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History of Albuquerque
Early Spanish Exploration of the
Southwest
 Less than two generations after
Christopher Columbus set foot on the shores of an obscure Caribbean
island on October 12, 1492, and claimed this New World for the Spanish
kingdoms of Leon and Castille, Spanish conquistadores such as Hernán
Cortés and Francisco Pizarro had conquered the Aztec Empire in Mexico
and the Incas of Peru. Subsequent explorers remained on the alert for
other lands which might prove as wealthy as ones these men had
conquered. It was this search for a “new” Mexico which ultimately led
to the expedition which first brought the Spanish to New Mexico in
1540.
 Ironically,
the first exploration of New Mexico may have come about from an
ill-fated Spanish attempt to settle Florida in 1527. A series of
storms and shipwrecks stranded four survivors from this expedition
near present-day Galveston, Texas. This group, which included Alvar
Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and an African slave named Estevan (also known as
Estevan the Moor and Estevanico), spent more than eight years
wandering through southern Texas and northern Mexico. They were the
first Europeans to explore, albeit unwittingly, this part of North
America
In 1536, the ragged survivors finally
emerged from the wilderness at Culiacan, on the west coast of Mexico.
Cabeza de Vaca’s report to the Spanish Viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza,
included a brief mention of stories they had heard which told of large
cities in the interior of the continent where valuable minerals were
traded. These sparse but tantalizing bits of information sparked a
renewed interest in the Spanish quest to find the “new” Mexico which
had so far eluded them. In 1539, Mendoza authorized Marcos de
Niza, a
Franciscan priest who had accompanied Pizarro to Peru, to conduct a
preliminary exploration to determine the truth of these reports.
Estevan went along as the expedition’s guide.
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When
the expedition approached what is now southern Arizona, Estevan and
several companions went ahead to scout the country. A system of
signals was devised so they could report to Fray Marcos about what
they found. If there was nothing important, they were to send back a
cross the size of a man’s palm. Important news would be signaled by
correspondingly larger crosses. One can only image Fray Marcos’
surprise when messengers returned bearing a cross the size of a man!
The scouts reported Estevan had learned of a place called Cíbola, and
had been told this Cíbola was but one of seven magnificent cities.
Fray Marcos rushed forward, anxious to see what marvelous sights had
prompted such a report. However, the Friar soon encountered several of
Estevan’s companions, who reported that their colorful guide had been
killed. Fray Marcos’ report tells us he was determined to see Cíbola
for himself, so despite the news of Estevan’s death, he continued
northward until they came within sight of a settlement which he
described as being larger than the city of Mexico! Historians
disagree as to his motives, but it is clear Fray Marcos’ report was
vastly exaggerated. The Cíbola where Estevan was killed was in
reality the ancestral Zuñi pueblo of Hawikah, but the friar’s report
seemed to confirm the stories which Cabeza de Vaca had heard during
his travels. Could it be that these seven cities of Cíbola were the
mythical Seven Cities of Antilia, the golden Quivira men had been
seeking since Medieval times?
From the list of those who anxiously
proposed to follow up Fray Marcos’ discovery, Viceroy Mendoza chose 29
year old Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. This expedition, as all such
Spanish colonial enterprise of the time, was privately financed.
Vásquez de Coronado’s family contributed 50,000 ducats (probably a
million dollars in today’s money), towards the cost of the expedition,
while Viceroy Mendoza personally invested an additional 60,000
ducats. No one seemed concerned about the risk of such an investment.
After all, hadn’t Fray Marcos confirmed Cabeza de Vaca’s reports of
the Seven Cities?
In
January of 1540, Vásquez de Coronado set out from Mexico to find these
fabled cities of gold. The chronicles tell us that when the
expedition arrived at the outskirts of the multi-storied, stone and
mud village of Hawikah, many unkind words were uttered about Fray
Marcos, as the expectations conjured up by his imaginative report were
nowhere to be seen.
The Spanish were met by a line of
Zuñi warriors, intent on defending their home against these strange
visitors. Vásquez de Coronado attempted to convince them his
intentions were peaceful, but his conciliatory gestures were rebuffed.
It was a furious but uneven battle, as the mounted Spanish soldiers
used their superior weapons to beat back the determined Zuñi
defenders. Casualties were few, and after the battle, the Spanish
replenished their supplies from captured Zuñi storerooms and continued
on their quest.
For the next two years, the
expedition explored deep into the North American continent, but
discovered only that the Seven Cities of Cibola were, after all,
nothing but a myth. After Vásquez de Coronado was injured in a riding
accident in the winter of 1542, the disheartened adventurers returned
to Mexico. Despite their failure to find any cities of gold, history
has shown the expedition to have been a journey of epic proportions.
In little more than two years, Vásquez de Coronado and his men
explored much of the southwestern United States, ventured deep into
the plains of Kansas, descended the walls of the Grand Canyon, and
visited all the major Indian villages in the region.
We can only imagine what the
indigenous peoples they met thought of the light skinned men who rode
astride unfamiliar creatures, wearing uncomfortable looking clothes
which reflected the sun, aggressive and often rude men who carried
weapons made of steel and who persisted in knowing about cities where
a bright yellow metal could be found. It must have been a
frightening, yet wonderful encounter. Little did either of these two
diverse cultures know that their worlds would never be the same.
For
nearly forty years New Mexico was forgotten. As the sixteenth century
progressed, Spanish settlement advanced slowly, but steadily through
northern Mexico. During this period, Franciscan missionaries learned
that Indians of the region traded regularly with other peoples who
lived further north. During the 1580’s several expeditions entered New
Mexico and explored much of same region traversed four decades
earlier by Vásquez de Coronado. One of these, led by Fray Bernardo
Beltrán and Antonio de Espejo in 1582, is credited with the first
official use of the term, la Nueva Mejico, to describe the region we
now call New Mexico. The reports of these expeditions reminded
Spanish officials of the many potential converts to Christianity which
lived in this region, and encouraged the subsequent conquest and
colonization of this “new” Mexico.
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