Uncovering America's First War: Contact, Conflict, and Coronado's Expedition to the Rio Grande

By the 1530s, Indigenous Pueblo populations in the American Southwest reached tens of thousands of people with a rich culture expressed through stunning architecture, ceramic technology, and ceremonial life. Then, into that world came outsiders—an army from Spain’s new colony in Mexico led by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. First contacts at the western Pueblos of Zuni, Hopi, and Acoma led to open warfare.

By the winter of 1540, increasing tensions and resistance spilled over into violence i...