Editing Hopi (section)

==Early European contact, 1540–1680==

The first recorded European contact with the Hopi was by the [[Spanish Empire|Spanish]] in 1540. Spanish General [[Francisco Vásquez de Coronado]] went to North America to explore the land. While at the [[Zuni people|Zuni]] villages, he learned of the Hopi tribe. Coronado dispatched Pedro de Tovar and other members of their party to find the Hopi villages.<ref name="Brew, J.O. 1850">Brew, J.O. "Hopi Prehistory and History to 1850." In Alonso Ortiz, vol. ed., ''Southwest'', vol. 9, in William C. Sturtevant, gnl. ed., ''Handbook of North American Indians'', Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1979: 514–523.</ref> The Spanish wrote that the first Hopi village they visited was [[Awatovi Ruins|Awatovi]]. They noted that there were about 16,000 Hopi and Zuni people.<ref name="Whitely, Peter M. 1988" /> A few years later, the Spanish explorer [[García López de Cárdenas]] investigated the [[Rio Grande]] and met the Hopi. They warmly entertained Cardenas and his men and directed him on his journey.<ref name="Brew, J.O. 1850" />

In 1582–1583 the Hopi were visited by [[Antonio de Espejo]]'s expedition. He noted that there were five Hopi villages and around 12,000 Hopi people.<ref name="Whitely, Peter M. 1988" /> During that period the Spanish explored and colonized the southwestern region of the New World, but never sent many forces or settlers to the Hopi country.<ref name="Brew, J.O. 1850" /> Their visits to the Hopi were random and spread out over many years. Many times the visits were from military explorations.

The Spanish colonized near the Rio Grande and, because the Hopi did not live near rivers that gave access to the Rio Grande, the Spanish never left any troops on their land.<ref name="ReferenceA">Clemmer, Richard O. ''Roads in the Sky'', Boulder, Colorado.: Westview Press, Inc., 1995: 30–90.</ref> The Spanish were accompanied by [[missionaries]], [[Catholic]] friars. Beginning in 1629, with the arrival of 30 friars in Hopi country, the Franciscan Period started.  The Franciscans had missionaries assigned and built a church at Awatovi.