"I shall be a soldier," said young Francisco Coronado, "and go to live in the New World."

Francisco, the younger son of a Spanish nobleman, grew up in Spain at the time Cortez was exploring Mexico. He was a great success as Viceroy Mendoza's assistant, and soon he was named General of a great expedition to explore the North in search of gold.

In gilded armor and plumed helmet Coronado headed the expedition, followed by footmen carrying spears and muskets, knights on prancing horses, and Indians bearing supplies.

They traveled north from Mexico City through parts of today's Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. The men faced burning deserts, stampeding buffalo, and hostile Indians, but they found no gold. With Coronado's leadership and courage to keep them going, they explored a vast new land—the American Southwest.

Faith Yingling Knoop, the author of Garrard's Amerigo Vespucci, specializes in early explorers. Coronado, who always tried to be fair to the Indians and good to his men, is an explorer America will long remember.

From the dust jacket