Other Spanish conquerors turned north to
the lands now forming the southern part of the United States. In 1539 Hernando de Soto came from Spain by way of Cuba to the east coast of Florida. From there he trekked overland to the Mississippi. He wandered into what is now Arkansas and Oklahoma and later floated down the Arkansas River to its mouth. In 1542 he
died and was buried in the Mississippi.

Indian traditions and stories of Spanish wanderers told that somewhere north of
Mexico the golden towers of the Seven Cities of Cibola gleamed in the sun.

Francisco de Coronado, governor of a province in western Mexico, set out in 1540 to find them. He crossed the deserts and plains between what is now western New Mexico and central Kansas, but he found only poor Indian towns, which have become known as pueblos. Coronado returned to Mexico without gold and jewels.
Although Coronado had traveled well into the heart of North America, the Spaniards did not care to explore further the disappointing lands he had seen.
Earlier, in 1524-25, a Portuguese sea captain, Estevan Gomez, serving the king of Spain, explored the coast of North America from Maine to New Jersey. His descriptions led the Spaniards to consider this region far less valuable than the lands they had in the south. Thus they ignored the greater part of the East
coast of North America.
The Portuguese made one important discovery in this northern region. In 1501 Gaspar Corte-Real reached Newfoundland. His voyages were not repeated, for Portugal soon needed all of its resources to develop its East India empire and
its colony in Brazil.