Francisco Cano (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for '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 indic ...

1560s) was a Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

who travelled the north of Mexico to find

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

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

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

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 New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

because of his opening up of supply lines in

Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...

. 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 ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, 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, also known as the Triple Alliance (, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahuas, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states rul ...

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 Indigenous peoples of the Americas, native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meaning ...

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 Bajío region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the same meaning as the Roman term "barbarian" tha ...

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 Mexico, Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Coahuila. The city serves as the municipal seat of the surrounding Parras Municipality, which has an area of 9,271.7 km ...

, 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, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

References