' ORE THAN loo years before the Spanish. arrived, the Southwest was already a busy place with people belonging to many Native American nations. Before 1400, Shoshonean-
Ponce de Leon.
PONCE DE LEON AND THE FLORIDA NATIVES
After sailing with Columbus in 1493,
Juan Ponce de Leon was given permission by Spain to search for Bimini, an island rumored to be home to the Fountain of Youth.
According to legend, one drink from this fountain would keep a person from growing older.
In his search for the legendary fountain, Ponce de Leon landed on what he thought was an island. Unknown to the explorer, it was a peninsula. He named the location Florida because of its many flowers and claimed the land for Spain. Ponce de Leon first arrived on the east coast of Florida and founded what became Saint Augustine, today the oldest city in the United States.
Ponce de Leon undertook his last voyage in 1521 to colonize Florida's west coast. The native Calusa didn't want any settlements near their village. They greeted the Spanish with arrows. Ponce de Leon received an arrow to the thigh and died.
EL DORADO: CITY OF GOLD
The legend of El Dorado (meaning "The Golden One") originated in South America, where the Muisca people made offerings by tossing gold into Colombia’s Lake Guatavita in much the same way that people today toss a coin in a fountain and make a wish. When the Spanish explorers arrived and found gold around the lake, the legend began. The Spanish took away much of the gold and speculated that the New World must have other places of riches, perhaps even a city of gold.
Speaking tribes, such as the Ute and Paiute, hunted in the Colorado mountains and spent winters in northern New Mexico. Their neighbors were the generally peaceful Pueblo tribes who established villages and spent their days farming. Pueblos created terraced farms, using nearby deep gullies and reservoirs for water.
Many other nations in the region were hunters and gatherers—Comanche, Apache, Cheyenne, Kiowa, and the groups that Europeans came to call the Sioux. These nomadic groups rarely stayed in one place long, preferring to follow food sources, mainly bison. Occasionally, tribes battled one another over hunting rights in an area.
More Europeans arrived in 1536—Spanish explorers. Most were looking for the mythical city of gold called El Dorado. The legend of El
Dorado promised that whoever found the city would receive great riches. One of the most active and well-known searchers was Erancisco Vasquez de Coronado, who began extensive exploration in 1540. Unable to locate El Dorado in South America or Mexico, the Spanish began looking elsewhere.
(LEFT) Spanish conquistadors. (RIGHT) Zuni pueblo.
HORSES IN NATIVE AMERICAN SOCIETY
While historical images of Native Americans often include horses, this animal didn't originate in America or with Native Americans. One debated theory is that Norse explorers brought horses to North America long ago. More likely, conquistadors like Cortez brought horses when they explored North America. When the Spanish started the New Mexico rancheros in Santa Fe and Taos, thousands of horses came with them. Although the Spanish forbid Native Americans to own horses, the native people who worked on the rancheros soon learned to handle the magnificent animals.
In 1680, the Pueblo Revolt forced Spain out of New Mexico in such a hurry that many horses were left behind. The Native Americans of the Southwest used the horses but also traded them with Plains tribes to the north. Soon wild horses called mustangs became part of the Southwest landscape. "Mustang” comes from "mesteno," Spanish for "stray horse.” Today, mustangs still run free in several western states and are protected from harm through the passage of Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burros Act of 1971.
A Franciscan priest, Friar Marcos de Niza, reported seeing a city of riches to the north of Mexico called Cibola. Marcos had actually been to the pueblo of the Zuni tribe located in New Mexico. According to the Zuni, Marcos had a guide named Estevan who demanded Zuni turquoise and women. The Zuni refused and killed him. Marcos fled back to Mexico in fear for his life. Once he returned home, he told outlandish stories of the Seven Cities of Cibola.
With 300 conquistadors and 1,000 Mexican natives, Coronado headed north into New Mexico to discover these cities of riches. Instead, he stumbled upon a small, crowded Zuni pueblo. The Zuni found the animals that accompanied Coronado quite interesting. The Spanish soldiers rode one of the animals—a horse—and herded the others—sheep.
When Coronado demanded that the Zuni swear loyalty to the king of Spain, they replied with arrows. Yet the Zuni were no match for the Spanish soldiers. Their village was captured within the hour, and other Zuni villages soon fell to the Spanish. Coronado’s expedition took what they wanted from the pueblos and the people who lived there. When the Zuni tried to defend themselves, the violence against them only increased, leading to the massacre of a large number of Native Americans. People who survived were thrust into slavery.
Coronado and others explored the Southwest, traveling through New Mexico and Texas, reaching as far as Kansas. They brought cattle, sheep, and horses. They introduced new irrigation techniques and created ranches. Most of all, they claimed all the land they crossed in the name of Spain, overpowering anyone who disagreed.
By 1629, the Spanish missionaries had established a Catholic mission at the Zuni village of Hawikku. The Zuni were friendly with the missionaries, and for the most part, hostilities ceased until the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
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