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For more than one hundred years, archaeologists and historians have been trying to find the route used by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1540-1542 to cross what is now the U.S.-Mexico border. This was the first major Spanish expedition to travel any distance into what is now the United States. Surviving documents describe the inhabitants and environments encountered during the enterprise, but these writings are vague and open to differing interpretations, leading to competing theories about the route. It is clear, however, that this expedition numbering as many as 350 Europeans and more than 1,000 Indians, along with 1,000 horses and mules, 500 head of cattle, and 5,000 sheep-must have come north out of Mexico somewhere in southeastern Arizona or southeastern New Mexico. Surely they lost and discarded personal items along the way.
The Center for Desert Archaeology, a private non-profit organization in Tucson, Arizona-is initiating a public education project to determine Coronado's 1540 route by trying to find telltale artifacts associated with the expedition. Previous research has shown that at least seven types of artifacts are found exclusively with the 1540-1542 Coronado Expedition:
- Copper crossbow boltheads (arrow tips)
- Crossbow parts and accessories
- Short copper or brass aglets (lace tips)
- Nueva Cadiz glass beads
- Sheet brass Clarksdale bells
- Obsidian-edged swords and lances
- Caret-head nails (horseshoe nails)
To view photos of examples of these artifacts click here.
We hope that once the local residents become aware of these artifact types, they might be willing to come forward with existing collections. If researchers could find enough of these items, with general provenience information intact, it may be possible to finally determine Coronado's specific route.
This project is not encouraging people to go out "artifact hunting." However, we recognize that our best chance of finding Coronado-era artifacts is through people who have already found artifacts, or have had items handed down through the family. A local resident helped discover one of the few confirmed Coronado campsites in the Southwest, the Jimmy Owen Site in Texas. If researchers can identify Coronado related artifacts and the general locations where they were found, it may be possible to locate the Coronado trail through Arizona or western New Mexico.
For more information contact the...
Center for Desert Archaeology
300 East University Boulevard, Suite 230
Tucson, Arizona, 85705
Tel: 520+882+6946
Toll Free: 1-800-557-8353
coronado@cdarc.org
www.cdarc.org
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