winship] OPPOSITION TO THE EXPEDITION 373 



The Council for the Indies referred the whole matter of the petitions 

 and accompanying evidence to the fiscal, the licentiate Villalobos, April 

 21 , 1540. He made a report, which virtually decided the case, May 25. 

 The parties were given an opportunity of replying to this, and they 

 continued to present evidence and petitions and countercharges for a 

 year longer. The final decision, if any was made, has not been printed, 

 so far as I know, but the Council could hardly have done anything 

 beyond formally indorsing the report of Villalobos. The duty of the 

 fiscal was plain, and his report advises His Majesty not to grant any of 

 the things asked for by the petitioners. He states that this discovery 

 ought to be made by and in behalf of His Majesty, since the region 

 was not included in any previous grant. Although the Crown had 

 forbidden any further unlicensed explorations, this would not prevent 

 expeditions being undertaken on the part of the Crown, which is always 

 at liberty to explore at will. In effect, of course, the report sanctioned 

 the exploration by Mendoza, who represented the royal interests and 

 power. An objection was at once entered in behalf of De Soto, using 

 the very good argument that Mendoza's expedition would be sent out 

 either at the expense of the Crown or of his private fortune. If the 

 former, it was claimed that as the explorer would have the glory in any 

 event, the Crown ought to save the expense by allowing De Soto, who 

 had already undertaken the same thing at bis own cost, to make these 

 discoveries, which he promised should redound to as great an extent to 

 the glory and advantage of the Emperor. If Mendoza was undertak- 

 ing this at his own expense, it was evident that he would desire to 

 recover his outlay. Here he was merely on the same footing as De 

 Soto, who was prepared to make a better offer to his Royal Master than 

 Mendoza could possibly afford. In either case there was the danger of 

 scandal and disaster, in case the two expeditions should be allowed to 

 come together beyond the range of the royal oversight. No answer to 

 this appeal is recorded, and the parties continued to argue down their 

 opponents' cases, while the viceroy in New Spain started the expedition 

 which, under the command of Francisco Vazquez Coronado, discovered 

 the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, the Grand canyon of the Colorado, 

 and the bison of the great plains. 



The Expedition to New Mexico and the Great Plains 



the organization of the expedition 



Two classes of colonists are essential to the security .and the perma- 

 nent prosperity of every newly opened country. In New Spain in the 

 sixteenth century these two classes, sharply divided and almost antago- 

 nistic — the established settlers and the free soldiers of fortune — were 

 both of considerable importance. Cortes, so soon as he had conquered 

 the country, recognized the need of providing for its settlement by a 

 Stable population. In the petitions and memorials which he wrote in 



