who was the first to explore southwest
Francisco VÃ¡squez de Coronado was a Spanish ruler, explorer and conquistador. He was the first European to explore North America's Southwest. Hernando Alarcon Hernando de AlarcÃ³n was a Spanish navigator of the 16th century, noted for having led an early expedition to the Baja California peninsula and for penetrating the lower Colorado River, perhaps as far as the modern California-Arizona boundary.