Overview

The year 1542 was the great climax of the Spanish age of discovery—a year in which Spain had expeditions under way stretching halfway around the globe. Soon after the making of the Spanish empire in the New World with the discoveries of Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the great colonial effort moved towards establishing roots on the northern and southern continents of North America. Francisco Vázquez de Coronado led the last of these expeditions in search of new lands in North America for Spain. In 1540 he led a two-year epic journey that gave him and his companions the distinction of being the first Europeans to explore California, to see the Grand Canyon, to live...