Page:The Coronado expedition, 1540-1542.djvu/100

 wilderness forced him to turn back. At Chiametla he encountered Coronado's force. He joined tie army, sending his lieutenant, Saldivar, with three other horsemen, to carry his report to the viceroy. This was delivered to Mendoza on March 20, and is embodied in the letter to the King, dated April 17, 1540.

Coronado did not allow Diaz to announce the results of his reconnoissance to the soldiers, but the rumor quickly spread that the visions inspired by Friar Marcos had not been substantiated. Fortunately, the friar was himself in the camp. Although he was now the father provincial of the Franciscan order in New Spain, he had determined to accompany the expedition, in order to carry the gospel to the savages whose salvation had been made possible by his heroic journey of the preceding spring. The mutterings of suspicion and discontent among the men grew rapidly louder. Friar Marcos felt obliged to exhort them in a special sermon to keep up a good courage, and by his eloquence he succeeded in persuading them that all their labors would soon be well repaid.

From Chiametla the army resumed its march, procuring provisions from the Indians along the way. Mendoza stated, in 1547, that he took every precaution to prevent any Injury or injustice being done to the Indians at the time of Coronado's departure, and that he stationed officials, especially appointed for this purpose, at convenient points on the road to Culiacan, who were ordered to procure the necessary provisions for the expedition. There are no means of telling how well this plan was carried into execution.

A day or two before Easter, March 28, 1540, the army approached Culiacan. The journey had occupied a little over a month, but when Coronado, from his lodging in the Cibola village of Granada, three mouths later, recalled the slow and tedious marches, the continual waiting for the lazy cattle and the heavily loaded baggage trains, and the repeated vexatious delays, we can hardly wonder that it seemed to him to have been a period of fourscore days' journey.

The town of San Miguel de Culiacan, in the spring of 1540, was one of the most prosperous in New Spain. Nuño de Guzman had founded the settlement some years before, and had placed Melchior Diaz in charge of it. The appointment was a most admirable one. Diaz was not of gentle birth, but he had established his right to a position of considerable power and responsibility by virtue of much natural ability. He was a hard worker and a skillful organizer and leader. He inspired confidence in his companions and followers, and always maintained the best of order and of diligence among those who were under his charge. Barely does one meet with a man whose record for every position and every duty assigned to him shows such uniform and thorough efficiency. The settlement increased rapidly in size and in wealth, and when Coronado's force encamped in the surrounding fields, the citizens of the town insisted on entertaining in their own homes all of the gentlemen who