CORONADO

Historian Herbert Bolton found that

Herbert E. Bolton, Coronado: Knight of Pueblos and Plains (Albuquerque: Univ. of New Mexico Press, 1949), p. 57:

"Several hundred Indians went with the army to serve as scouts, sappers, servants, herdsmen, horse wranglers, camp cooks, or in other occupations. They were enlisted in Mexico City and in the pueblos along the road to Compostela [the muster point] …. Mendoza gave strict instructions that only volunteer Indians should be taken, but of these there was no dearth. Many more than were needed begged permission to go. Indeed, they told Coronado that if the viceroy would permit them, ‘more than ten thousand’ would join the march, for natives as well as Spaniards had taken the Cibola fever.

"Mendoza ordered Coronado to show the Indian allies the greatest consideration, something which had not been done by all conquistadores. They must be dealt with as freemen, and permitted to turn back at any time they might wish, ‘rich and contented,’ supplied with provisions for the return march, and, if necessary, with an escort of horsemen for their protection. This promise was carried out to the letter,

Some of the Indians took their wives and children with them on the long march. Families left be­hind, Mendoza decreed, must be provided with what was necess­ary for their sustenance until the husband should return.

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