NIZA, MARCOS DE

born c. 1495, Nice, Savoy [now in France] died March 25, 1558, Mexico byname Fray Marcos Franciscan friar who claimed to have sighted the legendary Seven Golden Cities of Cibola in what is now western New Mexico. Niza went to the Americas in 1531 and served in Peru, Guatemala, and Mexico. At Culiacn, Mex., he freed Indian slaves from regions to the north. Under orders from the viceroy Antonio de Mendoza, Niza and a Moor, Esteban, led an expedition across the desert to the cities of Cibola (1539). Esteban was killed; Niza claimed to have come within sight of large towns rich in precious stones, gold, and silver. The following year Francisco de Coronado found the seven cities to be small and poor Indian pueblos. Niza became provincial of his order for Mexico in 1541.