Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
In 1540 Coronado was given command of a major expedition comprising nearly 1,400 soldiers slaves and natives with a herd of cattle and sheep. The explorers were disappointed to find that Cibola a Zuni settlement in present day New Mexico. The Spanish explorers spent the winter of 1540-1541 at a site near present day Santa Fe, New Mexico. In the spring they moved to the east into Texas. Coronado still looking to find gold he headed a small party in a search for the city of Quivira; they ventured as far north as Kansas where they found only sparse native settlements. The disappointed Spaniards returned to the Santa Fe area for the winter of 1541-1542 and then went back to their homes in Mexico.