Ponce de León’s negative example can be contrasted with one of his contemporaries, another Spanish explorer named Hernán Cortés. While Ponce de León was searching for the mythical fountain, Cortés was learning about a city so magnificent, it too sounded legendary. But there was something different about the information Cortés received. Unlike Ponce de León, Cortés had good reason to believe that the city actually existed. He had received specific details about the city’s king, Montezuma. He had also