lamar
Bronze Member
- Aug 30, 2004
- 1,341
- 46
Dear group;
Oh my! Please don't tell me there are people who still believe in the old Cibola legends!
First, to clear some up misinformation. Quivira was not the name of a person, it was one of the names of the Hidden City of Gold. The one alledged eyewitness to have seen the city was an escaped salve named Estaban Dorantes, but more on this later.
First, the legend of Cibola and Quivira is not an American one, rather it originated in Spain around 1150AD, after the Moors invaded and settled Merida, Spain. The original legend stated that the seven Christian bishops of Merida fled from the city and not wanting the religious artifacts of Merida to fall into Mulim hands, took the treasures of Merida and placed them aboard a ship. From port they headed for a unknown land and established a new city, using the collected treasures of Merida.
Some early writers named this lost city Quivira while others used Cibola. Within a couple of generations, the fabulous city expanded into two separate cities, with one being named Quivira and other Cibola. And why not? When telling a legend bigger is always better, right? And so, by the time that Christopher Columbus discovereded the New World, these two cities grew into SEVEN cities, one city for each of the escaped bishops! As always, bigger is better and so the writers decided not to spare their imaginations.
And so, collectively the seven cities became known as Cibola and the land where Cibola was situated became known as Quivira. Before Coronado had left the dock in Cadiz, the legend of Cibola had grown to such proporitions that writers were placing names on the various Kings and Queens of Quivira and even naming the avenues of the cities of Cibola!
And now, to continue with our legend. Esteban Dorantes, also known as Estevanico the Berber, was a Moorish slave captured by the Portuguese and sold to a Spanish gentleman named Andres Dorantes de Carranza. Estevanico travelled with Don Andres to Cuba and Hispanola, and then was part of Panfilo de Naravez' expedition to Florida.
The expedition turned out to be a series of disasters in which only five members of the original exploration party of 450 who survived, with Estevanico being one of those and the other four being Alvar Nunyez Cabeza de Vaca, Juan Ortiz, Andres Dorantes de Carranza and Alonso del Castillo Maldonado. Of these five, Juan Ortiz was captured around Tampa Bay, Florida by natives and lived as a slave for some twelve years before being rescued by members of the expedition of Hernando de Soto.
Having survived this harrowing expedition, and after having traveled by foot along the entire Gulf coast and into West Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, after eight long years of hardship the group of four survivors finally met up with a Spanish slave hunting party in Sinaloa, Mexico.
Estevanico then accompanied the Franscian friar Marcos de Niza to search for the Seven Lost Cities of Cibola in 1539 as part of Coronados' now famous expedition into what's now modern day Kansas. Marcos de Niza then reported that Estevanico had been killed by Zuni indians that he had seen " a city in the distance as large as Mexico City, with street and buildings of solid gold and the Pacific ocean off to the West."
Upon hearing this news, Coronado immediately dispatched small expeditionary forces into what is now New Mexico to the Zuni Pueblo, and upon reaching it, Coronado was furious with Marcos de Niza, for the village was poverty stricken in the extreme and bore no resemblance to the city which Marcos de Niza had described previously.
Coronado then continued west in his quest for Cibola, in the land of Quivira, eventually reaching the Kansas river in 1541, near the site of present day Dodge City. He then returned to central Mexico in 1542. Coronados' expedition forced him into bankrucy and retired to live out the remainder of his life in Mexico City where he died on 22 September 1554. And this is the tale of Cibola, Quivira and the Seven Fabulous Cities of Wealth.
Your friend;
LAMAR
Oh my! Please don't tell me there are people who still believe in the old Cibola legends!
First, to clear some up misinformation. Quivira was not the name of a person, it was one of the names of the Hidden City of Gold. The one alledged eyewitness to have seen the city was an escaped salve named Estaban Dorantes, but more on this later.
First, the legend of Cibola and Quivira is not an American one, rather it originated in Spain around 1150AD, after the Moors invaded and settled Merida, Spain. The original legend stated that the seven Christian bishops of Merida fled from the city and not wanting the religious artifacts of Merida to fall into Mulim hands, took the treasures of Merida and placed them aboard a ship. From port they headed for a unknown land and established a new city, using the collected treasures of Merida.
Some early writers named this lost city Quivira while others used Cibola. Within a couple of generations, the fabulous city expanded into two separate cities, with one being named Quivira and other Cibola. And why not? When telling a legend bigger is always better, right? And so, by the time that Christopher Columbus discovereded the New World, these two cities grew into SEVEN cities, one city for each of the escaped bishops! As always, bigger is better and so the writers decided not to spare their imaginations.
And so, collectively the seven cities became known as Cibola and the land where Cibola was situated became known as Quivira. Before Coronado had left the dock in Cadiz, the legend of Cibola had grown to such proporitions that writers were placing names on the various Kings and Queens of Quivira and even naming the avenues of the cities of Cibola!
And now, to continue with our legend. Esteban Dorantes, also known as Estevanico the Berber, was a Moorish slave captured by the Portuguese and sold to a Spanish gentleman named Andres Dorantes de Carranza. Estevanico travelled with Don Andres to Cuba and Hispanola, and then was part of Panfilo de Naravez' expedition to Florida.
The expedition turned out to be a series of disasters in which only five members of the original exploration party of 450 who survived, with Estevanico being one of those and the other four being Alvar Nunyez Cabeza de Vaca, Juan Ortiz, Andres Dorantes de Carranza and Alonso del Castillo Maldonado. Of these five, Juan Ortiz was captured around Tampa Bay, Florida by natives and lived as a slave for some twelve years before being rescued by members of the expedition of Hernando de Soto.
Having survived this harrowing expedition, and after having traveled by foot along the entire Gulf coast and into West Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, after eight long years of hardship the group of four survivors finally met up with a Spanish slave hunting party in Sinaloa, Mexico.
Estevanico then accompanied the Franscian friar Marcos de Niza to search for the Seven Lost Cities of Cibola in 1539 as part of Coronados' now famous expedition into what's now modern day Kansas. Marcos de Niza then reported that Estevanico had been killed by Zuni indians that he had seen " a city in the distance as large as Mexico City, with street and buildings of solid gold and the Pacific ocean off to the West."
Upon hearing this news, Coronado immediately dispatched small expeditionary forces into what is now New Mexico to the Zuni Pueblo, and upon reaching it, Coronado was furious with Marcos de Niza, for the village was poverty stricken in the extreme and bore no resemblance to the city which Marcos de Niza had described previously.
Coronado then continued west in his quest for Cibola, in the land of Quivira, eventually reaching the Kansas river in 1541, near the site of present day Dodge City. He then returned to central Mexico in 1542. Coronados' expedition forced him into bankrucy and retired to live out the remainder of his life in Mexico City where he died on 22 September 1554. And this is the tale of Cibola, Quivira and the Seven Fabulous Cities of Wealth.
Your friend;
LAMAR
Is there gold in this area ?No - Did the Indians bring gold to the area to trade with large ships in the 1500s ?Hmmmmmmm..... Did a Hurricane in 1559 destroy this area ?Yes indeed-- Most of the info & names match the Texas / Mexico area....But most of the maps & names are giving to areas at a much later date....Has anyone found the word aztec or land of the aztec on maps from the 16th century?
