TY - BOOK TI - A River in Spain: Discovering the Duero Valley in Old Castile SN - 1860643604 AV - G 2283 .W48 1998 U1 - 914 23 PY - 1998/// CY - New York PB - I.B. Tauris KW - Indians of Mexico KW - Ethnic relations KW - Spaniards KW - Discovery and exploration KW - bisacsh KW - Indians KW - America KW - Cibola, Seven Cities of KW - HISTORY / Latin America / Mexico KW - Mexico KW - Culture conflict KW - History KW - Indians of North America KW - Social life and customs KW - West (U.S.) KW - Spanish N2 - ""In Searching for Golden Empires, William K. Hartmann tells a true-life adventure story that recounts the shared history of the United States and Mexico, unveiling episodes both tragic and uplifting. Hernan Cortez Montezuma, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, and Viceroy Antonio Mendoza are just some of the principal eyewitnesses in this vivid history of New World exploration"--Provided by publisher; "This lively book recounts the explorations of the first generations of Spanish conquistadors and their Native allies. Author William K. Hartmann brings readers along as the explorers probe from Cuba to the Aztec capital of Mexico City, and then northward through the borderlands to New Mexico, the Grand Canyon, southern California, and as far as Kansas. Characters include Hernan Cortes, the conqueror; the Aztec ruler Motezuma; Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, a famous expedition leader; fray Marcos de Niza, an explorer-priest doomed to disgrace; and Viceroy Antonio Mendoza, the king's representative who tried to keep the explorers under control. Recounting eyewitness experiences that the Spaniards recorded in letters and memoirs, Hartmann describes ancient lifeways from Mexico to the western United States; Aztec accounts of the conquest; discussions between Aztec priests and Spanish priests about the nature of the universe; Cortes's lifelong relationship with his famous Native mistress, Malinche (not to mention the mysterious fate of his wife); lost explorers who wandered from Florida to Arizona; and Marcos de Niza's controversial reports of the 'Seven Cities of Cibola.' Searching for Golden Empires describes how, even after the conquest of Mexico, Cortes remained a 'wildcat' competitor with Coronado in a race to see who could find the 'next golden empire,' believed to lie in the north. It is an exciting history of the shared story of the United States and Mexico, unveiling episodes both tragic and uplifting"-- ER -