6. C
MADELEINE TURRELL RODACK 84 ad it not been for fray Marcos de Niza, the Coronado expedition might never have taken place. Coronado set out for Cíbola only because fray Marcos’s report inspired the viceroy to seek more information on that area. The story of the seven rich cities in the north had been bandied about for some time, especially since the days of Beltrán Nuño de Guzmán, who had heard of these cities from the son of a native trader. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, during his long westward odyssey after his shipwreck in Florida, had also heard rumors of their existence. So Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza was motivated to send a scouting party to make an attempt at locating them. His choice of fray Marcos, already an experienced traveler, accompanied by the black slave Estevan, who had been with Cabeza de Vaca and was presumably familiar with the peoples of the north, was a most intelligent one. So, when Marcos, Estevan, and a large group of Indians set out from San Miguel de Culiacán on March 7, 1539, there were high hopes that the golden cities would be found. After checking the coast as far as the Río Yaqui, which he most likely followed, along with its northward tributary, the Río Tecoripa, Marcos stopped to celebrate Easter in a town called Vacapa. This may have been in the area of either today’s C H A P T E R 6 Cíbola, from Fray Marcos to Coronado1 MADELEINE TURRELL RODACK 84 CÍBOLA,FROM FRAY MARCOS TO CORONADO 85 Suaqui Grande or Tecoripa, forty leagues from the coast, as he says. From there he sent Estevan northward to gather what news he could of the famous cities. Within four days he received word that these cities not only existed, but were well known among the local populations. There were supposedly seven, all under one ruler, and the first was called Cíbola. So the friar set out to join Estevan as quickly as possible. However, Estevan, feeling his newfound freedom, was impatient and did not wait. Marcos, nevertheless, continued on, gathering Indians who joined him along the way. He was now obviously being led by people who had traveled that road before. In one village he met a man who even said he was a native of Cíbola. He had fled from there because of some trouble with “the person whom the lord placed there in Cíbola, because that lord of these seven cities lives and has his seat in one of them which is called Ahacus, and in the others he had placed people who govern in his name” (author’s translation of Marcos’s Relación). Let us remember those words later. The man also said that Ahacus was the largest of the villages. Arriving probably somewhere slightly west of today’s Cananea, Marcos, having given up all hope of catching Estevan and traveling light with only part of his retinue, presumably took time out to make a side trip to the west to check stories of a westward turn of the coastline. This he most likely viewed to some degree from the Cerro Alamo near Caborca. Returning to join the bulk of his followers, he probably went up the San Pedro River. Though fray Marcos’s route is still generally controversial, after this point it becomes even more so and has considerable bearing on the identity of the village of Cíbola that he saw. Marcos had been told that just before reaching Cíbola he would enter a despoblado, an uninhabited area, which it would take him fifteen days to cross, which he indeed did enter on May 9. Twelve days later he met an Indian from Estevan’s group. The man was exhausted and brought him sad news. Estevan, one day away from Cíbola, had sent messengers ahead with a gourd that he carried and a string of rattles and two feathers, one red and one white. This had been his custom when traveling with Cabeza de Vaca, presumably showing that he came in peace, and he was always well received. This time, however, it didn’t work. The man “appointed there by the ruler” became angry and said that if Estevan and his companions approached they would all be killed (author’s translation). But Estevan ignored this and continued on his way. He and his entourage were intercepted and imprisoned...
OR
Buy This Book in Print