crossed the Rio Grande, they showed this bell to some other Indians, who said that âthere were many plates of this same metal buried in the ground in the place whence it had come, and that it was a thing which they esteemed highly, and that there were fixed habitations where it came from.â[9] This was all the treasure which Cabeza de Vaca could say that he had seen. He had heard, however, of a better region than any he saw, for the Indians told him âthat there are pearls and great riches on the coast of the South sea (the Pacific), and all the best and most opulent countries are near there.â We may be sure that none of this was omitted whenever he told the Spanish colonists the story of the years of his residence in Texas and of the months of his journey across northern Mexico.[10] THE GOVERNORS OF NEW SPAIN, 1530â1537 Don Antonio de Mendoza, âthe good viceroy,â had been at the head of the government of New Spain for two years when Cabeza de Vaca arrived in Mexico. The effects of his careful and intelligent administration were already beginning to appear in the increasing prosperity of the province and the improved condition of the colonists and of their lands. The authority of the viceroy was ample and extensive, although he was limited to some extent by the audiencia, the members of which had administered the government of the province since the retirement of Cortes. The viceroy was the president of this court, which had resumed more strictly judicial functions after his arrival, and he was officially advised by his instructions from the King to consult with his fellow members on all matters of importance. NuÃ±o de Guzman departed for New Spain in 1528, and became the head of the first audiencia. Within a year he had made himself so deservedly unpopular that when he heard that Cortes was coming back to Mexico from Spain, with the new title of marquis and fresh grants of power from the King, he thought it best to get out of the way of his rival. Without relinquishing the title to his position in the capital [p351] city, Guzman collected a considerable force and marched away toward the west and north, determined to win honor and security by new conquests. He explored and subdued the country for a considerable distance along the eastern shores of the Gulf of California, but he could find nothing there to rival the Mexico of Motecuhzoma. Meanwhile reports reached Charles V of the manner in which Guzman had been treating the Indians and the Spanish settlers, and so, March 17, 1536,[11] the King appointed the Licentiate Diego Perez de la Torre to take the residencia[12] of Guzman. At the same time Torre was commissioned to replace Guzman as governor of New Galicia, as this northwestern province had been named. The latter had already determined to return to Spain, leaving Don Christobal de OÃ±ate, a model executive and administrative official, in charge of his province. Guzman almost succeeded in escaping, but his judge, who had landed at Vera Cruz by the end of 1536, met him at the viceroyâs palace in Mexico city, and secured his arrest before he could depart. After his trial he was detained in Mexico until June 30, 1538, when he was enabled to leave New Spain by an order which directed him to surrender his person to the officers of the Casa de Contratacion,[13] at Seville. Guzman lost no time in going to Spain, where he spent the next four years in urging his claims to a right to participate in the northern conquests. Torre, the licentiate, had barely begun to reform the abuses of Guzmanâs government when he was killed in a conflict with some revolted Indian tribes. OÃ±ate again took charge of affairs until Mendoza appointed Luis Galindo chief justice for New Galicia. This was merely a temporary appointment, however, until a new governor could be selected. The viceroyâs nomination for the position was confirmed by the King, in a cedula dated April 18, 1539, which commissioned Francisco Vazquez Coronado as governor.[14] Cortes had been engaged, ever since his return from Spain, in fitting out expeditions which came to nothing,[15] but by which he hoped to accomplish his schemes for completing the exploration of the South sea. His leisure was more than occupied by his efforts to outwit the agents of the viceroy and the audiencia, who had received orders from the King to investigate the extent and condition of the estates held by Cortes. In the spring of 1535, Cortes established a colony on the opposite coast of California, the supposed Island of the Marquis, at Santa [p352] Cruz,[16] near the modern La Paz. Storms and shipwreck, hunger and surfeiting, reduced the numbers and the enthusiasm of the men whom he had conducted thither, and when his vessels returned from the mainland with the news that Mendoza had arrived in Mexico, and bringing letters from his wife urging him to return at once, Cortes went back to Mexico. A few months later he recalled the settlers whom he had left at Santa Cruz, in accordance, it may be, with the command or advice of Mendoza.[17] When the stories of Cabeza de Vaca suggested the possibility of making desirable conquests toward the north, Cortes possessed a better outfit for undertaking this work than any of the others who were likely to be rivals for the privilege of exploring and occupying that region. Pedro de Alvarado was the least known of these rival claimants. He had been a lieutenant of Cortes until he secured an independent command in Guatemala, Yucatan and Honduras, where he subdued the natives, but discovered nothing except that there was nowhere in these regions any store of gold or treasures. Abandoning this field, he tried to win a share in the conquests of Pizarro and Almagro. He approached Peru from the north, and conducted his army across the mountains. This march, one of the most disastrous in colonial history, so completely destroyed the efficiency of his force that the conquerors of Peru easily compelled him to sell them what was left of his expedition. They paid a considerable sum, weighed out in bars of silver which he found, after his return to Panama, to be made of lead with a silver veneering.[18] Alvarado was ready to abandon the work of conquering America, and had forwarded a petition to the King, asking that he might be allowed to return to Spain, when Mendoza, or the audiencia which was controlled by the enemies of Alvarado, furthered his desires by ordering him to go to the mother country and present himself before the throne. This was in 1536. While at court Alvarado must have met Cabeza de Vaca. He changed his plans for making a voyage to the South seas, and secured from the King, whose favor he had easily regained, a commission which allowed him to build a fleet in Central America and explore the South seaâthe Pacificâtoward the west or the north. He returned to America early in 1539, bringing with him everything needed in the equipment of a large fleet. [Illustration: XL. Sebastian Cabotâs Map of 1544 After Kretschmer] Mendoza, meanwhile, 1536â1539, had been making plans and preparations. He had not come to the New World as an adventurer, and he lacked the spirit of eager, reckless, hopeful expectation of wealth and fame, which accomplished so much for the geographical unfolding of the two Americas. Mendoza appears to have arranged his
{'title': 'The Coronado Expedition, 1540-1542. by George Parker Winship', 'source': 'Project Gutenberg', 'lang': 'en'}