“We saw they were in great fear, but at last they sent off two of their
women to see if they could find the other people and tell them of our
coming. In five days they came back. ‘They have found no people,’ said
the Indians to us. ‘Then,’ said I, ‘lead us to the northward,’ and again
they said: ‘There are no people there. Neither is there food or water.’
“At this I became offended and went apart from them, and at night went
away by myself to sleep. But they came at once where I was and remained
all night without sleep. They talked to me in great fear, telling me how
great was their fright, begging us to be no longer angry; and they said
they would lead us whatsoever way we wished to go, though they knew they
should die on the way.
“We still pretended to be angry, lest their fright should leave them, and
while we were thus pretending a remarkable thing happened: the very next
day many of them became ill, and eight men died. They believed we had
caused their death by willing it, and it seemed as if they must all die
of fear.
“In truth, it caused us so much pain to see them suffer that it could not
be greater, and we prayed to God, our Lord, to relieve them, and they
soon got better.
“News of our strange power spread through the land, and the people
trembled at our coming. Sometimes they would come to meet us, and bring
all they owned and offer it to us. Or, again, when they heard we were
coming, they would go into their houses and pile all their goods in a
heap in the middle of the floor for us, and then sit down, with their
faces to the wall, their heads bowed, and their hair drawn over their
eyes. Thus they waited until we came and spoke to them. Then they gave us
whatever we would take from them.
“Wherever we went, they brought their sick to us and begged us to cure
them. We always examined them carefully, and treated them as best we knew
how, and prayed earnestly to God to help us, and they nearly always got
well. Whenever a sick man got well, he not only gave us all that he had,
but all his friends did likewise.
“As we pressed westward and northward we came all the time to finer
Indians who had more wealth and better homes than those farther east.
“At last we came to a land of plenty. The people lived in houses and had
beans, pumpkins, and calabashes for food and covered themselves with
blankets made of hides. They were the finest-looking and strongest people
we had seen and intelligent beyond any of the others. They had nothing
they did not give to us. They begged us to pray for rain and told us that
for two years not a drop had fallen. When we asked where they had got
their food, they told us from the land of the maize. Then I bade them
tell me of this land of the maize, and they told that beyond them was
a land of many people and large houses, where maize grew all over the
land; that the people of that land were wealthy and wore beautiful plumes
and feathers of parrots, and used precious stones for arrowheads and to
decorate their houses. And they brought to me five beautiful emeralds cut
into arrowheads, and many fine turquoises and beads made of coral such as
come from the South Seas. When I asked whence they got these stones, they
pointed to some lofty mountains that stand toward the north and told us
that from there came the precious stones, and that near those mountains
were large cities. They said that in those cities the houses were so
large that there were sometimes three or four lofts one above the other.”
“And did you not go to those cities?” asked Melchior Diaz, eagerly.
“No,” answered Cabeza de Vaca. “I did not go because I heard that toward
the sunset were other men of my kind, and I hurried westward, hoping to
meet them. Therefore I did not go to the land of the cities. I longed
once more to look upon the face of a Spaniard.”
“You have suffered much,” said Melchior Diaz, “but do not think of it,
and now rest.”
Then Melchior Diaz sent off a messenger to Mexico to carry a letter to
the Viceroy de Mendoza, telling him of Cabeza de Vaca and his strange
tale.
Forthwith the messenger returned with a letter commanding Cabeza de
Vaca and his companions to come at once to Mexico and appear before the
viceroy.
To Mexico they went, and again Cabeza told the strange story of their
wanderings.
“It is a wonderful story,” said the viceroy, when he had finished, “and
you certainly deserve to spend the rest of your life in ease. Say the
word, and I myself will send you home to Spain.”
Cabeza de Vaca almost wept for joy at these words. “Gladly will I go,
dear friend. Gladly will I go, for I am weary of wandering and would once
more see my own country.”
So Cabeza de Vaca and two of his companions sailed off to Spain, and
the Viceroy de Mendoza thought much of the wonderful cities far to the
northward.
_The Journey of Fray Marcos_
The story of Cabeza de Vaca set all New Spain talking once more of the
Seven Cities.
“Of course,” said the people, as they talked, “of course they are the
same seven cities Nuño de Guzmán learned of from Tejos, the Indian. He
did not get the right directions, and so he failed to reach them. But now
we know they are there,” and many were eager to set out at once.
But the Viceroy de Mendoza was a quiet and careful statesman.
“There have been many lives lost already,” he said, “and it will be
better not to be in too great a hurry. I believe these are the seven
cities sought for by Nuño de Guzmán, but I shall not send an army until I
am sure.”
Then he thought of a monk called Fray Marcos of Niza, who had been much
among the Indians of the north, and he sent for him to come at once to
Mexico.
Fray Marcos came, and the Viceroy de Mendoza told him the story of Cabeza
de Vaca.
“Now, Fray Marcos,” said the viceroy, after finishing the story, “if we
should send an army, these Indians would surely make war upon us and both
for them and for us there would be many lives lost. You understand them,
and it might be that they would let you come among them and learn what we
desire. Perhaps there lies to the northward as great a nation as Peru or
Mexico. It must be taken for the church and the crown. Will you not be
the one to carry the message of the cross and to take possession of the
country for the king of Spain?”
“I will,” said Fray Marcos, eagerly.
“Very well,” said Mendoza, smiling. “The negro Stephen who was with
Cabeza de Vaca is here, and he shall be your guide. Remember that this
expedition is to be undertaken more to spread our knowledge of God than
for great wealth. Therefore, bear in mind that the natives are to be
treated with the utmost kindness, and my displeasure will fall heavy upon
whosoever shall offend them. Say to them that the Emperor is very angry
at those Christians who have been unkind to them, and that never again
shall they be enslaved or taken from their homes.
“Take special note of their number, and of their manner of life, and
whether they are at peace or at war among themselves. Notice the nature
of the country, the fertility of the soil, and the character of its
products. Learn what wild animals there are there, and find out if there
are any rivers great or small. Search for precious stones and metals and,
if possible, bring back specimens of them. Also make careful inquiry if
the natives have any knowledge of a neighboring sea.
“If you shall succeed in reaching the Southern Sea, write out an account
of all your discoveries and bury it at the foot of the tallest tree and
then mark the tree with a cross. Do the same at the mouth of all rivers,
and those who are sent after you will be on the lookout for such a sign.
Take enough Indians with you so that you can send them back from time to
time to bring to us reports of the route you have taken and how you are
treated by the Indians you meet. If you shall come to any great city, do
not send back word but come yourself and tell me about it. And lastly,
although all the world belongs to the Emperor, be sure and plant the
cross in those new lands and take possession of them in the name of the
Spanish crown, and never forget that your life is of great value to your
church and your country, and do not risk it needlessly. Now, go. Make all
your plans and set out as soon as may be.”
Fray Marcos hastened to make his plans, and on the seventh of March,
1539, he set out from Culiacan with the negro Stephen and a few faithful
Indians.
Several months went by; then, at the end of September, 1539, a traveler
in a monk’s gown came walking alone into Culiacan.
“It is Fray Marcos!” cried the people. “It is Fray Marcos, who went to
search for the Seven Cities!” “Did you find them, Fray Marcos?” “Where is
Stephen, the negro?” “Are the Seven Cities full of wealth?”
But Fray Marcos would not answer. “I have much to tell,” he said to them,
“but I will tell it only to the Lord de Mendoza himself.”
To the Lord de Mendoza he told a story even more wonderful than the story
of Tejos, the Indian, or that of Cabeza de Vaca.
“All the way,” he said, “I found great entertainment, for after I told
the Indians they were not to be enslaved, they could not do enough to
show their love for me. I went where the Holy Ghost did lead me. The
Indians guided me from place to place, and some went ahead to tell others
that I was coming. Everywhere they came to meet me and gave me welcome.
They had food ready for me; and where there were no houses, they built
bowers of trees and flowers that I might rest safe from the sun.
“I saw naught that was worthy of notice until there came to me some
Indians from an island off the coast, and these wore about their necks
great shells that were of mother-of-pearl. To these I showed the pearls
which I carried with me for show, and they told me that in their islands
there were great stores of such, and that there were thirty islands.
“And then I passed through a desert of four days’ journey, and there went
with me the Indians from the island and from the mountains I had passed.
At the end of this desert I found other Indians, who marveled much to
see me, because they had not before seen a white man. They gave me great
stores of food and sought to touch my garments, and called me Hayota,
which in their language means ‘A man come from Heaven.’
“As best I could, I told to all these Indians of our Lord God in Heaven,
and of our great Emperor over the sea. Then I asked them if they knew of
any great kingdom thereabout or of any great cities.
“And they told me that farther on were high mountains, and at the foot
of those mountains was a large and mighty plain on which were many great
towns and people clad in cotton. Then I showed them metals that I carried
with me and said to them, ‘Have the people of those cities any of these?’
And they took the gold metal from my hand and said: ‘Of this do the
people of those cities make the vessels from which they eat, and also do
they make of it thin plates to scrape the sweat from their bodies, and
the walls of their temples are covered therewith.’
“Then I asked concerning the precious stones known to the people of the
cities, and the Indians answered that they had round, green stones that
they prized much and wore hanging from their noses and ears.
“The Indians offered to take me to the cities, but because it was a long
journey from the sea, and your lordship had commanded me to keep close to
the coast, I did not go.
“It was now Passion Sunday, and I felt inclined to tarry among the people
I was with. I did so, but I sent on ahead of me the negro Stephen.
“I told him to go to the northward fifty or threescore leagues, and to
take with him Indians, of whom he should send back from time to time
messengers bearing me news of all that he learned.
“We agreed that if it were the mean country of which he learned, he
should send me a cross no longer than my hand; but if it were a great
country, he should send me a cross the length of two hands; and if it
were a country greater and richer than New Spain, he should send a great
cross.
“Stephen went from me on Passion Sunday, after dinner, and within four
days there came to me messengers bearing a cross as high as a man. He
sent me also word that I should at once come after him, for he had news
of a mighty province; that he had with him certain Indians who had been
to that province, and one of them he sent to me.
“The Indian whom Stephen had sent told me it was thirty days’ journey
beyond the town where Stephen was, to the first city of the province,
which was called Cibola. He said there were seven great cities in this
province all under one lord. The houses, he said, were made of stone and
the smallest of them were of two lofts, one above the other; and the
house of the lord of the province had four lofts and was wide and long.
He said, too, that the gates of the finest houses were cunningly wrought
with turquoises, whereof they had plenty.
“The same day that Stephen’s messenger came to me there came also another
Indian from the seacoast, and he told again of the many islands in the
sea and of people who have many pearls and much gold.
“And that same day there came to me three Indians with their faces and
breasts and arms painted.
“They came, they said, from a province toward the east that bordered upon
that of the Seven Cities. They had heard of me and wished to see me. They
told me of the Seven Cities of Cibola, the people, and the houses, in the
same manner that Stephen had sent me word. I sent back the Indians who
had come from the islands on the seacoast, and hurried on after Stephen.
“Each day messengers came to me from Stephen, all carrying large crosses
and all telling of Cibola.
“At last came Indian messengers who told me of three other kingdoms
called Marata, Acus, and Tonteac. They said that the people of those
provinces dressed even as the people of Cibola, with gowns of cotton that
hang to their feet, and they bound them with girdles of turquoises. And
they told me much more, to make me know that these provinces were in all
ways as great as Cibola.
“I traveled on for days, stopping to know the people among whom I passed
and always being received by them with all tenderness.
“They brought me their sick that I might heal them and sought always to
touch my garments. They gave to me cowhides so well tanned that I could
not well believe them to have been dressed by savage people.
“As I went on, I came to great crosses set up in the ground by Stephen
to let me know that the good news of the country increased. I came to a
pleasant town at last where indeed were people clad in cotton, both men
and women, and they wore turquoises in their noses and ears. The lord
of the village came with his brethren to greet me, and they were well
dressed in robes of cotton and hides and wore collars of turquoises about
their necks.
“It was a fair country, better than any I had yet seen; so I set up two
great crosses and took possession of it for His Majesty, the Emperor.
They offered me gifts of all they had, but I took not one thing save food.
“I came now to a desert and went into it, and I found that the Indians
had gone on ahead of me and built bowers beneath which I ate and slept,
and in this manner I traveled for four days.
“Then I entered a valley where were many people; men and women came to
meet me with food. All of them had turquoises hanging from their noses
and ears and collars of turquoises three or four times double about their
necks.
“Here they knew of Cibola as much as we in New Spain know of Mexico and
could answer all I wished to ask about the people.
“As I went on I met more and more people, and passed through a fine
country where is much grass and water. The people were in all ways civil
and kind and told me about Cibola and Acus, and Tonteac and Marata and
Quivira. Here I saw a thousand oxhides all nicely dressed and chains of
turquoise, and they told me they all came from Cibola.
“And now I had two deserts to cross and was fifteen days’ journey from
Cibola.
“I entered the desert, and many Indians went with me, and others went on
ahead to make ready for me; and each day there came word from Stephen,
telling me all was true and to hurry after him.
“For twelve days I journeyed thus, and then there came running to meet us
an Indian in great fright—his body covered with sweat and dust and his
face showing the greatest sadness.
“He told us that the day before, Stephen had reached Cibola, and had sent
messengers into the city with presents for its lord, and to let him know
they came in peace.
“But the lord of the city fell into a great rage, and dashed the presents
of Stephen to the ground. In his fury he drove the messengers out of the
city, and told them that if they again appeared they would surely be
killed, as would also Stephen, if he dared to come near.
“The messengers hurried to Stephen and told him what had happened, but he
was in no wise afraid; he answered he should go, nevertheless, and bade
the Indians fear not, but to come with him.
“They went on, but as they were about to enter the city, many of its
people met them and seized them and cast them into a great house that
stood just outside. They took from them all that they had, and left them
all night without food or drink. The next morning Stephen and his Indians
tried to escape, but they were scarce outside their prison when the
people of the city set upon them, and Stephen and all the Indians, except
the messenger and one other, were killed. These two had been struck down
and left for dead, but were only stunned. They had lain under the dead
bodies of the others until the angry people had gone back into the city.
Then they had crept away.
“My Lord de Mendoza, so great was my grief at this terrible news that
it seemed for a moment I must indeed die, but when I saw all my Indians
begin to weep and lament, I knew I must not give way.
“I straightway gave to them many of the presents I had intended for the
people of Cibola, and then I resolved that though I might not enter the
city I would still look upon it, and I told them I would nevertheless
go on. They begged me not to go, but when they saw I was firm two of
them agreed to go with me. So we left the others to await our return and
journeyed forwards. We traveled one day, and then we came to a round
hill. This I climbed, and on looking down saw at its foot the city of
Cibola. It was a fair city, my lord. The houses were as the Indians told
me, of two and three and four stories and built of stone. The people
were somewhat white and dressed in white garments. Greatly was I tempted
to risk my life and go thither, but knowing that if I were killed all
knowledge of the country would be lost, I gave it up and contented myself
with planting a cross upon the hilltop in token that I took possession
for the crown of Spain.”
“You have done well, Fray Marcos,” cried Mendoza, “and now it is time to
send an army.”
_The Disappointment of Coronado_
When Mendoza wanted to send an army, the first person he thought of was a
brave soldier and fine nobleman named Francisco de Coronado, who sat by
his side, listening eagerly.
Coronado knew all about the expedition of Nuño de Guzmán, and had heard
the story of Cabeza de Vaca. Also, he had talked with Mendoza before
the viceroy had sent Fray Marcos on his journey, and had said he would
be willing to spend a fortune in fitting out an army to take the Seven
Cities.
So Mendoza turned to Coronado and said: “Is it still your wish, my noble
friend, to lead an army against this kingdom of Cibola?”
“It is,” said Coronado.
“Well, then, make ready at once, and I will help you in every way that I
can,” said the viceroy.
The news spread rapidly, and again all New Spain was talking of the Seven
Cities. In a short time three hundred Spaniards and eight hundred Indians
had enlisted, and so many gentlemen of noble birth had offered to go that
the viceroy was much embarrassed in choosing officers, for of course he
must take the noblest gentlemen, and there were too many!
A fine sight they were—those cavaliers of Spain—in their glittering
armor, mounted on prancing horses, their lances gleaming in the sunlight
and their banners flying. Out of Compostela they marched in the gayest
spirits, thinking of the loads of gold and jewels they would bring back
with them.
But it was very different when they reached the desert and the mountains.
They did not know how to bear the fatigue of such a journey, nor how to
care for their horses and cattle and sheep. The animals died in large
numbers, and the courage of the soldiers weakened rapidly as they grew
weary.
The soldiers had come with the thought of conquest, so they did not treat
the Indians they met so kindly as Fray Marcos had done, and of course the
Indians did not like them very well, and in a little while there began to
be trouble.
At last they came to a narrow pass in the mountains.
“I am afraid the Indians will try to keep us from passing,” said Coronado
to the Master of the Field. “Go you with a company of soldiers and guard
that pass until all the army come up. Then we will go through.”
The Master of the Field took his company and stood guard at the pass. But
that night, while all but the sentries were asleep, the Indians crept
down upon them and the sleeping camp was roused by a shower of stones and
arrows and the wild yells of the Indians.
Now the men had lain down with their guns beside them; so they were
ready, and they sprang up and began fighting bravely. For a while the
battle raged hotly, the Spaniards firing their guns and the Indians
replying with stones and arrows. But when the Indians saw some of their
number falling dead, they were frightened and fled away in the darkness,
and the Spaniards held the pass.
After that the Spaniards had little peace, but nevertheless Coronado
managed to keep up their courage. On they went, up through that country
we now call Arizona, over almost the same road that Fray Marcos had
traveled. They paused where is now the city of Tucson, and then marching
northeastward, crossed the Gila River and moved on toward Cibola. At
last, where today stands the town of Zuñi, they reached the first city of
the kingdom whose fame had so long filled with golden dreams the minds of
the Spaniards. But instead of the great, fine, glittering city they had
expected they saw only a village of a few hundred houses.
The hearts of the Spaniards sank as they gazed upon it. Coronado called
three of his men and said to them, “Go into the city and say to the
people that we are not enemies, but have come in the name of the Emperor,
our lord, to defend them and to join with them in friendship.”
The messengers went into the city and delivered Coronado’s message, but
the people of Cibola received it with scorn.
“We did not ask you to come,” they replied, “and your lord had no right
to send you. This is our land and we can defend it. Go back to your lord
and to your own land, for if you stay here you shall not one of you live.”
The messengers turned to go back to Coronado, and even as they went the
people of Cibola began firing arrows at them.
Coronado got his men quickly together and gave the command to attack. The
people of Cibola were gathered upon the walls of their city and rained
down arrows and stones upon the Spaniards as they came. The Spaniards
were many of them so weary from their long journey that they had not
strength enough left to pull a crossbow. Indeed, for a time it seemed
they must be beaten, so fiercely did the Indians battle against them. The
glittering armor of Coronado and the earnestness with which he cheered
on his men, told the Indians that he was the leader of the Spaniards,
and they tried particularly to kill him. Twice they felled him to the
ground, and once he must surely have been killed had not a brave knight
stood across his body and guarded him from the rain of stones until he
recovered. He would not give up. Weak from the blows he had received,
aching in every part, and with an arrow sticking in his foot, he led the
last charge, shouting “Santiago!” as he rode.
“Santiago!” echoed his soldiers as they followed him straight into the
town. The Indians fled as the Spaniards entered, and the battle was over.
The Spaniards almost wept with rage and despair as they looked about
them. The houses, it is true, were made of stone and were large, as
had been said, but there were no jeweled gates, no vessels of gold and
silver, no fine city, no stores of wealth to carry back to Spain.
So great was Coronado’s despair that he fell ill almost unto death. He
could not bear to give up. It seemed he must find those seven wonderful
cities. As soon as he was able he sent out parties in all directions to
see what could be found.