Steel armor was worn by some of the conquistadors of Coronado’s army. On February 22, 1540, Coronado’s army began their journey to find and conquer Cibola. Fray Marcos de Niza led them toward Cibola. If Coronado paid for most of the journey himself, he would keep most of the riches he might find. Of every 100 dollars’ worth of gold and silver, he would keep 80 dollars. The other 20 dollars would go to the King of Spain. This was known as the King’s fifth. Coronado’s army included 1,100 men and 3 women. Only 336 of the men were Spanish conquistadors. A conquistador is the Spanish name for a soldier. The average age of the conquistadors was 26 years. Coronado himself was only 30 years old. Coronado brought many slaves to do the work for the soldiers. Thousands of horses and donkeys carried supplies. Sheep, goats, and cattle provided meat and milk for the travelers. It was like slowly moving a whole city. Soon Coronado and his men began to suspect Fray de Niza’s story. Information that he told to them proved not to be true. But the desire to find golden cities was very strong. The army pushed on. In early May 1540 Coronado’s large army came to northern Mexico. He decided to leave most of his army there in camp. He took 110 conquistadors and Fray Marcos and continued to push north. Coronado reaches Arizona In late May 1540 Coronado and his conquistadors entered the land that would become Arizona. They traveled north, up the San Pedro River Valley. When Coronado and his army reached Arizona, it was summer. Their armor was hot and heavy. Their horses were tired. They were running out of food. Only the Spanish dream of fabulous riches kept the conquistadors going toward Cibola. But there had been no sign of rich cities of gold. There were no cities at all. Sometimes the Spaniards saw abandoned ruins of adobe buildings. Coronado and his men were getting more and more worried. 54  Chapter 5 • The Second People: Explorers and Settlers