History UsefulNotes / FranciscoVazquezDeCoronado

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado y Luján (1510 - 22 September 1554), Anglicized as Vasquez de Coronado, was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He explored the northwestern parts of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, nowadays the southwestern parts of the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, in the unsuccessful search for the Seven Cities of Cibola (a fabled "[[CityOfGold land of gold]]" much like the more famous El Dorado). He reached as a far as what is now Kansas, and in the process his explorers became the first Europeans to see landscape marks like the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, the Rio Grande and some others. The Coronado National Memorial near Sierra Vista, Arizona commemorates his expedition, as does the nearby Coronado Butte, Coronado Heights, Coronado National Forest and other places.

Unlike most other famous conquistadores, Vázquez de Coronado was born in a noble family, and in fact arrived in the Americas as part of the entourage of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza. He turned out to be a good diplomat with the native elite, especially compared to Nuño de Guzmán, who had been just denounced and jailed for disrupting local diplomacy and committing atrocities against the indigenous. Vázquez received several positions of responsibility, among them governor of the modern lands of Jalisco, Sinaloa and Nayari, and later solidified his position by marrying Beatriz de Estrada, the fifteen-year-old daughter of UsefulNotes/HernanCortez's former treasurer.

He seemed to to have secured a comfy life, but the legend of the Seven Cities of Gold caressed his ears one day by way of the African slave Estevanico de Dorantes, one of the few survivors of the disastrous expedition by Pánfilo de Narváez, which also included [[UsefulNotes/CabezaDeVaca Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca]]. Mendoza sent Estevanico with Friar Marcus de Niza in a preliminary exploration in 1539, and although the black explorer was executed by Zuñi natives (there are multiple versions about why, but the natives later claimed he ravished local women), Niza returned claiming to have sighted one of the fabulous cities, so Vázquez and Mendoza decided to gather a major expedition and give it a try the following year.

The expedition involved 340 Spaniards and 800 Mexica and Purépecha natives along with hundreds of horses and cows, as well as a support fleet that would try to shadow them through the Californian coast. Also, as Vázquez had correctly predicted it would be a difficult mission nonetheless, he organized supply lines along the trail and divided the contingent in smaller, independent groups so the grazing lands and water holes could recover. This proved the best decision, as after they went deep into the Nuevo México desert and reached the place Niza claimed to be their goal, they only found a group of humble Zuñi villages, causing such a disappointment that Vázquez angrily kicked Niza back to México.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as Cíbola failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards and so of the natives returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and, ironically for someone who had built his career by being nice to the natives, he was accused himself of comitting abuses and war crimes against the tribes in his zeal to find Cíbola. He managed to get away with everything through his connections (it helped that those tribes were disperse communities lacking the political influence of the Mesoamerican states), but later got hit by the closure of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never recovered his economic status, and died several years later of an epidemic. His nephew, Juan Vázquez de Coronado, would become famous too as the conqueror of Costa Rica.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado y Luján (1510 - 22 September 1554), Anglicized as Vasquez de Coronado, was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He commanded an expedition that explored the northwestern parts of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, nowadays the southwestern parts of the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, in the unsuccessful search for the Seven Cities of Cibola (a fabled "[[CityOfGold land of gold]]" much like the more famous El Dorado). He reached as a far as what is now Kansas, and in the process his explorers became the first Europeans to see landscape marks like the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, the Rio Grande and some others. The Coronado National Memorial near Sierra Vista, Arizona commemorates his expedition, as does the nearby Coronado Butte, Coronado Heights, Coronado National Forest and other places.

Unlike most other famous conquistadores, Vázquez de Coronado was born in a noble family, and in fact arrived in the Americas as part of the entourage of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza. He turned out to be a good diplomat with the native elite, especially compared to Nuño de Guzmán, who had been just denounced and jailed for committing atrocities against the indigenous, so Vázquez received several positions of responsibility, among them governor of the modern lands of Jalisco, Sinaloa and Nayari, and later solidified his position by marrying Beatriz de Estrada, the fifteen-year-old daughter of UsefulNotes/HernanCortez's former treasurer. He looked to have a comfy life, but the legend of the Seven Cities of Gold caressed his ears by way of the African slave Estevanico de Dorantes, one of the few survivors of the disastrous expedition by Pánfilo de Narváez. Mendoza sent Estevanico with Friar Marcus de Niza in a preliminary exploration in 1539, and although the black explorer became MIA in its course, Niza returned claiming to have sighted one of the fabulous cities, so Vázquez and Mendoza decided to gather a major expedition and give it a try the following year.

The expedition involved 340 Spaniards and 800 Mexica and Purépecha natives along with hundreds of horses and cows, as well as a support fleet that would try to shadow them through the Californian coast. Also, as Vázquez had correctly predicted it would be a difficult mission nonetheless, he organized supply lines along the trail and divided the contingent in smaller, independent groups so the grazing lands and water holes could recover. This proved the best decision, as after they went deep into the Nuevo México desert and reached the place Niza claimed to be their goal, they only found a group of humble Zuñi villages, causing such a disappointment that Vázquez angrily kicked Niza back to México. Vázquez deployed groups to search around for months, often not gold, but merely food and water, and in the process contacted the Hopi, Pueblo and Wichita tribes, some of them violently. Months passed, and by this point it's unlikely anybody in the expedition still harbored real hopes to find any fabulous civilization, but GoldFever is a powerful energizer, and they kept searching on until 1542, Vázquez fell of his horse and was badly injured, upon which he finally saw the writing on the wall and ordered everybody to return.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as Cíbola failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards and so of the natives returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and, ironically for someone who had come to replace the infamous De Guzmán, was accused himself of comitting abuses and war crimes agains the tribes in his zeal to find Cíbola. Although he managed to get away with everything through his connections, he later got hit by the closure of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never recovered his economic status, and died several years later of an epidemic. His nephew, Juan Vázquez de Coronado, would become famous as the conqueror of Costa Rica.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as Cíbola failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards and so of the natives returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and, ironically for someone who has come to replace the infamous De Guzmán, was accused himself of comitting abuses and war crimes agains the tribes in his zeal to find Cíbola. Although he managed to get away with everything through his connections, he later got hit by the closure of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never recovered his economic status, and died several years later of an epidemic. His nephew, Juan Vázquez de Coronado, would become famous as the conqueror of Costa Rica.

The expedition involved 340 Spaniards and 800 Mexica and Purépecha natives along with hundreds of horses and cows, as well as a support fleet that would try to shadow them through the Californian coast. Also, as Vázquez had correctly predicted it would be a difficult mission nonetheless, he organized supply lines along the trail and divided the contingent in smaller, independent groups so the grazing lands and water holes could recover. This proved the best decision, as after they went deep into the Nuevo México desert and reached the place Niza claimed to be their goal, they only found a group of humble Zuñi villages, causing such a disappointment that Vázquez angrily kicked Niza back to México. Vázquez deployed groups to search around for months, often not gold, but merely food and water, and in the process contacted the Hopi, Pueblo and Wichita tribes, some of them violently. Months passed, and by this point it's unlikely anybody in the expedition still harbored real hopes to find any fabulous civilization, but GoldFever is a powerful energizer, and they kept searching on until 1542, Vázquez fell of his horse and was badly injured. He finally saw the writing on the wall and ordered everybody to return.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as Cíbola failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards and so of the natives returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and was accused of comitting abuses and war crimes agains the tribes in his zeal to find Cíbola, and although he managed to get away with everything through his connections, he later got hit by the closure of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never recovered his economic status. He died several years later of an epidemic. His nephew, Juan Vázquez de Coronado, would become famous as the conqueror of Costa Rica.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as Cíbola failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards and so of the natives returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and was accused of comitting abuses and war crimes agains the tribes in his zeal to find Cíbola, and although he managed to get away with everything through his connections, he later got hit by the closure of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never really recovered his economic status. He died several years later of an epidemic, although his legacy outlived him, and still lives today. His nephew, Juan Vázquez de Coronado, would become famous himself as the conqueror of Costa Rica.

* Coronado, or rather his gold cross, has a memorable appearance in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as Cíbola failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards and so of the natives returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and was accused of comitting abuses and war crimes agains the tribes in his zeal to find Cíbola, and although he managed to get away with everything through his connections, he later got hit by the closurd of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never really recovered his economic status. He died several years later of an epidemic, although his legacy outlived him, and still lives today. His nephew, Juan Vázquez de Coronado, would become famous himself as the conqueror of Costa Rica.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as Cíbola failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards and so of the natives returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and was accused of comitting abuses and war crimes agains the tribes in his zeal to find Cíbola, ironically like Nuño de Guzmán himself, and although he managed to get away with everything through his connections, he later got hit by the closurd of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never really recovered his economic status. He died several years later of an epidemic, although his legacy outlived him, and still lives today. His nephew, Juan Vázquez de Coronado, would become famous himself as the conqueror of Costa Rica.

The expedition involved 340 Spaniards and 800 Mexica and Purépecha natives along with hundreds of horses and cows, as well as a support fleet that would try to shadow them through the Californian coast. Also, as Vázquez had correctly predicted it would be a difficult mission nonetheless, he organized supply lines along the trail and divided the contingent in smaller, independent groups so the grazing lands and water holes could recover. This proved the best decision, as after they went deep into the Nuevo México desert and reached the place Niza claimed to be their goal, they only found a group of humble Zuñi villages, causing such a disappointment that Vázquez angrily kicked Niza back to México. Vázquez deployed groups to search around for months, often not gold, but merely food and water, and in the process contacted the Hopi, Pueblo and Wichita tribes, some of them violently so. Months passed, and by this point it's unlikely anybody in the expedition still harbored real hopes to find any fabulous civilization, but GoldFever is a powerful energizer, and they kept on until 1542, Vázquez fell of his horse and was badly injured. He finally saw the writing in the wall and ordered everybody to return.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as El Dorado failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards and so of the natives returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and was accused of comitting abuses and war crimes agains the tribes [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope in his zeal to find Cíbola]], ironically like Nuño de Guzmán himself, and although he managed to get away with everything through his connections, he later got hit by the closurd of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never really recovered his economic status. He died several years later of an epidemic, although his legacy outlived him, and still lives today. His nephew, Juan Vázquez de Coronado, would become famous himself as the conqueror of Costa Rica.

The expedition involved 340 Spaniards and 800 Mexica and Purépecha natives along with hundreds of horses and cows, as well as a support fleet that would try to shadow them through the Californian coast. Also, as Vázquez had correctly predicted it would be a difficult mission nonetheless, he organized supply lines along the trail and divided the contingent in smaller, independent groups so the grazing lands and water holes could recover. This proved the best decision, as after they went deep into the Nuevo México desert and reached the place Niza claimed to be their goal, they only found a group of pauper Zuñi villages, causing such a disappointment that Vázquez angrily kicked Niza back to México. Vázquez deployed groups to search around for months, often not gold, but merely food and water, and in the process contacted the Hopi, Pueblo and Wichita tribes, some of them violently so. Months passed, and by this point it's unlikely anybody in the expedition still harbored real hopes to find any fabulous civilization, but GoldFever is a powerful energizer, and they kept on until 1542, Vázquez fell of his horse and was badly injured. He finally saw the writing in the wall and ordered everybody to return.

Unlike most other famous conquistadores, Vázquez de Coronado was born in a noble family, and in fact arrived in the Americas as part of the entourage of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza. He turned out to be a good diplomat with the native elite, especially compared to Nuño de Guzmán, who had been just denounced and jailed for committing atrocities against the indigenous, so Vázquez received several positions of responsibility, among them governor of the modern lands of Jalisco, Sinaloa and Nayari, and later solidified his position by marrying Beatriz de Estrada, the fifteen-year-old daughter of UsefulNotes/HernanCortez's former treasurer. He looked to have a comfy life, but the legend of the Seven Cities of Gold caressed his ears by way of the conquistador negro Estevanico de Dorantes, one of the few survivors of the disastrous expedition by Pánfilo de Narváez. Mendoza sent Estevanico with Friar Marcus de Niza in a preliminary exploration in 1539, and although the black explorer became MIA in its course, Niza returned claiming to have certainly sighted one of the fabulous cities, so Vázquez and Mendoza decided to gather a major expedition and give it a try the following year.

Unlike most other famous conquistadores, Vázquez de Coronado was born in a noble family, and in fact arrived in the Americas as part of the entourage of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza. He turned out to be a good diplomat with the native elite, especially compared to Nuño de Guzmán, who had been just denounced and jailed for committing atrocities against the indigenous, so Vázquez received several jobs of responsability, among them governor of the modern lands of Jalisco, Sinaloa and Nayari, and later solidified his position by marrying Beatriz de Estrada, the fifteen-year-old daughter of UsefulNotes/HernanCortez's former treasurer. He looked to have a comfy life, but the legend of the Seven Cities of Gold caressed his ears by way of the conquistador negro Estevanico de Dorantes, one of the few survivors of the disastrous expedition by Pánfilo de Narváez. Mendoza sent Estevanico with Friar Marcus de Niza in a preliminary exploration in 1539, and although the black explorer became MIA in its course, Niza returned claiming to have certainly sighted one of the fabulous cities, so Vázquez and Mendoza decided to gather a major expedition and give it a try the following year.

Unlike most other famous conquistadores, Vázquez de Coronado was born in a noble family, and in fact arrived in the Americas as part of the entourage of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza. He turned out to be a good diplomat with the native elite, especially compared to Nuño de Guzmán, who had been just [[EveryoneHasStandards denounced and jailed for]] [[EvilColonialist being an ass to the indigenous]], so Vázquez received several jobs of responsability, among them governor of the modern lands of Jalisco, Sinaloa and Nayari, and later solidified his position by marrying Beatriz de Estrada, the fifteen-year-old daughter of UsefulNotes/HernanCortez's former treasurer. He looked to have a comfy life, but the legend of the Seven Cities of Gold caressed his ears by way of the conquistador negro Estevanico de Dorantes, one of the few survivors of the disastrous expedition by Pánfilo de Narváez. Mendoza sent Estevanico with Friar Marcus de Niza in a preliminary exploration in 1539, and although the black explorer became MIA in its course, Niza returned claiming to have certainly sighted one of the fabulous cities, so Vázquez and Mendoza decided to gather a major expedition and give it a try the following year.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado y Luján (1510 - 22 September 1554), Anglicized as Vasquez de Coronado, was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He commanded an expedition that explored the northwestern parts of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, nowadays the southwestern parts of the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, in the unsuccessful search for the Seven Cities of Cibola (a fabled "[[CityOfGold land of gold]]" much like the more famous El Dorado). He reached as a far as what is now Kansas, and in the process his explorers became the first Europeans to see landscape marks like the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, the Rio Grande and some others. The Coronado National Memorial near Sierra Vista, Arizona commemorates his expedition, as does the nearby Coronado Buttle, Coronado heights, Coronado National Forest and other places.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado y Luján (1510 - 22 September 1554), Anglicized as Vasquez de Coronado, was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He commanded an expedition that explored the northwestern parts of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, nowadays the southwestern parts of UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, in the unsuccessful search of the Seven Cities of Cibola, the legendary [[CityOfGold El Dorado]]. He reached as a far as what is now Kansas, and in the process his explorers became the first Europeans to see landscape marks like the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, the Rio Grande and some others. The Coronado National Memorial near Sierra Vista, Arizona commemorates his expedition, as does the nearby Coronado Buttle, Coronado heights, Coronado National Forest and other places.

Unlike most other famous conquistadores, Vázquez de Coronado was born in a noble family, and in fact arrived in the Americas as part of the entourage of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza. He turned out to be a good diplomat with the native elite, especially compared Nuño de Guzmán, who had been just condemned and jailed for [[EvilColonialist being an ass to the indigenous]], so Vázquez received several jobs of responsability, among them governor of the modern lands of Jalisco, Sinaloa and Nayari, and later solidified his position by marrying Beatriz de Estrada, the fifteen-year-old daughter of UsefulNotes/HernanCortez's former treasurer. He looked to have a comfy life, but the legend of the Seven Cities of Gold caressed his ears by way of the conquistador negro Estevanico de Dorantes, one of the few survivors of the disastrous expedition by Pánfilo de Narváez. Mendoza sent Estevanico with Friar Marcus de Niza in a preliminary exploration in 1539, and although the black explorer went MIA in its course, Niza returned claiming to have certainly sighted one of the fabulous cities, so Vázquez and Mendoza decided to gather a major expedition and give it a try the following year.

The expedition involved 340 Spaniards and 800 Mexica and Purépecha natives along with hundreds of horses, cows and cannons, as well as a support fleet that would try to shadow them through the Californian coast. Also, as Vázquez had correctly predicted it would be a difficult mission nonetheless, he organized supply lines along the trail and divided the contingent in smaller, independent groups so the grazing lands and water holes could recover. This proved the best decision, as after they went deep into the Nuevo México desert and found the place Niza claimed to be their goal, they only found a group of pauper Zuñi villages, causing such a disappointment that Vázquez angrily kicked Niza back to México. Vázquez deployed groups to search around for months, often not gold, but merely food and water, and in the process contacted the Hopi, Pueblo and Wichita tribes, some of them violently so. Months passed, and by this point it's unlikely anybody in the expedition still harbored real hopes to find any fabulous civilization, but the GoldFever is a powerful energizer, and they kept until 1542, Vázquez fell of his horse and was badly injured, upon which he saw the writing in the wall and ordered everybody to return.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as El Dorado failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and was accused of comitting abuses and war crimes agains the tribes [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope in his zeal to find Cíbola]], ironically like Nuño de Guzmán himself, and although he managed to get away with everything through his connections, he later got hit by the abolishing of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never really recovered his economic status (nor the one he expected to get with a city of gold or two). He died several years later of an epidemic, although his legacy outlived him, and still lives today. His nephew, Juan Vázquez de Coronado, would become famous himself as the conqueror of Costa Rica.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado y Luján (1510 - 22 September 1554), Anglicized as Vasquez de Coronado, was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. He commanded an expedition that explored the northwestern parts of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, nowadays the southwestern parts of UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, in the unsuccessful search of the Seven Cities of Cibola, the legendary [[CityOfGold El Dorado]]. He reached as a far as what is now Kansas, and in the process his explorers became the first Europeans to see landscape marks like the Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, the Rio Grande and some others. The Coronado National Memorial near Sierra Vista, Arizona commemorates his expedition, as does the nearby Coronado Buttle, Coronado heights, Coronado National Forest and some other places.

The expedition involved 340 Spaniards and 800 Mexica and Tarascan natives along with hundreds of horses, cows and cannons, as well as a support fleet that would try to shadow them through the Californian coast. Also, as Vázquez had correctly predicted it would be a difficult mission nonetheless, he organized supply lines along the trail and divided the contingent in smaller, independent groups so the grazing lands and water holes could recover. This proved the best decision, as after they went deep into the Nuevo México desert and found the place Niza claimed to be their goal, they only found a group of pauper Zuñi villages, causing such a disappointment that Vázquez angrily kicked Niza back to México. Vázquez deployed groups to search around for months, often not gold, but merely food and water, and in the process contacted the Hopi, Pueblo and Wichita tribes, some of them violently so. Months passed, and by this point it's unlikely anybody in the expedition still harbored real hopes to find any fabulous civilization, but the GoldFever is a powerful energizer, and they kept until 1542, Vázquez fell of his horse and was badly injured, upon which he saw the writing in the wall and ordered everybody to return.

[[AC:ComicBook]]
* ''El otro mar'' is an award-winning comic book by Alfonso Zapico about Balboa.
* ''Huida hacia la gloria'' by Gol also tells his story.

Unlike most other famous conquistadores, Vázquez de Coronado was born in a noble family, and in fact arrived in the Americas as part of the entourage of Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza. He turned out to be a good diplomat with the native elite, especially compared Nuño de Guzmán, who had been just condemned and jailed for being an ass to the indigenous, so Vázquez received several jobs of responsability, among then governor of the modern lands of Jalisco, Sinaloa and Nayari, and later solidified his position by marrying Beatriz de Estrada, the fifteen-year-old daughter of UsefulNotes/HernanCortez's former treasurer. He looked to have a comfy life, but the legend of the Seven Cities of Gold caressed his ears by way of the conquistador negro Estevanico de Dorantes, one of the few survivors of the disastrous expedition by Pánfilo de Narváez. Mendoza sent him with Friar Marcus de Niza in a preliminary exploration in 1539, and although Estevanico went MIA in its course, Niza returned claiming to have certainly sighted one of the fabulous cities, so Vázquez and Mendoza decided to gather a major expedition and give it a try the following year.

The expedition involved 340 Spaniards and 800 Mexica and Michoacan natives along with hundreds of horses, cows and cannons, as well as a support fleet that would try to shadow them through the Californian coast. Also, as Vázquez had correctly predicted it would be a difficult mission nonetheless, he organized supply lines along the trail and divided the contingent in smaller, independent groups so the grazing lands and water holes could recover. This proved the best decision, as after they went deep into the Nuevo México desert and found the place Niza claimed to be their goal, they only found a group of pauper Zuñi villages, causing such a disappointment that Vázquez angrily kicked Niza back to México. Vázquez deployed groups to search around for months, often not gold, but merely food and water, and in the process contacted the Hopi, Pueblo and Wichita tribes, some of them violently so. Months passed, and by this point it's unlikely anybody in the expedition still harbored real hopes to find any fabulous civilization, but the GoldFever is a powerful energizer, and they kept until 1542, Vázquez fell of his horse and was badly injured, upon which he saw the writing in the wall and ordered everybody to return.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as El Dorado failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and was accused of comitting abuses and war crimes agains the tribes in his zeal to find Cíbola, ironically like Nuño de Guzmán himself, and although he managed to get away with everything through his connections, he later got hit by the abolishing of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never really recovered his economic status (nor the one he expected to get with a city of gold or two). He died several years later of an epidemic, although his legacy outlived him, and still lives today. His nephew, Juan Vázquez de Coronado, would become famous himself as the conqueror of Costa Rica.

The expedition involved 340 Spaniards and 800 Mexica and Michoacan natives along with hundreds of horses, cows and cannons, as well as a support fleet that would try to shadow them through the Californian coast. Also, as Vázquez had correctly predicted it would be a difficult mission nonetheless, he organized supply lines along the trail and divided the contingent in smaller, independent groups so the grazing lands and water holes could recover. This proved the best decision, as after they went deep into the Nuevo México desert and found the place Niza claimed to be their goal, they only found a group of pauper Zuñi villages, causing such a disappointment that Vázquez kicked Niza back to México. Vázquez deployed groups to search around for months, often not gold, but merely food and water, and in the process contacted the Hopi, Pueblo and Wichita tribes, some of them violently so. Months passed, and by this point it's unlikely anybody in the expedition still harbored real hopes to find any fabulous civilization, but the GoldFever is a powerful energizer, and they kept until 1542, Vázquez fell of his horse and was badly injured, upon which he saw the writing in the wall and ordered everybody to return.

The quest had been a big fiasco, as El Dorado failed to appear, and only 100 of the original Spaniards returned. Vázquez was left in bankruptcy due to the large inversion and was accused of comitting abuses and war crimes agains the tribes in his zeal to find Cíbola, ironically like Nuño de Guzmán himself, and although he managed to get away with everything through his connections, he later got hit by the abolishing of the ''encomienda'' system, meaning he never really recovered his economic status (nor the one he expected to get with a city of gold or two). He died several years later of an epidemic, although his legacy outlived him, and still lives today.