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Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

Type Figure Region Spain Time 1510–1554 Also known as Francisco Vásquez de Coronado、科罗纳多、Coronado

Spanish explorer (1510–1554) who led the 1540–1542 expedition into North America, the first European to penetrate the present-day American Southwest …

Timeline

  1. 1510–1539Salamanca / Mexico City · EuropeCoronado was born in Salamanca, Spain, and around 1535 traveled to Mexico with the viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza. Thanks to his close relationship with Mendoza, he married the daughter of the wealthy Cristóbal de Estrada and gained considerable wealth. In 1538 he was appointed governor of Nueva Galicia, administering the region of present-day western Mexico. During this period, after the friar Marcos de Niza reported rumors of the discovery of the 'Seven Cities' in the north, Mendoza selected him to lead the northern expedition.
  2. 1540–1542Coronado's route (Arizona–New Mexico–Kansas) · the AmericasIn February 1540 Coronado set out from Colima with about 300 Spaniards, several hundred Mexican Indian allies, and thousands of head of livestock. The expedition advanced into present-day Arizona, where they found Hopi villages (the legendary Cíbola) rather than golden cities. A detachment under second-in-command García López de Cárdenas discovered the Grand Canyon. Coronado himself crossed the Rio Grande into present-day New Mexico, and the following year pushed eastward into the Great Plains (present-day Texas and Kansas), reaching a Plains Indian village called Quivira and confirming that the legendary golden cities were nothing but a fiction.
  3. 1542–1554Mexico City · the AmericasIn early 1542 Coronado was injured in a fall from his horse during the expedition and was forced to lead the expedition back to Mexico City, the expedition being declared a failure. On his return he suffered heavy losses of wealth and reputation and was investigated for mistreating Indians during the expedition. He thereafter served as a city councilman in Mexico City, living out the rest of his life in relative obscurity, and died in Mexico City on September 22, 1554. His expedition's results were regarded as a failure at the time, but provided later generations with valuable geographical information about the North American Southwest and Great Plains.

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