USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In 1540 Mendoza dispatched Francisco Vázquez de Coronado to search for the cities.

Detailed explanation-2: -De Coronado’s Search for the Seven Golden Cities By 1540, reports brought back from explorations made by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and confirmed by missionary Fray Marcos de Niza convinced Mendoza of the presence of vast riches to the north, located in the so-called Seven Golden Cities of Cíbola.

Detailed explanation-3: -Seven Cities of Cibola | National Geographic. An 1898 painting by Frederic Remington portrays Spanish explorer Francisco Vazquez de Coronado on his ill-fated quest in 1541 to find the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.

Detailed explanation-4: -On January 6, 1540, Mendoza commissioned him expedition commander and captain-general of all the lands he might discover and claim for Spain. The viceroy, however, counseled Coronado prior to his departure and cautioned him that the quest was to be a missionary undertaking, not one of military conquest.

Detailed explanation-5: -In Brief: Finding no wealth in Cibola or the surroundings, Coronado moved his army east to the pueblos around Albuquerque, on the Rio Grande River, in September 1540. They spent the winter there. In these pueblos, Coronado heard stories of an another wealthy trade center, Quivira, to the northeast.