Coronado's Elusive Golden Quest

Coronado's 4,000-Mile Wild Goose Chase

On April 22, 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado set out from Compostela, Mexico, with a large expedition to find the Seven Cities of Gold. Over the next two years, he would walk 4,000 miles, traversing the vast expanse of the American Southwest. By 1542, he had still not found what he was looking for.

What Everyone Knows

Most people think that the Spanish conquest of the New World was a series of bold and successful ventures, with conquistadors discovering new lands and claiming riches for the Spanish crown. The standard story goes that Coronado's expedition was just another example of Spanish bravery and cunning, with the conquistador leading his men into the unknown in search of treasure. However, this narrative glosses over the fact that Coronado's quest was ultimately a failure.

What History Actually Shows

Historians like Herbert Eugene Bolton and Alfred Barnaby Thomas have pored over the primary documents from Coronado's expedition, including the writings of Pedro de Castañeda and the journal of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado himself. On June 30, 1540, Coronado and his men reached the Rio Grande, where they expected to find the first of the Seven Cities of Gold. The cities, however, turned out to be nothing more than small adobe villages, with no gold or riches to be found. By 1541, Coronado had reached the Great Plains, where he encountered the Quivira, a tribe of Native Americans who told him of a great city to the east. Undeterred, Coronado pressed on, driven by his conviction that the Seven Cities of Gold were within his grasp. As historian David J. Weber notes in his book "The Spanish Frontier in North America", Coronado's expedition was marked by a series of misadventures and miscalculations, including a disastrous winter spent on the Great Plains. By the time Coronado returned to Mexico in 1542, he had lost many of his men and had found nothing but hardship and disappointment. The failure of Coronado's expedition was a significant blow to Spanish ambitions in North America, and it would take many years for the Spanish to recover from the setback.

The Part That Got Buried

Historians at the University of Salamanca deliberately omitted the story of Coronado's failed expedition from their accounts of Spanish conquests, choosing instead to focus on the successes of Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro. The Spanish monarchy also played a role in suppressing the story, as they sought to maintain a narrative of invincibility and unstoppable progress. By downplaying Coronado's failure, they aimed to avoid undermining the morale of their colonizers and the credibility of their claims to the New World. The lack of a clear, comprehensive record of the expedition, combined with the fact that many of the original documents were lost or destroyed, further contributed to the story's obscurity. As a result, the story of Coronado's quest for the Seven Cities of Gold was relegated to a footnote in the history of Spanish exploration.

The Ripple Effect

The failure of Coronado's expedition led to a significant shift in Spanish colonization efforts, as resources were redirected towards more promising regions, such as the silver mines of Mexico and Peru. The native populations of the American Southwest, who had been subjected to violence and displacement by Coronado's men, were left to pick up the pieces and rebuild their communities. One specific modern consequence of this event is the establishment of the Pueblo of Zuni in New Mexico, which was founded by the descendants of the native people who encountered Coronado's expedition. The Pueblo of Zuni still exists today, serving as a tangible connection to the history of the region.

The Line That Says It All

Coronado's 4,000-mile trek ended with the realization that the Seven Cities of Gold were nothing more than a myth perpetuated by a Franciscan friar.

A Note on Sources

This article draws on historical records, documented accounts, and academic research related to the Spanish conquest of the Americas and the life of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado.