two years, de Soto’s soldiers will travel north through
present-day Georgia, South Carolina, and North
Carolina before turning west. They will then jour-
ney through the Appalachian Mountains and finally
cross the Mississippi River into modern Arkansas and
Louisiana.
Along their 4,000-mile trek they spread terror
through the Indian groups they meet. The Span-
iards attack Indians whether they are friendly or
not. In addition to plundering the Indians’ villages,
the invaders take captives and force them to carry
their baggage. Unknowingly, the Spanish also in-
troduce the Indians they encounter to non-Indian
diseases, such as smallpox, that will soon decimate
their populations. (See also entries for 1540 and for
MAY 21, 1542.)
Dominican intellectual Francisco de Victoria
defends Indian rights.
One of the first European intellectuals to examine
the rights of Indians, Dominican priest Francisco
de Victoria argues in On the Indians Lately Discov-
ered that the Spanish have no moral grounds to
force Christianity on Indians or to take their lands
if they refuse to convert. Victoria, however, does de-
fend warring with Indians if they break natural law,
an idea that the Spanish use to justify their violence
against Indians.
March
Explorer Marcos de Niza claims a Zuni
pueblo is one of the Seven Cities of Cibola.
Picturing the great wealth plundered from the Aztec
(see entries for 1519 and for 1521) and the Inca, An-
tonio de Mendoza, the viceroy of New Spain, sends
a small party in search of the Seven Cities of Cibola.
According to Spanish explorer Alvar Núñez Cabeza
de Vaca (see entry for 1536), several Indians have told
of seven cities full of riches located somewhere to the
north of present-day Mexico.
Friar Marcos de Niza is chosen to head the
expedition, and Esteban, a black slave, is hired as
its guide. Having spent six years living among Gulf
Coast Indians (see entry for 1528), Esteban is valued
for his diplomatic skills and experience in dealing
with Indian peoples. De Niza sends the guide ahead
to scout the route, while he follows with the rest
of the exploratory party. As De Niza’s men travel
through present-day Arizona and New Mexico, an
Indian messenger tells them that Esteban is dead at
the hands of the Zuni Indians. De Niza proceeds far
enough to see the Indians’ village and then returns
to Mexico. He claims he has found one of the great
seven cities, fueling the viceroy’s growing thirst for
fortune.1540The Coronado expedition begins its
exploration of the American West.
Encouraged by a reported sighting of one of the
Seven Cities of Cibola (see entry for 1539), An-
tonio de Mendoza, the viceroy of New Mexico,
sends an expedition of 300 Spanish soldiers and
one thousand Indians lead by Francisco Vásquez
de Coronado north in search of riches. On July 7
Coronado arrives in the Zuni pueblo of Hawikuh
near what is now Albuquerque, New Mexico. The
army has to battle the Zuni to gain entrance. Inside,
they are disappointed when they cannot find any
great stores of gold.
Coronado’s troops remain among the Zuni for
four months. They enrage the Indians by their bru-
tality and constant demands for food and supplies.
Still intent on finding wealth, Coronado, who has
invested most of his own money in the expedition,
sends a small party under Garcia López de Cárdenas
to the lands of the Hopi. The Hopi tell them of a
great river to the west; during an expedition to find
it, the men become the first whites to see the Grand
Canyon. Another exploratory party travels through
the Rio Grande Valley. Its members are impressed
by the enormous herds of buffalo they see on the
Great Plains.
Coronado decides to lead the entire expedition
into the Plains when a Zuni assures them that there
the Spaniards will find the gold they are looking
for. During the trek, Coronado’s men make con-