12 
Introduction 
Ulloa returned and the results of his expedition were known, Cortés, 
cognizant of the advantage which his rival Mendoza had secured by the 
reconnaissance of Fray Marcos, hastened to Spain to petition for the 
exclusive right to conquer the region explored by Niza and Ulloa. Death 
overtook the Great Conquistador before the matter was settled. 
At the same time other claimants for the right to conquer the northern 
country appeared. Agents of De Soto, who in 1537 had secured the title 
to the Florida country, argued, and with some reason, that the Seven Cities 
were included in his grant. On the southern horizon appeared a possible 
rival in the person of Pedro de Alvarado. From Guatemala he had 
gone to Peru where he had been paid handsomely by the Pizarro 
brothers to leave the country. Returning to Spain he secured from 
the king the right to build a fleet and explore in the South Sea and in 
1539 he began the construction of his vessels. Moreover, the claims 
of Ñuño de Guzmán were not to be disregarded. In view of this situa¬ 
tion Mendoza, soon after the return of Fray Marcos, decided not to 
await royal confirmation, but to name, on behalf of the crown, the new 
governor of Nueva Galicia, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, as leader 
of the proposed expedition to the Seven Cities. This action later met with 
approval, for the Council of the Indies finally decided since the region in 
question was not included in any other grant, that the expedition should 
be made on behalf of the crown. In this way did Coronado secure official 
license to explore and conquer the Seven Cities. 
The plans as agreed upon called for a sea expedition, which, under the 
command of Hernando de Alarcon, was to co-operate with the mainland 
expedition under the personal command of Coronado. While these plans 
were being perfected Melchior Diaz was sent north from Culiacán to verify 
the reports of Fray Marcos. He probably got as far north as the Gila 
River, but his report, received after the departure of Coronado’s party, 
was unsatisfactory because no mention was made of the presence of the 
finer metals. Although Diaz’s report was kept secret by the authorities 
the rumor soon spread that Fray Marcos had made a wildly exaggerated 
report of his reconnaissance. 
The land expedition under Coronado, which was one of the most com¬ 
pletely and splendidly equipped forces which up to that time had been 
organized in New Spain, advanced in the spring of 1540 in two sections 
from Culiacán to the upper Rio Grande pueblos in northern New Mexico, 
going there by way of the Yaqui and San Pedro rivers and across Arizona 
and western New Mexico. En route a settlement was established at San 
Hierónimo in present Sonora, from where Melchior Diaz, as commander, 
explored to the mouth of the Colorado River and across that stream into 
present California; the Zuñi pueblos in the western part of New Mexico 
were conquered; and exploring expeditions were made to the Moqui 
pueblos in northeastern Arizona, and to the Grand Canyon of the Colo¬ 
rado. Reaching the Rio Grande pueblos in the latter part of the year 
1540, winter quarters were established there and the military occupation 
of the valley, which contained over seventy towns and a large native popu¬ 
lation, was effected. The following spring Coronado led a small detach¬ 
ment from New Mexico across present Texas and Oklahoma to Quivira 
