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was piqued by tales of a mythical city

of gold called the “Kingdom of

Quivira.” Coronado and his men

trudged for more than a month across

prairieland, from Texas to Oklahoma

to Kansas. Eventually they found

Quivira. It turned out to be a few vil-

lages of Wichita Indians living in grass

huts in central Kansas—no gold in

sight. With their hopes for treasure

dashed, the Spanish packed up and

went home.

The next serious attempts to

explore Kansas came almost two cen-

turies later. This time it was French

explorers who came seeking to estab-

lish trade relations with the Indians

along the Missouri River. The French

traded European goods, including

guns, metal tools, and alcohol. In

exchange, they wanted fur.

Across Europe, North American

furs—especially beaver furs—were in

big demand. As a result, many French

trappers made great fortunes from the

fur trade. The Indians did not fare so

well. Contact with Europeans exposed

them to new diseases. Epidemics of

smallpox and other infectious diseases

devastated their numbers.

By the end of the 1600s, France

had acquired a vast stretch of land

16

Lower Plains: Kansas, Nebraska

Statue of the Spanish explorer

Francisco Coronado in the city of

Liberal, in southwestern Kansas.

In the 1540s, Coronado led a

small Spanish army through the

Great Plains in search of seven

legendary cities of gold.