CORONADO

Coronado’s entrance into Hawikuh was a revelation. Writing to Viceroy Mendoza of progress to date on the expedition, he noted the following.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, “… al Signor Antonio de Mendoza …,” trans. George Parker Winship, The Coronado Expedition 1540-1542, (Washington: Bureau of American Ethnology, 1896), p. 558:

It now remains for me to tell about this city and kingdom and province, of which the Father Provincial gave Your Lordship an account. In brief, I can assure you that in reality he has not told the truth in a single thing that he said, but everything is the reverse of what he said, except the name of the city and the large stone houses.

Upon satisfying their hunger after taking Hawikuh, the troops looked for booty, but found none:

p. 559:

Two points of emerald and some little broken stones which approach the color of rather poor garnets were found in a paper besides other stone crystals which I gave to one of my servants to keep until they could be sent to Your Lordship. He has lost them as they tell me.

Coronado summed up:

p. 563:

As far as I can judge, it does not appear to me that there is any hope of getting gold or silver, but I trust in God that if there is any, we shall get our share of it, and it shall not escape us through any lack of diligence in the search.

● Get book