Searching for the fabled cities of gold, Coronado in the 1540s pushed as far north into the Great Plains as central Kansas. Two hundred years later, Villasur reached the Platte River in central Nebraska, where his party was attacked and defeated by Otoes and Pawnees. Spanish fur trader Manuel Lisa worked the upper regions of the Missouri River in the early 1800s. At its zenith in 1795, New Spain constituted most of the American West. Today, large Hispanic/Latino populations live in the Northern Plains, especially in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and Colorado. In metropolitan Sioux Falls (pop. 250,000), for example, the Hispanic/Latino population is now the largest minority. For the 45th Annual Dakota Conference, the Center for Western Studies is seeking papers on all aspects of Spanish exploration of and Hispanic/Latino immigration to the Northern Plains. Papers and sessions on all aspects of the Northern Plains are also welcome. Send a one-page paper or session proposal with title, brief description, and biographical sketch, along with presenter name, street address, phone number, and e-mail address.