CHAPTER II. 
THE PUEBLO DWELLERS. 
EXPLORATION. 
In the first half of the sixteenth century the suc- 
cessors of Cortés were extending the rule of Spain 
beyond the Valley of Mexico. Antonio de Mendoza 
was the viceroy of Mexico, and Nufio de Guzman had 
explored the Gulf of California and organized its eastern 
shore into the province of New Galicia. Narvaez with 
a considerable company had sailed from Cuba with the ~ 
purpose of taking possession of the region about the 
mouth of the Rio Grande but was forced by a storm to 
land on the west coast of Florida. The party landed 
much too far east, painfully made their way west- 
ward, finally building small vessels in which they 
attempted to sail to their destination. 
Cabeza de Vaca. Eight years later, in 1536, Cabeza 
de Vaca, the treasurer of this ill-fated expedition, 
accompanied by two Spaniards and a negro named 
Estevan, arrived in New Galicia on foot having crossed 
Texas and northern Mexico. They had heard of 
great ‘‘cows’’ on which the natives of the vast plains 
lived and also of settled towns. Now, the ancient 
Mexicans had a myth which told of their origin in the 
north: where there were seven caves or canyons from 
which they believed they had migrated. There were 
rumors in Mexico of seven cities of wealth in the north. 
Furthermore, it was an adventurous age and men were 
looking for new lands where there was gold ready mined, 
and men to kill or to convert, as occasion demanded. 
Marcos de Niza. To investigate this report of seven 
cities to the north, a Franciscan friar, Marcos de Niza, 
was sent with a small escort and the negro, Estevan, as a 
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