November 19, 2008

We drove over to the Coronado National Monument today.  this is about 50 miles south of where we are staying in Benson, AZ.  It was a cool brisk 40 degrees when we left this morning.  By mid afternoon it was in the mid 70's. 

The monument commemorates Francisco Vasquez de Coronado 1540 expedition into the Americas.   His expedition left Mexico on Feb. 23, 1540 with 350 Spaniards, several priest and over 1000 native Indians and servants.   The primary mission of the expedition was to find gold and silver riches.  They wandered all the way to today's central Kansas, even exploring the south rim of the Grand Canyon.   By the spring of 1541,  disillusioned by not finding any gold or silver, the party headed back to Mexico, arriving in Mexico City in the spring 1542.






^The road up to the summit of Montezuma Pass is 8 miles of dusty, gravel road
with several switchbacks.




^Looking east from the top toward the San Pedro River Valley


^Looking west over the San Rafael Valley.  To the far left is Mexico

Although discredited, Coronado resumed the governorship of New Galicia.
It took him 4 years to clear his name.  He died at the age of 42, 10 years after
returning to Mexico.

To see more of this and some of our other adventures, click photos in www.rv2go.us.