Cárdenas, García López de
Cárdenas, García López de
(gärthē`ä lō`pĕth dā kär`dānäs), fl. 1540, Spanish explorer in the Southwest. A member of the 1540 expedition of Francisco Vásquez de CoronadoCoronado, Francisco Vásquez de, c.1510–1554, Spanish explorer. He went to Mexico with Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and in 1538 was made governor of Nueva Galicia.
..... Click the link for more information. , he was selected to lead a party from Cibola (the Zuñi country of New Mexico) to find a river of which the Hopi had spoken. After 20 days' march he became the first white man to see the Grand CanyonGrand Canyon,
great gorge of the Colorado River, one of the natural wonders of the world; c.1 mi (1.6 km) deep, from 4 to 18 mi (6.4–29 km) wide, and 217 mi (349 km) long, NW Ariz.
..... Click the link for more information. of the Colorado River. He was not, however, the first European to discover the Colorado itself, for Hernando de AlarcónAlarcón, Hernando de
, fl. 1540, Spanish explorer in the Southwest. He was given command of a fleet that was supposed to support the land expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado.
..... Click the link for more information. had explored its lower waters a month earlier.