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He was born in Salamanca.
Coronado was governor of New Galicia (contemporary Sinaloa and Nayarit, Mexico). As such he had already sent out Fray Marcos de Niza on a voyage to the north, to New Mexico. When Marcos returned he told about a wealthy, golden city, called Cibola. Of course this raised Coronado's interest, and he decided to try to get that gold. He set out in 1540, joined by a large expedition of 340 Spanish, 300 Indian allies, and 1000 slaves, both native Americans and Africans.
He followed the coast of the Sea of Cortez northward to the Sonora, then traveled upstream the Sonora, and crossed the Gila to Cibola, in the west of present-day New Mexico. There he was met by disappointment. Cibola was nothing like the great golden city fray Marcos had described, it was just a simple puebloFor the town in Colorado, see Pueblo, Colorado Pueblos are traditional Native American communities of the Southwest. Though some pueblos have few standing adobe buildings, the commuities are recognized worldwide for adobe buildings, which are also sometim of the ZuniThe Zuni or Ashiwi are a Native American tribe, one of the Pueblo peoples, who live in the Pueblo of Zuni on the Zuni River, a tributary of the Little Colorado River, in western New Mexico. Zuni is 55 km (35 miles) south of Gallup, New Mexico and has a po indians. Marcos was sent back to MexicoThis article is about the country Mexico. For other meanings, see Mexico (disambiguation The United Mexican States or Mexico ( Spanish: Estados Unidos Mexicanos or Mexico regarding the use of the variant spelling Mejico see section The name below) is a co in disgrace.
Coronado conquered Cibola, and explored the other six Zuni pueblos. He also sent out various expeditions. Melchior Diaz was sent out to the mouth of the Colorado(?), to meet Hernando de AlarcónHernando de Alarcon a Spanish navigator of the 16th century, noted for having led an early expedition to Baja California and for discovering the Colorado River. Little is known about Alarcon's life outside of his expedition in New Spain. He set sail on Ma who would be shipping supplies for Coronado. Pedro de Tovar was sent northwest, and heard of a great river further west (the ColoradoThe Colorado River is a river in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately 1,450 mi (2,333 km) long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The natural course of the river flows into th). Garcia Lopez de CardenasThe son of Alonso de Cardenas y dona Elvira de Figueroa and Maria Garcia Osorio, Garcia Lopez de Cardenas was the comendador de Caravaca. Cardenas was a conquistador attached to the exploits of Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. Expeditions, including one led was sent out to find this river, and found himself being the first European to see the magnificent Grand CanyonThe Grand Canyon is a colorful, steep-sided gorge, carved by the Colorado River, in northern Arizona. The canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and is largely contained in the Grand Canyon National Park one of the first national parks in. Hernando de Alvarado was sent east, and found villages around the Rio Grande. Coronado set up his winter quarters in one of them, Tiguex (present-day Bernalillo near Albuquerque, New Mexico). During his wintering he suffered from fierce attacks by the Indians.
He met an Indian, which he called the Turk, who told him about Quivira , a rich country in the northwest. He decided to look for Quivira, taking the Turk as his guide. He traversed the Llano Estacado and what is now the Texas Panhandle, and marched on further north. However, the Turk was found lying about the route, or at least Coronado thought he did so, and was executed. Other guides led him further to Quivira, and he reached a village near present-day Lindsborg, Kansas. But his disappointment was repeated: The Quivira indians (later known as Wichita) were no rich people at all, the village consisted mostly of thatched huts, and not even small amounts of gold could be found. Coronado returned to Tiguex, where his main force had remained behind. Here he spent another winter.
In 1542 he went back to Mexico through roughly the same route he had come. Only 100 of his men came back with him. Although the expedition was a complete failure, he remained governor of New Galicia until 1544, then retired to Mexico City, where he died in 1554.
Men from his expedition were the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon.