Along the Coronado Trail

THREE hundred and ninety-three years ago, on the 7th day of July, 1540, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, a Spaniard of noble birth, governor of New Galicia, general in the army of His Majesty the King of Spain, and famous Conquistador, stood before Hawiku, first of the seven cities of Ci-bola, his further progress halted by the Indians who engaged him in combat and wounded him several times. Ultimately an advantage was gained which forced the Indians to sarrender, thus giving much needed corn to the invaders seeking gold for the king. Seven years ago, on the nineteenth day of June, 1926, citizens from all parts of Arizona and New Mexico stood before a simple but impressive tablet at Hannigan Meadow, 73 miles north of Clifton, while the United States sec-tion of the route followed by Coronado and his men from Mexico to Zuni was dedicated as the Coronado Trail, thus giving to the American people a north and south route from Old Mexico to the National Old Trails, and beyond, unequalled in scenic splendor and ro-mantic and historical background.

Today if Coronado's ghost haunts the trail he blazed with incredible hardships through the wilderness of Arizona 393 years ago, he must recognize the fact that he traversed an area representing greater wealth than he could have understood when he set forth on his quest.

Route Blazed by Plumed Knights of Spain Pierces Popular Vacation Land

History tells us he camped on the site of Tombstone, with its immense gold and silver deposits, centuries hence to become noted in song and story as the most famous camp in the Southwest.

Coronado sought gold, the only universal standard of wealth in those prim-itive days. Today things have altered, and while gold is still the standard, wealth is represented in many other ways. His journey led him through Apache and Crook National Forests, three and a half billion feet of saw timber, comprising the largest virgin forest in the United States, one of the most valuable of the many treasures stored in unbelievably rich Arizona, and covering an area of more than a million and a half acres.

The Coronado Trail from Clifton, in Greenlee County, to Springerville, in Apache County, is one of the outstanding scenic journeys of the world.

Though the United States section of Coronado's route begins at Nogales on the Mexican border, and proceeds north through Tombstone, Willcox, Safford and on into Clifton, and though the exact route at many stages of his journey is a matter of dispute, the fact remains that this is approximately the line he traveled, the principal divergence being at Nogales itself, as Coronado came down the San Pedro River some distance to the east.

Starting at Nogales, on the Mexican border, the Trail leads through Tomb-stone, 72 miles away, passing the ruins of old Fort Crittenden, which was established on August 10, 1867, as a protection against raiding Apaches for the settlers of Babocamari, Sonoita and Santa Cruz Valleys. This post, which covered a considerable extent of ground and was built on a gently rising knoll with a good supply of water close to the surface, outlived its usefulness and was abandoned on June 1, 1873. Little remains now but the nearly washed-away adobe walls and the building which partly housed the powder magazine, built at one end with thick walls, floor and ceiling.

Arriving at Tombstone, notorious camp of the wild and woolly yesterdays, one sees the famous Bird Cage theater and other relics of its uproarious history, then on through Gleeson, Courtland, Willcox, Safford, Solomonville, and into Clifton, crossing the Gila (Coronado's "River of Rafts") en route, 232 miles from Nogales and 223 miles from old Hawiku, one of the Seven Cities of Cibola.

Clifton, between the towering cliffs of the San Francisco river, has been definitely established as on the exact route which Coronado followed, evidenced by the finding of a gold inlaid Spanish sword a short distance south oftown. This proof of Spanish habitation has been the cause of placing the Chil-chilticalle of Coronado's time in this general vicinity.

JULY, 1933 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 7

Clifton has many interesting things to offer, its famous mineral hot springs and beautiful bathhouses are becoming famous, and the neighboring town of Morenci, clinging to the hillside, is worthy of a visit.

Leaving Clifton along Chase Creek at an elevation of 3460 feet, almost immediately the first of three climbs begins. Before reaching the northern boundary of Greenlee County through the beautiful Metcalf Canyon, the narrow gauge railroad far below looking like a ribbon of steel, the climb is a steady one until, at Grey's Peak five miles beyond Cherry Lodge, an altitude of 7500 feet is reached.

Beyond Grey's Peak, over a splendid straightaway across the Four-Bar-Mesa and past Pine Flat, 5,000 feet high, another climb is encountered, through wooded mountains to Rose Peak, at an altitude of 8,550 feet, from which a gorgeous panorama can be viewed. The lookout tower at the top of Rose Peak is 9,000 feet above sea level and is one of the finest fire lookouts in the entire United States, made of steel throughout with living quarters on top of the tower. The trail leads downward from Rose Peak, passing many entrancing scenes through the timber, Sheep Saddle, Burne Corral and Rattlesnake Spring, where once again the climb begins, this time to the top of the magnificent Blue Range, with its millions of feet of virgin timber unspoiled by the hand of man. At the top of the Blue Range, following a climb of seven miles and the head of K. P. Cienega at an altitude of 9,500 feet, a gorgeous view down into K. P. Canyon may be enjoyed, just a few miles beyond.

Passing Hannigan Meadow, 73 miles from Clifton, and the dedication monument erected when the Trail was opened seven years ago, the road follows Hannigan Creek, through beautiful forests of pine and fir and over an excellent roadway, past the Greenlee County line, over another stately mountain top and down to Coronado Lodge, 21 miles from Hannigan Meadow. Alpine is a mile beyond and Springerville 29 miles from Alpine, thence to St. Johns, over an excellent highway and past countless century-old volcanic eruptions.

At St. Johns, the county seat of Apache, a place of tranquil beauty nestling in its stately poplar setting, the road to Hawiku is continued on the St. Johns-Houck road and a journey of 59 miles leads to Zuni, 455 miles from Nogales.

Almost directly south of the present day Zuni, New Mexico, (which is not the Zuni of Coronado's time) and only a short five miles away the old ruins of Hawiku, the Cibola of Coronado, are found, and here ends the famous Cor-onado Trail.

The ruins of this historic spot have been partly excavated within recent years. The roofs have fallen in, the walls disintegrated and all that remains is the ground floor plan of Hawiku, (renamed Granada by Coronado) shown by the rock walls still standing. It is evident from historical data and an ex-amination of the ruins themselves that the walls of the lower stories were of stone, the upper part being of adobe. Below the flats of the village the Indians raised corn, and the Zuni of today continue this practice, although they do not live close by.

Thus ends the trail followed by the plumed and belted knights of Coronado nearly four hundred years ago, and thus a journey of unparalleled beauty has been given to the tourist of the present day.

Returning to Navajo on the National Old Trails, a drive of 43 miles brings the tourist to Holbrook, where your vacation trip may be continued, either west over the National Old Trails to Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, and then south into the Salt River Valley and Phoenix, or east to Gallup or Albuquerque, New Mexico, north to Denver, and on to the Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park on the Canadian border, and a south to north trip across the United States that cannot be equaled.

It is said that Coronado, failing in his quest for gold, moved his headquarters, in the fall of 1540, to Tiguez on the west bank of the river we now call the Rio Grande, some miles above the site of Albuquerque, New Mexico; and in 1541 he carried on the explorations which led him into the present states of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. In December of the same year he was severely injured by a fall from his horse and determined to return to New Spain. Tiguez was abandoned in the spring of(Continued on Page 27)