Disappointment and trickery When they reached the place they thought to be Cibola, Coronado could hardly believe his eyes. How could Fray Marcos have been so wrong? Coronado stared at the hill ahead. The golden cities were nothing more than small villages with pueblos of mud and stone. The village was called Hawikuh, not Cibola. The Zuni Indians who lived there wore no pearls and gold. They were, however, armed with bows and arrows and war clubs. They were not happy to see Coronado and his army. Soon a battle started. Coronado’s men, though weak and starving, defeated the Zuni warriors and chased away the villagers. Then they devoured all the food they could find. This day was July 7, 1540. It marked the first battle in a long war between the Native American people of the Southwest and European explorers and settlers. This war was to go on for over 350 years. Coronado now knew that Cibola, the Seven Cities of Gold, did not exist. He and his men were very angry at Fray Marcos feared for the priest’s safety. He decided to send Fray Marcos back to Mexico City. Coronado soon met with the Indian chiefs to make peace. But the Indians decided to play a trick on the soldiers. The Indians knew that the Spanish wanted gold. So to get rid of the Spaniards, the Indian chiefs made up a story about treasure in a nearby land. They told Coronado about a great river to the west and rich lands to the east. Coronado sent men westward to look for the great river. These men were the first Europeans to visit the Hopi Mesas. They were the first to see the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. ruins of the village of Hawikuh as seen in summer 2006. At the Zuni village of Hawikuh, Coronado and his men fought the first battle with Native American people of the southwest. That battle was fought on July 7, 1540. This tragic warfare between European settlers and Native American people would continue until the surrender of Geronimo on September 4, 1886, a period of 346 years. 56  Chapter 5 • The Second People: Explorers and Settlers