Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
By Kate R.
What would cause a man to leave his home country?
In 1535 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado left Spain with his mentor from
the Royal Spanish Court, Antonio de Mendoza, to help Mendoza govern New Spain
(Mexico). This was the beginning of a new life for Coronado. By the time
Coronado had lived in New Spain for three years, he had already suppressed
a riot, gained the complete trust of Mendoza, and was appointed to the Mexico
City Council. However, by 1542, seven years later, Coronado had failed to
find the seven cities of gold and had been relieved of his position as governor
of New Galicia. What could cause Coronado to leave his place as governor
and to go and search for the golden cities? The most logical answer is greed.
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado was born in 1510
in Salamanca, Spain. Coronado was the second son of a Spanish nobleman. As
a young child, he was a favorite in the royal court. There he heard stories
of exploration, and maybe gold and riches. This could have lead him to get
ideas about the exploring the unknown. When Antonio de Mendoza was commissioned
by the Queen to set up a colony called New Spain located in present day Mexico,
he asked Coronado to accompany him as his assistant. This was only the first
part of Coronado’s “exploring” life, and may have led to bigger thoughts
about adventure.
Coronado may have easily agreed to this because he was
a second son. Being a second son meant that Coronado would not inherit the
family lands. Coronado would have to create a career for himself. He could
become a priest, a soldier, or an explorer. Coronado chose to become an explorer.
Perhaps Coronado wanted to prove to the world that you didn’t have to inherit
family lands to succeed in life.
Coronado could have also been attracted by the promise
of gold and riches. Being exposed to so much wealth and power could have
led to dreams of finding gold in the New World. He was also described as
loyal to the Queen, and may have hoped to impress her with treasure found
in the unexplored lands.
While in New Spain, Coronado married Beatriz Estrada,
the wealthy daughter of the colonial treasurer. “Her dowry included half
of an extremely large country estate, so Coronado became somewhat of a country
gentleman.”(Source 1) The prospect that Coronado’s wife was richer than he
was may have increased Coronado’s greed and hope for finding the seven cities
of gold.
In 1536, Coronado first heard the tales of Cabeza de Vaca.
De Vaca had been shipwrecked off the coast of Florida and had traveled through
the southern part of what is now the United States, trying to get back to
New Spain. When he was rescued, he told stories of seven golden cities, one
of which was called Cíbola, lying northeast of New Spain. Hearing
these stories sparked Coronado’s imagination and greed.
When Mendoza heard of these stories, he was intrigued.
In 1539, he sent a man named Fray Marcos to verify De Vaca’s report.
Marcos brought along a black slave who had been shipwrecked with Cabeza de
Vaca as a guide. Marcos came back and reported that he had seen the cities
from a distance and that De Vaca’s observations were true. Mendoza sent Coronado
as the commander of an expedition to seize the treasure. Coronado brought
along with him on the expedition 340 Spaniards, a few priests, about 1,000
Indians, 1,000 slaves, and about 1,500 pack animals. Coronado’s greed
was likely stimulated by his idea of cities made of gold guarded only by
unintelligent savages.
The results of this trip were the exact opposite of what
Coronado expected. Instead of golden cities, there were only the poor Zuni
people. Coronado then sent scouting parties to the Colorado River in search
of other cities of gold. Coronado’s soldiers became the first Europeans to
see the Grand Canyon. The scouting parties came back and the expedition continued
to look for other rich cities to conquer.
In 1541 the expedition traveled to the Rio Grande and
the Great Plains of Northern Texas. Here, Coronado and his men saw bison
for the first time. They were again looking for a city of gold, this time
called Quivira. Again, the stories were only legends. Quivira turned out
to be the village of the Wichita people, now in Kansas. Some stories say
that an old Indian tricked Coronado and told him the story of Quivira. The
Indian led Coronado and his men on a wild goose chase through the country
until Coronado figured out the trick, caught the Indian, and executed him.
Coronado’s greed was turning into madness.
Coronado and his party finally gave up and headed back
to New Spain. In 1542, the expedition was declared a failure. Coronado was
relieved of his position as governor in 1544 because he was found guilty
of corruption and abuse of the Indians.
Coronado lived in Mexico City until he died on September 22, 1554 at age
44 years.
It appears that Coronado was motivated to settle in and
explore the new world by some need for a career, an adventure and greed.
Coronado was so caught up in his need to find treasures and take them that
he took himself and others on a wild goose chase. Perhaps he was so used
to having money or taking money that he believed he needed more. The moral
of Coronado was : Don’t let greed get the better of you.
Bibliography
Kate Rifken
1. http://eagles.k12.mo.us/high/weidenhaftm/exploration-01/chaskelson/elccoronadoindex.html
by Ezra Chaskelson
2. http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/sep/papr/coronado.html by Bob Katz. Editor:
Jay W. Sharp, Assistant Editor: Alan Gold
3. http://www.win.tue.nl/cs/fm/engels/discovery/coronado.html by Andre Engels.
Editor: Richard E. Bohlander
4. http://www.eldoradoinc.com/coronado.htm by El Dorado Realty Inc.
5. http://www.newmexico.org/maps/ by New Mexico Department of Tourism.
6. http://www.lsjunction.com/people/coronado.htm by Lyman Hardeman. Editor:
Lyman Hardeman.