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Biographical Notes
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Francisco Vazquez de Coronado
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At Culiacan Coronado reorganized the expedition by creating an advance guard with himself in command. This unit was composed of about eighty horsemen (including Melchior Diaz) and thirty foot soldiers along with Fray Marcos and a small contingent of other friars. The advance guard departed Culiacan on April 22, 1540. The army was ordered to follow in twenty days. At about the same time Diaz's discouraging report had finally caught up with Mendoza in Compostela. Mendoza immediately sent orders for Coronado to halt his army at Culiacan and send one of his captains north to investigate further. Those orders reached Culiacan a week after Coronado and his advance guard had departed. Coronado proceeded north through Sonora to Eagle Pass and thence to the valley of the Gila River. Along the way many of the details of Fray Marcos' earlier report were proven to have been exaggerations. It was now July and the expedition was nearing Cibola so Coronado sent a small contingent ahead to scout for trouble.
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Near the Zuni River Coronado's scouts had their first skirmish with people from Cibola, but did not suffer any casualties. Coronado proceeded on to the Zuni pueblo of Hawikuh which Fray Marcos had identified as the first of the Seven Cities of Cibola and the place where Estephan had been killed. Coronado's force was low on provisions and felt compelled to attack as soon as their several attempts at a peaceful approach were rejected. The inhabitants were determined to resist the Spanish and determinedly defended their homes. Although the Spaniards were able to capture the pueblo in about an hour of hard fighting several of their party including Coronado himself were severely wounded. (Coronado was hit in the head by a heavy stone thrown from above.) Following the end of the battle the inhabitants fled the pueblo. A few days later Coronado was able to convince them to return and peacefully reoccupy their homes. In the process they agreed to become Spanish subjects and to adopt Christianity.
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On August 3, 1540, Coronado wrote to Mendoza reporting his progress to date and for the first time severely criticized Fray Marcos. It was not an encouraging letter. There was no gold or silver. (Coronado continued to talk of the Seven Cities of Cibola but only six can be identified today: Hawikuh, Kechipauan, Kwakina, Halona, Matsaki, and Kiakima. All six of these Zuni pueblos were located in the Valley of the Zuni River stretching from Arizona into New Mexico.) Along with the small party that carried Coronado's report to Mendoza went Fray Marcos and Melchior Diaz. The one in disgrace and the other with orders for Coronado's main force. Coronado was concerned with his lines of communication and realizing that Cibola could not support the entire expedition he wanted to establish a base in the Sonora Valley. After rejoining the main force, Diaz was selected to command the Sonora base. The rest of the army under Tristan de Luna Arellano, continued on to rejoin Coronado at Cibola.
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While at Hawikuh Coronado questioned the inhabitants and learned of more similar villages nearby. He sent out scouts to visit these places and search for indications of precious metals. None was found, but one of the scouting parties, led by Lopez de Cardenes, gained the distinction of being the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon. Two village headmen arrived in Hawikuh and told Coronado of lands that lay further to the east. One of the more interesting parts of their story revolved around the strange "cattle" (bison) that lived in great numbers on endless plains. Hernando de Alvarado was selected to visit the area described and see if there was anything of value there. Guided by one of the headmen, Alvarado proceeded to the vicinity of present day Pecos and there obtained the services of two indian slaves in place of the headman. These two men led him out into the plains where his party became the first Europeans to hunt buffalo. After proceeding almost to Texas one of the two slaves told Alvarado that the headmen that had previously served as their guides were concealing a gold bracelet. They also claimed that the inhabitants of their own homeland, Quivera, possessed great wealth in gold and silver.
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On hearing of the gold bracelet Alvarado cut his explorations short and returned to find and capture the two headmen. He took them to Coronado who had moved his base of operations east to Tiguex in the Rio Grande Valley. The captives were rigorously questioned. They denied the existence of the gold bracelet and claimed to have no knowledge of any gold or silver in Quivera or anywhere else. At first relations between the Spanish and the local inhabitants at Tigeux were peaceful but as winter approached Coronado's men made increased demands of food and clothing. Eventually hard feelings turned to active resistance and a major battle took place at the pueblo of Arenal. Following the subjugation of the pueblo a number of indians were burned alive as an example to others that resistance was futile. At the end of December 1540, after the battle of Arenal, the main body of Coronado's army under the command of Arellano caught up with their commander at Tigeux.
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During the winter relations remained strained between the native peoples and Coronado's force. On February 20, 1541, the pueblo of Moho was besieged. Late in March, suffering from lack of water, the inhabitants attempted to flee the pueblo under cover of darkness. Most were killed or captured. That winter several other pueblos were attacked and a number of natives were killed or taken into servitude by the Spanish. On April 23, 1541, Coronado left Tigeux for Quivera. As the army moved east across present day New Mexico toward Texas they entered the plains and were impressed by the great buffalo herds. Here their guide led them astray and they wandered for some time in the trackless plains before finally turning north toward Quivera. At the very end of May 1541 Coronado decided to send the majority of his force back to Tigeux under the command of Arellano while he and a small body of mounted men would press north to Quivera. (Although they did not know it at the time Hernando de Soto was then exploring westward from Florida and that summer the two Spanish expeditions were only a few hundred miles apart.)
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