The Kingdom of Quivira


The Kingdom of Quivira - Page 2

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Although many of the Spaniards in Mexico held to the view that vast wealth was to be found in Quivira, no attempt was made to visit the province for more than half a century after the expedition or Coronado. Then came the expedition of Bonilla in 1595 and Oñate in 1601, but both of these were undertaken without adequate preparations and conducted in such a lax and desultory manner that nothing was accomplished. After the insurrection of 1680 and the reconquest of New Mexico by Diego de Vargas in 1692-94 the name Quivira, as applied to an interior province or the tribe inhabiting it, seems to have been lost. But the recollection of the golden stories was not allowed to perish, and the myth was transferred to some ruins in what is now Socorro County, New Mexico, about 150 miles south of Santa Fe, which ruins became popularly known as "La Gran Quivira."
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado

To quote again from Bandelier: "The treasure city had lain in ruins since the insurrection of 1680; but its treasures were supposed to be buried in the neighborhood, for it was said there had once been a wealthy mission there, and the priests had buried and hidden the vessels of the church. Thus the Indian kingdom of Quivira of 'the Turk' was metamorphosed in the course of two centuries into an opulent Indian mission, and its vessels of gold and silver into a church service. But where Quivira should be looked for was forgotten."

In the late 19th century efforts were made to ascertain the location of the lost Quivira. The translation of Castaneda's narrative of the Coronado Expedition by Winship; the work of the Hemenway archaeological expedition; the investigations and researches of Simpson, Hodge and others, who have studied and carefully compared the directions and distances given in the relations concerning the movements of Coronado, all point to the region between the Arkansas and Kansas Rivers as the site of the ancient Indian province.

Jacob V. Brower, an archaeologist of St. Paul, Minnesota, made three trips to Kansas for the purpose of determining if possible the location of the original Quivira. The first of these trips was made in November, 1896, the second in March, 1897, and the third in March, 1898. Mr. Brower explored the valleys of the Kansas and Smoky Hill Rivers from the mouth of Mill Creek in Wabaunsee County to Lyon Creek in Dickinson County, and also the valleys of the Arkansas River in the vicinity of Great Bend. Through the testimony of stone implements -- a method that has been criticized as untrustworthy -- he determined the location of six ancient villages. Of these 11 were in Pottawatomie County, 10 in Wabaunsee, 11 in Riley, 20 in Geary, 4 in Dickinson, 6 in McPherson, and 1 each in Marion, Rice and Barton Counties. On October 29, 1901, the Quivira Historical Society was organized at Alma, the county seat of Wabaunsee County. One of the principal objects of the society was to erect monuments marking certain historical sites, and on August 12, 1902, the first of these monuments was unveiled at Logan Grove, near Junction City. More monuments were also erected in Dickinson, Riley and Wabaunsee Counties.

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Today, a historical marker is located on U.S. Highway 56 between Lyons and Chase in Rice County. The marker reads:

Cornado and Quivira

Eighty years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, Spanish explorers visited Kansas. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, seeking gold in New Mexico, was told of Quivira by an Indian called the Turk. Here were "trees hung with golden bells and people whose pots and pans were beaten gold." With 30 picked horsemen and a Franciscan friar named Juan de Padilla, Coronado marched "north by the needle" from a point in Texas until he reached Kansas. Here he found no gold, but a country he described as "the best I have ever seen for producing all the products of Spain." The Turk confessed he had deceived the Spaniards and one night was strangled. For 25 days in the summer of 1541 Coronado remained among the grass-hut villages of the Quiviran Indians, then returned to New Mexico. Padilla went with him, but the following year came back to Quivira as a missionary. Later he was killed by the Indians, the first Christian martyr in the present United States. Near this marker is the site of one of the largest villages of the "Kingdom of Quivira."

A museum is also dedicated to the site in Lyons, Kansas. The Coronado-Quivira Museum displays artifacts and information on early inhabitants, Spanish explorers, the Sante Fe Trail, and the coming of homesteaders and permanent settlers. It is located at 105 West Lyon in Lyons, Kansas

Coronado's description of "straw houses" led archeologists

and historians to believe he had encountered the Wichita Indians,

who built houses like the one above.

Compiled by Kathy Weiser/Legends of Kansas, updated April, 2010.

About the Article: The majority of this historic text was published in Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History, Volume I; edited by Frank W. Blackmar, A.M. Ph. D.; Standard Publishing Company, Chicago, IL 1912. However, the text that appears on these page is not verbatim, as additions, updates, and editing have occurred.

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