Knowra Francisco Vázquez de Coronado Francisco Vázquez de Coronado Francisco Vázquez de Coronado was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition through the southwestern present-day United States and into the Great Plains from 1540 to 1542.
Hernando de Alvarado : A Spanish officer who explored parts of the American Southwest during Coronado’s expedition. He led the expedition’s party to pueblos and the Rio Grande after Coronado reached the region.
New Spain : The Spanish colonial territory in the Americas administered from Mexico City. The expedition was organized from this colony and depended on its officials, settlers, and supply networks.
Antonio de Mendoza : The first viceroy of New Spain, serving from 1535 to 1550. He commissioned the expedition and balanced the pursuit of Cíbola against the costs of a large campaign.
Seven Cities of Gold : A European legend of wealthy cities that motivated exploration in the Americas. The legend shaped expectations for Cíbola, but Coronado’s forces found pueblo settlements without the promised gold.
Cíbola : A legendary region of wealthy cities that Spanish explorers sought in the American Southwest. Reports of Cíbola’s riches helped prompt the expedition, but its pueblos were not cities of gold.
Viceroyalty of New Spain : A Spanish administrative division established in 1535, governing much of Spain’s American empire. Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza authorized and supported the expedition as a search for territory and wealth.
Marcos de Niza : A Franciscan friar whose 1539 report described wealthy cities in the north of New Spain. His account of Cíbola helped persuade Spanish authorities to send Coronado’s expedition.
Pueblo peoples : Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest known for enduring communities and distinctive architecture. Their towns were real political communities, not the interchangeable golden cities imagined by Spanish explorers.
Quivira : A place described by sixteenth-century Spanish accounts as a settlement region on the Great Plains. Coronado traveled onto the plains seeking Quivira, where he found dispersed Indigenous communities rather than gold.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas : The diverse peoples and societies native to the Americas before and after European colonization. Their communities, knowledge, and decisions shaped where Coronado’s forces traveled and what they encountered.
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