The history of Kansas begins with the first exploration of this country by white men nearly four hundred years ago. Spain was the first nation to explore the New World. The chief purpose of the Spaniards was to find gold. They had heard from the Indians of rich cities to the northward, and when Cabeza de Vaca told them similar tales the people of New Spain decided to explore the country. They sent Coronado with a large army on a journey of exploration lasting two years. He failed to find gold, but his expedition is of interest because he was the first white man known to have traversed what is now Kansas. REFERENCES Prentis, History of Kansas, pp. 1-23. Foster, A History of the United States, p. 29. Spring, Kansas, pp. 17-19. Andreas, History of Kansas, pp. 44-45. Bourne, Spain in America (vol. III, of The American Nation, a History). Blackmar, Kansas, Selected Topics. Historical Collections, vol. VII, pp. 20, 40, 268, 573; vol. VIII, p. 152; vol. X, p. 68; vol. XII, p. 219. Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. QUESTIONS 1. How long has it been since Columbus discovered America? 2. Compare the population at that time with the present population of the United States. 3. In what part of the United States is Kansas? 4. Describe briefly the western part of the Mississippi valley. Describe the surface of Kansas. 5. What relation has Spain to the history of Kansas? Why did Spain claim the first right to America? Name some of the early discoveries of the Spaniards. 6. Where was New Spain? 7. What influenced the Spaniards in their ventures in the New World? 8. Who was Cabeza de Vaca? Of what importance is the account of his adventures? 9. Tell the story of Coronado. What is his relation to Kansas history? CHAPTER II KANSAS BECOMES A PART OF THE UNITED STATES =The French.= While the Spaniards were searching for wealth in the southern part of North America the French were trading with the Indians in the northern part along the St. Lawrence River and around the Great Lakes. Among the French were many Catholic priests, called Jesuits, who came to carry their religious faith to the Indians. In 1673, one of these Jesuits, Father Marquette, accompanied a trader named Joliet on an expedition to explore the Mississippi River. They launched their canoes on the great river and floated downstream for hundreds of miles, between shores that in some places were thickly wooded, and in others were grassy plains. They went as far south as the mouth of the Arkansas River, and then turned and began the long, hard task of paddling back.