Grand Canyon

Commanders, and I solemnly adjure you to be faithful in all things, as good and true soldiers, to those who command by my commission in the King's name.

"When I look upon you, I wish I might make generals of you all. You go upon a great adventure. You go to seek out new lands, to the enlargement of the realm's dominions. You go to bring unknown cities and peoples, now in darkness, to the light of the Cross. Remember always that you go in peace, and that as you bring these peoples under the royal banner of Spain, you make them subjects, but not slaves.

"Serving well in this, on your return you may count on all aid and favor from me, and from those in authority who come after me. So, believing wholly in your faith and courage, I bid you set on, in the name of His Most Catholic Majesty, Charles the Fifth, King of Spain."

Trumpets sound out. The banners of Imperial Spain flow proudly in the breeze. Then the gallant Captain General answers: "I, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, do swear by God all powerful and by His Holy Mother, on the Cross and by the words of the Holy Evangels, that as a Christian vassal and servant of His Majesty, I will use the office of Captain General, to which His Lordship Don Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy, has appointed me for this expedition, to cherish the service of God and of His Majesty; I will obey and fulfill the commandments of the Lord Viceroy as a gentleman and a soldier should do with all my knowledge and understanding."

The expedition moves on. The place is Compostela, Mexico, February 22, 1540. The The Entrada, in 18 spectacular scenes, follows the march of Coronado from Compostela through the Southwest. It ends with the final trial of Coronado and his acquittal of charges of incompetent leadership.

town is in gay fiesta spirit. The populace gathers along the street. Friends scream their final "Adios!" A tearful mother embraces her young son, so eager for adventure and riches. Senoritas toss roses to the soldiers. So begins the march of Coronado.

Directors for the pageant at Prescott and Clifton are sent out from the U. S. Coronado Exposition Commission. Casts chosen from people of each of the communities start rehearsals approximately six weeks before the pageant is presented publicly. Staging, costuming, and general technical detail of the pageant is both colorful and interesting.

"The Entrada of Coronado" is accurate in historical detail, except for minor episodes and characters introduced for dramatic effect.

The story of the Coronado expedition is told in 18 dramatic scenes. The first scene takes place at Compostela, where the march begins. The second scene takes place at Cíbola, when Coronado arrives at the seven cities. Then the scenes follow in historical unity, each scene depicting some important event in the expedition. The despair of the captains and soldiers becomes more pronounced. The disappointment of Coronado in not finding riches, the anxiety of all members of the expedition in being faced constantly by starvation and the ever-growing hostility of the natives: all of these emotions are skillfully brought out in most dramatic form.

It is May, 1542. The army of Coronado in rags trudges through the wilderness of Arizona. The Chronicler, Castañeda, speaks: "The last long march.

ona.

"The leagues of Cibola, the desert reach,

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Costumes that have been buried under the dust of centuries have been recreated for "The Entrada of Coronado." Details of time, place and action have been worked out for this historical drama with great accuracy.

of Ancient Times

Scattered throughout this land that is Arizona are countless pre-historic ruins, remnants of a people of long ago whose story is lost in the obscurity of time's dark corridors. These ruins were aging in the sun, wind and weather when Coronado came by four hundred years ago. When they were built and when they were forsaken, why and by whom, is the riddle many scholars are trying to solve today. The white light of scholarship has penetrated but dimly through the far centuries and the story of these ancient people of ancient times comes to us in particles tied together in generous ribbons of conjecture.

The traveler can find these ruins in every part of the state, and each year new ones are being excavated. One authority believes that Arizona of ancient times was as populous as Arizona of today. There are evidences that at one time hundreds of thousands of pre-historic people lived in villages and pits throughout all of the vast area of our land.

From where did they come, and when? What were they like? Why did they leave? Where did they go? That is the fascinating study of archaeology and those questions have driven hundreds of our scholars digging into the mounds of our pre-historic ruins, patch-ing together pieces of pottery, rearranging skeletons, always in search of the truth. It seems a pity that when you die some inquisitive chap will come along centuries later and poke prying fingers into your grave. But so it was with the lost civilizations of Egypt, Greece and Rome. So it is with the lost civilization of our land. So will it probably be with us.

Some of the most important of the pre-historic ruins of this state have been set aside by the U. S. government as national monuments. This has been done to prevent thoughtless persons from destroying valuable relics and to assure the serious scholars of opportunity for orderly study.

National monuments of Arizona of pre-historic import are the following: Navajo National Monument, Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Wupatki National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Tuzigoot National Monument, Montezuma Castle National Monument, Tonto National Monument, and Casa Grande National Monument. Besh-ba-gowah Ruins at Globe and the Pueblo Grande at Phoenix are municipally operated ruins of great archaeological import. Dr. Byron Cummings has for the past several years been engaged in the excavation of Kinishba, near Fort Apache in the White Mountains. Kinishba will eventually become one of the most important pre-historic ruins in the state. Its development under the direction of one of the most famous archaeologists in the country has been careful and well planned.

Montezuma Castle (a view of which is presented on the opposite page) is interesting both as a scenic attraction and as a treasure-house of archaeological information. The Castle is located on Beaver Creek northeast of Clarkdale, a few miles from U. S. 79.

A visit to our land would not be complete unless the traveler included one or more of these pre-historic ruins in his journey. The visits to the ruins in the national monuments are particularly interesting because informed rangers and custodians conduct informational tours which are enlightening and worthwhile. Life in our land of ancient times is reconstructed with clarity. The uninformed traveler is not neglected in these lectures. So in this new, young land that is Arizona there are signs of ancient people of ancient times. They were found here four hundred years ago when the Spaniards came, and how long they had been here before that is conjecture. The traveler can wander about the ruins and only wonder about the people who built them, lived in them, and left them to the sun, the wind and the weather... R. C.

The Grand Canyon of Arizona, Nature's greatest masterpiece, was first seen by white men in 1540 when a small party led by one of Coronado's captains, Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas, came to its South Rim in search of the Colorado River.

YOU couldn't blame Don Garcia Lopez de Cardenas nor any of the members of his party who were the first white men to ever see the Grand Canyon. They weren't impressed! That was in 1540. Captain Cardenas had been sent from the Zuni Villages by Captain General Coronado to investigate the wild tales the Indians told of this great region.

It had been a long, hot march and when they stood on the Canyon's Rim far, far below them was a thread they knew to be a river and far to the other side was the North Rim of the Canyon and in the canyon itself rose spires "as high as the highest cathedrals in Seville." They sought gold, not beauty and they were not impressed. The extent of their magnificent discovery is known to us now. Perhaps those Spaniards blink-ing into the canyon four hundred years ago, would have been more impressed had they known that the Canyon was the most important discovery any Spaniard made in the new world, that it was more valuable than all the gold and silver that came out of Peru and Mexico during the Conquest, and that four hundred years later men and women would come from every part of the world to drink of its inspiring beauty, and that no one in all of Christendom could claim to be travel wise unless he had stood on that canyon rim.

Captain Cardenas would have been more impressed had he known in 1540 that men would spend great wealth building railroads and fine highways to that canyon rim; so that each month thousands of travelers through our land could reach that exalted destination with the minimum of effort. He would have been impressed to see the village that came to be