The Legend
Following the conquest of the Aztec kingdom, the Spanish found it easy to believe that kingdoms of similar wealth could be located to the north. In 1540 Francisco Vasquez de Coronado set out from Mexico City along the present Arizona-New Mexico border to find and claim the speculated kingdoms for Spain. The lack of gold among the Zuni and Hopi tribes discouraged him, but he was lured on by the tales of an Indian named Turk, who described a kingdom to the north called Quivira, where everyone ate from gold dishes.
The legend was born. When Juan Rodriguez de Cabrillo sailed up the coast of California two years later, neither the fact that Coronado had searched 1,000 miles to the east, nor that Turk had confessed under torture that he had fabricated the tale as a ruse to lead the Spaniards away from his home, deterred his expedition from reporting that they had discovered the true location of Quivira.
For centuries the legend of Quivira grew and lured explorers to the West. It was described as a land not only brimming with wealth, but also cultured and sophisticated. Between 1569 and 1752 Quivira appeared on European maps positioned just to the north of "Capo de San Francisco" near a large river. And that's just where you can find it today.
