In 1539, Friar Marcos de Niza told Spanish colonial officials that he had glimpsed the legendary city of Cíbola, deep in the uncharted wilderness of New Mexico. De Niza, who was a Franciscan friar and one of the first Europeans to explore the American Southwest, was confirming rumors that had long circulated among the Spanish. For years, Spanish soldiers and adventurers had regaled one another with tales of the fantastically wealthy Seven Cities of Cíbola (also called the Seven Cities of Gold), which were said to be hidden just beyond the boundaries of New Spain’s thinly settled northern frontier.