Once upon a time there was a man named Francisco Vazquez de Coronado. He was born on September 22,1510 in Salmanca, Spain.

Coronado became an explorer at age 25. He traveled to what is now known as Mexico. There he married a woman named Beatriz de Estrada. He also became the Governor of the Mexican province, Nueva Galicia.

Coronado became an explorer to be famous and get money. He also wanted to follow in the footsteps of the explorer Cabeza de Vaca and find the Seven Cities of Gold. So he went up north into Texas towards Kansas

He brought 300 Spanish soldiers with him. The soldiers fought against 1,000 Tlaxcalan

Indians. The first battle against the Indians was in Cibola. During the fight, Coronado got injured by a rock.

Coronado divided his group. One group explored the Grand Canyon. The other group explored the Colorado Plateau.

Both groups got reunited in Kansas. When the groups got back together it took nearly a year of exploring. The groups had a rough time getting to Kansas by fighting Indians and harsh weather. And throughout the exploration they found no riches.

Coronado returned to Mexico and returned as governor. The leaders called the exploration a failure. Coronado got in trouble from being mean to the Indians. Then Coronado died in 1554 as a city council member.