The Spanish in the Southwest . e was made thestronghold for the Spanish army, and thus the rule ofSpain began in the southwestern part of what is now theUnited States. In Coronados letter to Mendoza, telling of the victory,he says that the name Cibola, by which the seven citieshad so long been known, was given by the natives to thewhole kingdom, and not to any one village. As nearly asthe place can be located now, it is in southern or westernNew Mexico. When the traveler of to-day looks at theremarkable buildings of the Cliff Dwellers of this region,and considers that they were built long befo
The Spanish in the Southwest . e was made thestronghold for the Spanish army, and thus the rule ofSpain began in the southwestern part of what is now theUnited States. In Coronados letter to Mendoza, telling of the victory,he says that the name Cibola, by which the seven citieshad so long been known, was given by the natives to thewhole kingdom, and not to any one village. As nearly asthe place can be located now, it is in southern or westernNew Mexico. When the traveler of to-day looks at theremarkable buildings of the Cliff Dwellers of this region,and considers that they were built long before the whitepeople had visited the land, he can understand how greatthey seemed to the simple natives in their lowly huts, andhe can almost excuse the wild fancies of Fray Marcosabout their wealth. Coronado and Alarcon 7* Coronado was determined to learn all that he couldabout the country to which he had come. He heardnothing of gold mines, although the Indians showed himsome small pieces of both gold and silver, but he deter-. Homes of the Cliff Dwellers mined to investigate for himself. At one village in whatis now New Mexico, he met an Indian whom the Spaniardsnicknamed u the Turk, on account of his peculiar appear-ance. He had been brought captive to New Mexico afterone of the numerous wars between the fierce tribes of thatcountry and the people farther east. He was unhappyand eager to return to his home far to the east, and heseems to have thought that here was a chance to go understrong protection. He heard the white men inquiringabout gold, silver, emeralds, turquoises; and we must 72 Discoverers and Explorers believe that he was clever enough to make them think thathe could lead them to great wealth. He told about greatquantities of gold and silver to the north and east; aboutlarge rivers which watered the land; green grass andforests of trees, such as could not grow in the deserts ofNew Mexico, were everywhere, he said. The stories ofvast wealth were false, but much of
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