Webblog

Lecture 3 was all about the explorers and their view of the Great Plains. These early explorers described the area as a desert. This idea later turned into the term "The Great American Desert." These explorers all had missions and were not just out there to explore. The first ones we talked about were the Spanish. They were called Conquistadors. Their mission was to find wealthy Indian civilizations. One of these expeditions was under the leadership of Coronado. They were supposed to find the Seven Cities of Cibola. They were not able to find them but were told about a place called Quivira by an Indian that looked like a Turk. The Spanish were led in circles by the Turk and eventually killed him. They then found some new guides which brought them to Quivira only to find it was a city of grass lodges of the Wichita Indians. This was a total failure for the Spanish because they were supposed to find gold. The expedition was the first on the plains for the Spanish and they decided it was not a good place for settlement but it reminded them of home so they did like the landscape. Next we talked about the French. Their mission was to make trade relationships with the Indians. They did not seem to like the landscape as much as the Spanish. Then came the Americans after the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. This is the part of the lecture that really interested me. I really enjoy learning about Lewis and Clark because they explored some of the area I'm from and I like to read about how the land was 200 years ago.