390 THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1540-1542 [eth.ann.H 



King. The interview failed to reassure the natives, for they packed 

 all their provisions and property on the following day, and with their 

 wives and children abandoned the villages in the valley and withdrew 

 to their stronghold, the secure fastness on top of Taaiyalone or Thunder 

 mountain. 



As soon as he was able, Coronado visited the other villages of Cibola- 

 Zufii, observing the country carefully. He reassured the few Indians 

 whom he found still living in the valley, and .after some hesitation on 

 their part succeeded in persuading the chiefs to come down from the 

 mesa and talk with him. He urged them to return to their homes 

 below, but without success. He was more fortunate in obtaining infor- 

 mation regarding the surrounding couutry, which was of much use to 

 him in directing further exploration. Then as now the rule held good 

 that the Indians are much more likely to tell the truth when giving 

 information about their neighbors than about themselves. 



THE DISCOVERY OF TUSAYAN AND THE ORAND CANYON 



A group of seven villages, similar to those at Cibola, was reported 

 to be situated toward the west, '"the chief of the towns whereof they 

 have knowledge." Tncano was the name given to these, according to 

 Raniusio's version of Coronado's letter, and it is not difficult to see in 

 this name that of Tusayan, the Hopi or Moki settlements in north- 

 eastern Arizona. 



As soon as everything was quiet in the Cibola country, about the 

 middle of July, Don Pedro de Tovar was ordered to take a few horse- 

 men and his company of footmen and visit this district. Don Pedro 

 spent several days in the Tusayau villages, and after he had convinced 

 the people of his peaceable designs, questioned them regarding the 

 country farther west. Returning to the camp at Cibola withiu the 

 thirty days to which his commission was limited, Tovar reported that 

 the country contained nothing to attract the Spaniards. The houses, 

 however, were better than those at Cibola. But he had heard stories of 

 a mighty river and of giant peoples living toward the west, and so Don 

 Garcia Lopez de Cardenas was instructed to go and verify these reports. 

 Cardenas started, perhaps on August 25. He had authority for eighty 

 days, and within this term he succeeded in reaching the Grand canyon 

 of Colorado river, which baffled his most agile companions in their 

 efforts to descend to the water or to discover some means of crossing 

 to the opposite side. He returned with only the story of this hopeless 

 barrier to exploration westward. 



THE RIO ORANDE AND THE GREAT PLAINS 



The first expedition toward the east was sent out August 29 in charge 

 of Don Hernando de Alvarado. Passing the rock of Acuco or Acoma — 

 always a source of admiration — Alvarado reached the village and river 

 of Tiguex — the Rio Grande — on September 7. Some time was spent in 



