The Coronado Expedition 1540 1542

Vera Cruz during the winter of 1536-37, he received a letter from Meudoza, asking him to return to the City of Mexico. After several interviews, the viceroy induced Doran- tes to remain in New Spain, agreeing to provide him with a party of horsemen and friars, in order to explore more thoroughly the country through which he had wandered. Meudoza explains the details of his plans in the letter written in December, 1537, and declares that he expected many advantages would be derived from this expedition which would redound to the glory of God and to the profit of His Majesty the King. The viceroy Avas prepared to expend a large sum?3,500 or 4,000 pesos?to insure a successful undertaking, but he promised to raise the whole amount, without taking a single inaravedi from the royal treasury, by means of a more careful collection of dues, and especially by enforcing the payment of overdue sums, the collection of which hitherto had been considered impossible. This reform in the collection of rents and other royal exactions and the careful attention to all the details of the fiscal administration were among the most valuable of the many services rendered by Mendoza as viceroy. The expedition under Do- rantes never started, though why nothing came of all the preparations, wrote Mendoza in his next letter to the King, "I never could find out.'" The three Spaniards wrote several narratives of their experiences on the expedition of Narvaez, and of their adventurous journey fr...