Wed, Apr 15
|Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse
Peter Stark, The Lost Cities of El Norte: Coronado’s Quest, the Unconquered West, and the Birth of American Indian Resis
A masterfully crafted narrative of the Conquistador Francisco Coronado’s expedition across 2,500 miles of the vast uncharted North American interior, “El Norte Misterioso”, where he was turned back by fierce indigenous resistance that would thwart white rule for the next three hundred years.
Date, Time & Location
Apr 15, 2026, 6:00 PM MDT
Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse, 202 Galisteo St, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
About the Event
Join us in-store or register to watch on Zoom.
Pre-order The Lost Cities of El Norte ($35, hardcover, publishes April 14) online from CWB here or call the store to order (505) 988-4226.
In 1540, the grandest exploring expedition ever assembled in the Americas paraded north from the ruins of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, a glittering column of 2,000 men heading into the unknown. Their destination was El Norte Misterioso—The Mysterious North, present-day United States—where fabulous cities of gold were rumored to shine beyond the horizon. Two years later, survivors began stumbling back, half dead. Lost to poisoned arrows, brutal deserts, starvation, cold, desertion, and countless other hardships, 90% of those who left would never return.
Led by Francisco Coronado and backed by the full weight of the Spanish empire, the superpower of its day, they had expected to seize the land, steal its riches, and subjugate its peoples, just as…