Mythical Cibola Lured Spaniards
The Journal is publishing a series of history articles to commemorate the settlement of New Mexico by Juan de Oñate in 1598. This one covers the so-called seven Cities of Cibola, mythical cities of gold, which fueled interest in exploring New Mexico.

By Miguel Encinias
For the Journal
Myths, legends and rituals, according to Joseph Campbell, are in many ways essential to a society. They can indeed be useful as generators of national pride and catalysts of action.
But they can often be harmful when they are exaggerated or incorrect. One example is the popular version of the opening of the West, which had been opened for Europeans by Spain almost a century before the '49ers and others started heading this way, and which had been opened by Native Americans many thousands of years before the Spanish.
Epic poems of old were generally based on mythology. "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad" can hardly bear historical scrutiny, but they were an inspiration to the Greeks in their early days and a source of pride since.
And so it was with the myths of Spain that arose after the lightning-fast conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by the Moors.
From the early days of the conquest, a hero arose out of the chaos and escaped with a handful of followers to the north, where he began the reconquest from a minuscule redoubt among the jagged peaks of Cantabrian Spain.
His name was Pelayo, and he provided the hope that endured for some 800 years and eventually led to freedom for Spain.
He was undoubtedly a true hero, but many of his followers attributed superhuman qualities to him as the years passed.
And his was not the only legend that arose during this period.
Some time during the Moorish presence in Spain, according to legend, seven bishops got together and escaped with some followers to a place in the vague west. Once there, they built seven fabulous cities.
As time passed and the legend grew, that place was given several locations and names: Atlantis, Antilia, Florida and, eventually, Cibola.
After the Moors were defeated and Spain was united and became a world power, people still spoke of the seven wonderful cities.
Then came the Spanish conquest of the New World starting with Columbus in 1492, also lightning-fast.
And as the Spaniards started spreading to all points of the compass, their legends followed and began to take on an air of truth.
Stories began to surface about great cities to the north of Mexico City, itself a city of gold.
At first the stories came from nomadic Natives who had wandered south and encountered the Spaniards.
Such reports were reinforced in 1536, when Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions finally came to the end of their eight-year odyssey that had taken them across the North American continent from Florida through Texas, and possibly into the southeastern area of New Mexico.
During their travels Cabeza de Vaca and his companions had heard of cities to the north inhabited by people dressed in cotton clothing and living in multistoried houses.
It did not take many tellings of their stories in Mexico City to rekindle the imaginations of those seeking their fortunes. An air of excitement already had been created by the other reports and by the reality of unimaginable riches that had been discovered in Mexico and Peru.
If truly fabulous cities already had been discovered, why couldn't there be others in the vast expanses yet to be explored? Even in the wilderness to the north, which came to be called Cibola.
The word "cibola" remains a mystery. Several historians have sought to explain it without success.
Herbert Eugene Bolton, the renowned Western historian, quotes Fray Marcos de Niza as saying that the first time he heard the word was during his expedition in 1539, and it was used by Esteban, the African slave who had accompanied Cabeza de Vaca. Esteban served as a guide for de Niza.
Frederick Webb Hodge in his book, "History of Hawikuh," states that the name the Zunis use to designate themselves is Shiwi or Ashiwi, from which the Spaniards could have derived the word Cibola.
De Niza and his party turned back before reaching Hawikuh after Esteban, his guide, was slain. But he also went back with new tales of the golden cities.
However, the cities found did not live up to the legend. Instead, the cities of mud Coronado and his army encountered were a big disappointment.
Some accused de Niza of lying in his descriptions of Hawikuh, which he viewed from afar. Since then, more sympathetic minds have theorized that perhaps from a distance the friar mistook mica glistening on the adobe walls for precious metals or jewels, or perhaps his zeal for new converts caused him to exaggerate.
Lie or not, the early expeditions failed mainly because of the extremely high expectations on the part of the Spaniards.
But those expectations certainly were not the fault of the nomadic Natives. They saw greatness in the permanent structures of the Pueblo Indians.
Nor were they solely the fault of Cabeza de Vaca, Esteban or de Niza. They did not create the legend.
NEXT: The first encounter in New Mexico.

Miguel Encinias is an Albuquerque historian. His novel "Two Lives for Oñate" is scheduled for publication by the University of New Mexico.