Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led the first whites into the area in 1541. Coronado’s expedition was looking for a land called Quivira, where an Indian guide told him he would find gold. No gold was found, and the Spanish left without creating a settlement. By the early 1600s, France had claimed much of North America, including Kansas. During the early 1700s, French fur trappers began to settle in what is now the northeastern corner of Kansas.