In 1540, 12 conquistadors led by Garcia-Lopez de Cardenas reached the south rim of the Grand Canyon near what is now Desert View, a national park campground about 10 minutes north of Tusayan, Arizona.
Rendezvous
Francisco de Coronado sent Cardena's party to find a rumored large river to take them to the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) to rendezvous with supply ships.
Tusayan
Native Arizonans at Tusayan received Cardenas hospitably, providing guides and food for a 20-day march to the river, which they called Tizon.
Entering the Canyon
Cold weather on the rim made Cardenas guess the Colorado River was a small stream in a valley between two tall mountains. He followed the rim for three days looking for a path down the mountain. He sent a party of three men down the canyon wall to the river, but they returned unsuccessful late the same day.
Seven Cities of Cibola
Coronado expected to find the Seven Cities of Cibola, so rich that their streets were paved with gold. He searched for them as far north as central Kansas.
Hernando de Alarcon
While looking for his rendezvous point with Coronado, Hernando de Alarcon had taken his ships up the Colorado River as far as its confluence with the Gila River, near Yuma, about 60 miles upstream from the mouth.
References
Howe, Hubert and Alfred Bates. History of Utah, History Co., San Francisco, 1889, page 3
www.books.google.com/books?id=2OwNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=Garcia+Lopez+de+Cardenas&ei
Wuerthner, George. Grand Canyon, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA, 1998.
www.books.google.com/books?id=2t4N1fEy88EC&pg=PA20&dq
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