Before sending out a large expedition to conquer the cities and
fertile land Cabeza de Vaca had described, it
Would be wise and cautious to
send a cool-headed man, one who was prepared for any hardship, one who had
no lust for gold in his own soul, yet who could be relied upon to bring
back a straight and true story to the viceroy as to whatever he might
discover concerning De Vaca's stories. He should be accompanied by Stephen,
the negro, who was one of De Vaca's companions; and thus he would be
accurately guided to the places that had been described. The man chosen for
this important reconnaissance was a devoted Franciscan, Fray Marcos, to
whom I have devoted the next chapter of this book. Marcos went, saw,
returned and reported, and upon his report the expedition of Coronado was
equipped and fitted out.
Coronado's Army. The fervor with which the Spanish gallants joined
Coronado's army of exploration is realized when one remembers that three
hundred Spaniards as well as eight hundred Indians were gathered together
in a few days. Coronado was a Spanish grandee, traveling at the time of De
Vaca's arrival as a royal official visitor. In the words of Castaneda he
was "a gentleman from Salamanca, who had married a lady in the City of
Mexico, the daughter of Alonso de Estrada, the treasurer and at one time
governor of Mexico, and the son (most people said) of his Catholic Majesty
Don Ferdinand, and many state it as certain." And the same historian later
on continues, in his simple and naive way, to tell us about Tovar and many
others: "When the Viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, saw what a noble company
had come together, and the spirit and good will with which they had all
presented themselves, knowing the worth of these men, he would have liked
very well to make every one of them captain of an army; but as the whole
number was small he could not do as he would have liked, and so he
appointed the captains and officers because it seemed to him that if they
were appointed by him, as he was so well obeyed and beloved, nobody, would
find fault with his arrangements. After everybody had heard who the general
was (Coronado), he made Don Pedro de Tovar ensign general, a young
gentleman who was the son of Don Fernando de Tovar, the guardian and high
steward of the Queen Dona Juana, our demented mistress - may she be in
glory."
A Brilliant and Gallant Company. After the naming of their officers,
Castaneda regrets that he has "forgotten the names of many good fellows.
It would be well if I could name some of them, so that it might be clearly
seen what cause I had for saying that they had on this expedition the most
brilliant company ever collected in the Indies to go in search of new
lands. But they were unfortunate in having a captain who left in New Spain
estates and a pretty wife, a noble and excellent lady, which were not the
least causes for what was to happen."
First Disappointment. Poor Coronado! The reader is thus prepared to throw
upon him the blame because similar treasures to those found by Cortes in
the land of Montezuma were not found in Arizona and New Mexico. In spite of
his having so many fine gentlemen in his official family, Coronado's
disappointments and disillusionments began early. As he reached the region
where the wilderness began - just past the Pima country - he felt
downhearted, "for, although the reports were very fine about what was
ahead, there was nobody who had seen it except the Indians who went with
the negro, and these had already been caught in some lies."
Meeting with Indians. When the expedition first came in contact with the
Indians of the desert region, the gallant members of the party must have
been a little scared, for, according to Castaneda: "Some Indians... during
the night... in a safe place yelled so that, although the men were ready
for anything, some were so excited that they put their saddles on hind-side
before; but these were the new fellows. When the veterans had mounted and
ridden round the camp, the Indians had fled."
Coronado Reaches Zuni. Coronado finally reached Cibola - the mythical - now
known to be Zuni, in New Mexico. Here he was not only disappointed because
he did not find the great treasure so long anticipated, but he was wounded.
Getting into converse with him, the Indians told him of the people who
lived round about, and among others, of those who dwelt in the province of
Tusayan. And here is what Castaneda tells us about the discovery by
Europeans of those whom we now know as the Hopi.
Castaneda's Account of their Experiences in the Canyon. "The General had
sent Don Pedro de Tovar to these villages with seventeen horsemen, and
three or four foot soldiers..Juan de Padilla, a Franciscan friar, who had
been a fighting man in his youth, went with them. When they reached the
region, they entered the country so quietly that nobody observed them,
because there were no settlements or farms between one village and another
and the people do not leave the villages except to go to their farms,
especially at this time, when they had heard that Cibola had been captured
by very fierce people, who traveled on animals who ate people. This
information was generally believed by those who had never seen horses,
although it was so strange as to cause much wonder. Our men arrived after
nightfall and were able to conceal themselves under the edge of the
village, where they heard the natives talking in their houses. But in the
morning they were discovered, and drew up in regular order, while the
natives went out to meet them, with bows and shields, and wooden clubs,
drawn up in lines without any confusion.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 63 of 85
Words from 63140 to 64145
of 85893
