In this episode we conclude the story of the Coronado Entrada into the American Southwest. By the spring of 1540, a few hundred Spaniards, a few free and enslaved Blacks, perhaps a thousand Indios Amigos – literally, friendly and free Indians – hundreds of horses, and herds of cattle, sheep, and pigs, were making their way up the west coast of Mexico aiming for supposed riches of Arizona and New Mexico, all on the basis of a massive intelligence failure. There were no Seven Cities of Gold, but Coronado and his men would be the first Europeans to see the Grand Canyon and they would name Texas, which ain't nothing.

 Selected references for this episode

Stan Hoig, Came Men on Horses: The Conquistador Expeditions of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado and Don Juan de Oñate

George Parker Winship, The Journey of Coronado, 1540-1542

F. S. Dellenbaugh, “The True Route of Coronado’s March”

Tiguex War

Coronado's Expedition, Legends of America

Hawikuh and the Zuni-Cibola Complex New Mexico