In 1519, Hernando Cortéz, a Spanish Conquistador and explorer sailed west from the already settled island of Cuba. He arrived on the coast of Mexico. He and his troops hiked for days until they reached a valley where they discovered the beautiful Aztec Empire. Cortéz and his men eventually conquered and destroyed the Aztec Empire, taking away all its riches. On the ruins of the empire Cortéz began a new city named Mexico. This city became the center of government for a new Spanish colony.
The Spaniards' next goal was to find another Mexico City " a "new" Mexico. They hoped to find another Indian Empire full of gold and precious stones like the Aztec Empire. In the late 1520's, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca was shipwrecked off the coast of Texas. Knowing that Cortéz had established Mexico City, Cabeza de Vaca and his men marched south. Cabeza de Vaca had three other men with him, two Spaniards, and one black slave named Estevanico. The three men finally reached Mexico City and told of the places they had seen along the way. So much land north! They were sure they had just missed finding another large empire.
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Soon a journey north was organized. Estevanico and Fray Marcos de Niza, a priest, were the first to journey north. They took with them some Indian servants. After passing the Arizona desert Estevanico and Fray Marcos split up. Estevanico reached a place called Cibola and the Indian town called Hawikuh (an area in west New Mexico).
"In May of 1539, as preparations were being made to call the Katsina to bring rain, the Zuni warriors of Hawikuh spotted a black Katsina approaching from the west. The Katsina was unlike any they had seen before". The people of.
Hawikuh thought Estevanico was a god. They showered him with gifts in hope of.
gaining his blessings. It was figured, by an elder, that Estevanico was not a god, but an enemy. He must have been one of the men whom they heard about years before.
