Francisco Cano (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1560s) was a Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

and

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

who travelled the north of Mexico to find

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

and other precious metals in the 16th century. He served as Lieutenant

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

of the Mazapil mines in the 1560s and discovered a lake in Mexico which led to further colonization of the area. He is considered important to the colonization of what is today

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

because of his opening up of supply lines in

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

. His work in the mines was a major asset in the expanding metal trade that played a large role in the expansion of the Spanish economy throughout the world.

Early life

Cano probably grew up in Spain, where men of all ages were being recruited to go on voyages to the New World to explore and conquer more territory for the Empire.

Lieutenant Major

He became a Lieutenant Major in the Spanish Army in

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

, and presided over the gold mines in Mazapil. One of his main objectives was to find precious metal deposits in the northern areas of

Exploring New Galicia

By the 1560s, the Spanish had conquered the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...

and were pushing into what is today northern Mexico. On November 6, 1568, Cano reported discovering a new lake which he christened the "Lago de Nuevo Mexico". He had been serving as lieutenant major of the mines of Mazapil at the time.

Lake of New Mexico

In late 1568, Cano and the 16 soldiers under his command came upon a large lake while looking for gold and silver mines in the area. There were a large number of small Indian villages which the Spanish referred to as

ranchería The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the resident ...

s, as well as many

Chichimeca Chichimeca () is the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who were established in present-day Bajio region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the meaning as the Roman term "barbarian" that des ...

Indians, mostly fishermen. He called his discovery the Lake of New Mexico, with the approval of the 16 soldiers under his command. The lake that he had discovered was not actually in what would today be considered the state of

in the United States. Instead, it most likely was in what is today

in Mexico proper. The exploration of the area was the final conquest of the Aztec legacy and led to a strong Spanish footprint in the area.

Land claims

Cano made a number of land claims relating to areas he had found during his time as an explorer. He claimed the right of discovery on the shores of the lagune of Tlahualia, which would lead to later settlement of

Parras de la Fuente Parras de la Fuente () is a city located in the southern part of the Mexican state of Coahuila. The city serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding Parras Municipality, which has an area of 9,271.7 km2 (3,579.8 sq mi). At ...

, a city located in the southern part of the Mexican state of

Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...

References