Hearing of Esteban's death, the group retreated to Mexico and reported to the viceroy. Upon receiving Niza's report, Mendoza, for his part, did nothing to squelch the rumors of the existence of rich cities to the north that began to circulate around central Mexico with cyclonic speed. In the frenzy, many adventurers came forth and volunteered to search for the cities. Among them was Hernan Cortez. But his brief days of royal favor were long past. The prudent viceroy chose one of his closest friends for the enterprise, Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, the governor of Nueva Galicia in western Mexico.
Coronado, a young man of 29 years, financed at least half the expedition himself. He was not a rich man so he borrowed 50,000 ducats (about a million dollars in today's money) from his wealthy wife. The viceroy also invested 60,000 ducats of his own money. After all he had no reason to believe that it was a risky investment.
The expedition, with 225 cavalry, 62 infantrymen, some 1,300 male and female servants and retainers, and livestock for food, was a large one. Reaching the land of Cibola, really the Zuni villages, Coronado unkowingly disrupted the summer ceremonial of the Zuni to which no outsiders were welcome. some Zunis might also have feared that the Spaniards came to avenge the deathof Esteban. Whatever the reason, the Zuni began hostilities against the expedition. The Zuni weapons of wood were no match for Spanish steel and horses and soon the intruders were victorious.