The golden dream of the earlier explorers had been of a land bursting with riches and glorious in opportunities for lasting renown, in short, another “Peru” or another “Mexico.” Assuredly it had led them through dangers and hardships which to modern ears sound as much like fairy tales as the treasures these gallant men hoped to secure. If the reality was far from the dream, it was, nevertheless, a land of promise. There continued also a belief in the Strait of Anian, the long-hoped-for northwest passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific, and some of the claimants for the right to govern the northern territory, while speaking scornfully to the viceroy of the sterile deserts of Cíbola and Quivira, affirmed that the true wealth was beyond, and that by reaching that “beyond” there would also be discovered the shorter route between the two great seas. [Illustration: TO-YA-LA-NE FROM MODERN ZUÑI _Bolton_] [Illustration: MODERN ZUÑI, ON SITE OF ANCIENT HÁLONA RIVER IN FOREGROUND _Bolton_] Enough had been discovered by Espéjo and his men to stir the imagination and the cupidity of all New Spain. Quite naturally Espéjo felt himself entitled to the first chance. But there were many other aspirants, and Espéjo’s recommendation that the new province should be subject directly to the King of Spain and not to the viceroy of New Spain, was probably no help to the fulfillment of his ambition. In 1595 it was decided to make a fresh attempt to conquer and colonize on a much more complex and thoroughgoing scale than any of the others, and, beyond New Mexico, to reach the much-talked-of Quivira. The command was entrusted to the greatest of all those who went into the north, Juan de Oñate, who became the true founder of New Mexico. Bolton in commenting upon it says, “This was then the great epoch-making step toward both the Strait of Anian and the Sea; no less than the pushing forward of a frontier whose interstices it would take a hundred years to fill, even with military outposts.” Chapter IV THE BATTLE IN THE SKY CITY _Hand to hand and foot to foot_ _Nothing there save death, was mute._ _Strike, and thrust, and flash, and cry_ _For quarter or for victory_ _Mingle there with the volleying thunder._ —BYRON, _Siege of Corinth_. There are few figures in the early history of this country so gallant or so picturesque as that of Juan de Oñate, son of Cristóbal Oñate, the man who discovered the rich mines of Nueva Galicia, thereby laying the foundation of one of the first fortunes of North America. The son, Juan, added lustre to the name by his marriage with the houses both of Montezuma and of Cortés, so it is scarcely to be wondered at that the viceroy Velasco chose him from the crowd of hungry applicants to be the leader of a fresh expedition to the new province.