Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

Hello! My name is Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. I was born in a country called Spain a very long time ago, around the year 1510. I always dreamed of having big adventures! When I was a grown-up, I sailed across the big blue ocean. I went to live in a new land called New Spain, which is now called Mexico. I loved exploring and finding new things.

One day, in the year 1540, I heard stories about Seven Cities of Gold. Can you imagine whole cities that were shiny and golden? The leader of New Spain asked me to lead a big group of people to find them. We packed our bags, got on our horses, and started a very, very long walk. We walked for many days under the hot sun. We were so excited to see the sparkly, golden houses.

We looked and looked, but we never found any cities made of gold. But guess what? We found something even more amazing! We saw a giant canyon. It was so deep and wide it looked like the earth had a big smile. Today, people call it the Grand Canyon. We also saw big, fuzzy animals that looked like cows with fluffy coats. Our adventure showed us so many wonderful new places, and it ended in the year 1542.

I lived to be 44 years old. Even though I didn't find any gold, people still remember me. I was one of the first explorers from my country to see the amazing American Southwest. My maps and stories helped other people learn all about this beautiful part of the world.