Coronado: Knight of Pueblos and Plains

by Herbert Eugene Bolton

Herbert Eugene Bolton's classic of southwestern history, first published in 1949, delivers the epic account of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado's sixteenth-century entrada to the North American frontier of the Spanish Empire. Leaving Mexico City in 1540 with some three hundred Spaniards and a large body of Indian allies, Coronado and his men--the first Europeans to explore what are now Arizona and New Mexico--continued on to the buffalo-covered plains of Texas and into Oklahoma and Kansas. With documents in hand, Bolton personally followed the path of the Coronado expedition, providing readers with unsurpassed storytelling and meticulous research.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Native American

491 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

an American historian who pioneered the study of the Spanish-American borderlands and was a prominent authority on Spanish American history. He originated what became known as the Bolton Theory of the history of the Americas which holds that it is impossible to study the history of the United States in isolation from the histories of other American nations, and wrote or co-authored 94 works. Bolton was born on a farm between Wilton and Tomah, Wisconsin in 1870 to Edwin Latham and Rosaline (Cady) Bolton. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was a brother of Theta Delta Chi, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1895. That same year he married Gertrude Janes, with whom he eventually had seven children.

Bolton studied under Frederick Jackson Turner from 1896 to 1897. Starting in 1897, Bolton was a Harrison Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania and studied American history under John Bach McMaster. In 1899, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and then taught at Milwaukee State Normal School until 1900.

Reviews

[Herman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have an interest in learning more about this time period, Coronado Knight of Pueblos and Plains by Herbert E. Bolton is probably the best historical account of this period but it has some glaringly obvious problems with the depiction, Written to mark the 450th anniversary of Coronado's (invasion) of Pueblo lands this was a comprehensive telling of that tale and I learned a lot of new information to me but the story is very heavily weighted towards a positive pro-catholic pro-Spanish interpretation and a few comments I clearly took as a sort of dog whistle that this author wasn't going to place the same value on indian or native lives and wasn't going to get too deep into all the things the Spanish had done to the natives although it did discuss the Tiguex war I certainly got the impression that this was a narration from one side of this story but then again this book was written in the 1940's so it's a good reflection of the attitudes of that time just a small example The chapter Rebellion in Sonora a border supple base deep southern Arizona northern Mexico region Coronado left the least dependable and most troublesome soldiers behind at this base when he traveled north and two years later the small contingent had so worn out their welcome with the natives a rebellion breaks out and most everyone was killed or fled, and a group of survivors just eight in number headed north in a running attack on every native village they came across as they fled north toward Coronado's forces. "Gallego and his demonical seven traveled for ten days entirely through inhabited country, without an hour of rest, these commandos forced their way into the hostile Indian towns, killing, destroying, applying the torch, and falling upon the enemy so suddenly that they had no time to assemble.,...Writing a quarter of a century later, Castaneda remarked: "These deeds were such that those people will remember them as long as they live. This will be particularly true of four of five friendly Indians who left Corazones with them. They were so amazed they thought the Spaniards more divine than human." (See kind of lays it on thick at times) So glad I read it gave me more understanding of this period but just three stars because the writing was a little too kiss-ass for me). Still real good to know the history of that time.