By Chris CovertThis is an exceedingly detailed description of captain general Francisco Vazquez de Coronado's expedition into southwestern deserts of the United State, which is exactly what I sought to read.
Author John M. Hutchins's central thesis is that Coronado's expedition was at its base a military force organized for invasion. Part of the thesis he backs up with descriptions of commercial invoices, military muster lists, and contracts compilations (sign in sheets), personal correspondence and other documents.
The base of the expedition, however, was that it was commercial in nature with young Spanish fighters and some Spanish nobles (hidalgo) signing on in anticipation of future payout from booty taken from the Indians in the area. Commercial as it was, it was commissioned by New Spain Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza, who recruited Coronado and a number of other Spanish mercenaries to join the expedition.
Part of the agreement that formed and finalized the expedition was the inclusion of Spanish Catholic friars, who took the role of proselytizers of the Christian faith. Many of them stayed behind to continue their Christian mission, and subsequently disappeared.
The expedition was based on the testimony of a native Indian known as The Turk, who throughout the expedition continually spoke of the riches of the Seven Cities of Cibola.
The military thesis offered by the author is further supported by Coronado's tendency to dispatch small screening parties forward or to areas to the flanks of their route of march, to check out stories or to scope out what was ahead. These covering parties expanded the Spanish knowledge of the region, so much so, the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River was discovered in the course of those parties' duties.
And those discoveries were made because of logistics. For as well equipped as Coronado's army was, and as well supplied they were in the early going, even Mendoza at the outset decided to embark two supply ship convoys along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Cortes (Now known as the Gulf of California). Out of an abundance of caution, Mendoza sent those ships to the outlet of the Colorado river twice, both times to be missed by two separate recon parties.
Logistics also was at the base of Coronado's troubles. The expedition had little to trade with the Zuni indians of New Mexico or the Hopi indians of Arizona, and so was forced to conduct military attacks on their pueblos to gain supplies and subservience.
By the time the expedition made it to Quivera (now central Kansas) Coronado had the Turk murdered. Another hard winter in west Texas and the decision was made to return to New Spain.
The author points out that the expedition was a financial bust, with the expedition returning with little to show for its efforts. Mendoza convened an inquiry. Coronado was tried and acquitted on the most serious charges, but convicted on the lesser charges. He paid a fine.
Still he managed to return home to his spouse, a far better fate than the Pizzaro brothers in Peru, who were wiped out to a man by the Incas, save for Gonzalo who was executed by the Spanish king, Charles V.
I knew about the expedition of Coronado as a schoolboy with much of that knowledge fading over a lifetime. This book filled and in some cases refilled that knowledge. It is a highly recommended read.