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First contact was between Spaniards and a Native American tribe called the Wichita in Kansas. The British and French arrived many years later. And slowly, but surly, these contacts changed the ways of the natives.
Christopher Colombus 'discovered' the Americas in 1492. Within years, Spain began to colonize the west. Traders and soldiers slowly began to take over the northern part as well. Although they shared no common language with the natives, trade was their best communication.
In 1940, the Spaniard, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado was sent to put down an uprising in New Mexico. He succeeded and lived with other soldiers with 800 servants in the Pueblo tribe. There, a Spaniard raped a Native women, and Coronado refused to punish him. The other natives got revenge by stealing horses. Though they were the first Native Americans to obtain the animals, 200 of their men were burned on the stake for punishment.
In order to rid themselves of the Spanish, the tribe people began telling stories about gold in the eastern part of America. They named these Golden cities Quivira, a place where even the poor ate off a plate of gold. Coronado believed the stories and in 1541, went with an expedition in seach of the city. Unfortunatly to the native tribe, he only took 40 people.
They reached central Kansas where they thought 'Quivira' must have been. There was no gold, but a tribe of Wichita people. These Natives lived in an economy based on hunting and gardening much like the Pawnee.
Upon finding no gold, Coronado strangled the scout who told the tales of gold and returned to Mexico in humilition. But for hundreds of years, the Spanish tried to find the gold they thought Coronado missed. They also made a goal of trading with the natives. They exchanged horses, corn, leather, etc.
In 1578, a British man named Sir Francis Drake arrived in the Americas and the Spaniards thought he found the fabled Northwest passage and that would open trade with East India. In response, the Spanish were the first to settle and build forts in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1598.
Soon other countries, like the French began to arrive and trade with the natives. This worried the Spaniards and they tried to conquer large areas in the Central Plains. This was a futile effort, but it changed the lives of the natives living there.
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