Coronado's Legacy

December 25, 2000

Coronado’s Legacy While birding along the San Pedro River, near the Mexican border in southeast Arizona, we happened upon a campground. It was not an unusual campground for this part of the world but one that filled me with wonder. It was not a campground with tables, benches, fireplaces and running water, but one with a dirty old car seat used for a bed. Located in the dense brush under a small mesquite tree, it was surrounded by empty plastic gallon water containers which were strewn about, along with the telltale black plastic trash bags. Discarded socks, shoes, underwear lay where they had been found no longer useful. A cheap backpack with a broken strap lay on one side of the campground, a carrying bag with a torn handle lay on the other. Ashes provided evidence of a small campfire. The lower branches of the small tree were covered with grass to protect the campers from the sun. Or, was the grass placed in the tree to protect the campers from the prying eyes of the border patrol during their regular helicopter flights over the area?

Camp of Illegal Aliens It was Christmas Eve and we were searching the mesquite scrub brush near the river for birds – thrashers and towhees. We received our first, and maybe our favorite, Christmas present when movement in the brush revealed our first, second and third Green Tailed Towhees. They were surprisingly tame and, like some Miss America contestant, showed us all their curves and colors in the warm afternoon sun. The red cap, white throat, gray face and chest, green back and tail clearly identified the bird. Their colors were more striking than the photo in Kenn Kaufman’s new “Birds of North America.” We wondered how this bird, which summers in the mountains of

the western USA and winters throughout much of Mexico and along the Mexican border, had eluded our life-list for so long. It was about then that I realized that the informal, winding trail we were hiking was not likely made by the rangers of the Bureau of Land Management – who manage this San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. It was more likely made by the illegal immigrants who had crept through the thorns in the dark of night to avoid the prying eyes of the Border Patrol. “What a mess,” I thought to myself as more empty water containers appeared along the trail and another cluttered campground appeared. Why are these illegal immigrants so trashy? Why can’t they simply carry their litter to some trash receptacle and dispose of it like civilized folks? I remembered similar trash along the Rio Grande River in Benson State Park near Mission, TX. According to my brother John, the black plastic bags are inflated and used to float the Mexicans and their possessions across the Rio Grande River. Criticism of these illegal immigrants is easy. Understanding is much more difficult. From the perspective of our easy and affluent lifestyle, it is difficult to understand the lives of these Mexican immigrants. Because we have money in the bank, in our wallet, and spare change in a dish some place . . . we are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy. Many of these Mexican immigrants arrive in Arizona with only the clothes on their back, but with great hope for a future in the USA. It is difficult to imagine the stresses they face from hunger, thirst, cold, heat, and the fear or being caught by the Border Patrol. They probably have no idea that they might be able to sink the American lifeboat with the tidal wave of their numbers. Many grew up in small Mexican villages where the corn shucks from their tamales were simply discarded as organic matter in the yards – to be dropped near where the tamale was eaten. Why should the plastic bags and water containers of our modern civilization be disposed of in a different manner? It is easier for us relatively affluent gringos to be trash-conscious and environmentally friendly than for the poor Mexican who is more interested in finding the next meal or shelter for his children. We tend to moderate our criticism when we see how hard they are willing to work to harvest our crops, care for our children or mow our lawns.

Border Fence at Naco, AZ

In the small town of Naco, AZ, which straddles the border, a tall iron fence separates the two sides. It functions to slow the tide of illegal immigrants. The wall extends out on both sides of the town for about ½ mile to force potential aliens to cross the border out in the grasslands where they can be more easily seen by the Border Patrol. The American side is a rusty colored, drab looking fence. However, the Mexican side reveals some amateur works of art and one which reads, “vive sin drogas” or live without drugs. But fence or no fence, illegal aliens continue to stream into the USA. Many use the homemade trails through the San Pedro Valley in their northward journey. Mexicans have been using this valley to find new homes in the north since Coronado and his soldiers headed north here in search of Cibola, the seven cities of gold. Coronado came with friendly intent, but armed to the teeth. All he wanted was gold, which he was quite willing to steal by friendly means if possible. But if the Indians were unwilling to part with their gold, the Spaniards were quick to use their superior military technology to spill a little Indian blood and confiscate the gold in the name of Spain, Mexico, God or any other justification they could muster. But poor young Coronado found not cities of gold, only Indian pueblos. He and his soldiers grew very weary carrying all that armor up into Kansas and back into Mexico.

Coronado and His Men Coronado and his men may have been (at least from the Indian’s perspective) the first illegal aliens into Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. Their story is well-told at the Coronado National Monument. This very impressive monument is located on the Mexican border south of Sierra Vista, AZ. The Visitors Center provides 25 lb. chain mail shirts, heavy, ill-fitting metal helmets and Spanish swords to help the tourist get a feel for what it was like to be a Spanish soldier exploring the hot southwestern desert. After trying on all this stuff and posing for a photo, I can attest to the fact that wearing this armor is not great fun. Lessons were necessary just to learn how to put on a 25 lb. shirt. You don’t just pick it up and slide it over

your head like a regular shirt. You bend from the waist, lift, yank and twist until you are imprisoned by this devilish device. However, it was obviously a great protection from Indian arrows.

One of Coronado's Soldiers Heading west, past the Visitors Center, a steep gravel road winds up Montezuma Valley to the high Montezuma Pass. From the large parking lot at the pass, the Coronado Peak Trail leads .4 miles to the top of Coronado Peak. Along the trail are signs that provide information about Coronado’s adventure and the reason for the existence of the Coronado National Monument. History was once of only minor interest to me, but this stuff was fascinating. So, let’s see, when did Coronado make this journey? Most US history took place after 1776. A historical event in the USA that took place in the mid-1800s is considered ancient history. But Coronado was hiking across what is now Arizona way back in 1540. Wow! That’s only 49 years after Columbus discovered America. From the top of Coronado Peak it is possible to see perhaps a hundred miles into Mexico through the clear, high-desert air. The Sierra Madres and vast Mexican plains containing thousands of acres of the once rich, but now overgrazed grassland can be seen. The route that Coronado took down the San Pedro River, as it winds north out of Mexico, is clearly visible. However, it would have been difficult to see Coronado’s entourage from this vantage point because they would have been lost among the grass, shrubs and distance -- even though there were 1443 soldiers, priests and Indians in the group. There were also 1500 livestock. So Coronado and his alien group moved north down the San Pedro Valley, maybe using the same trails that modern illegal immigrants use today. To cross the Mexican border, there was no river to swim, no fence to climb. The idea of a Border Patrol had not yet been invented. As a matter of fact, there was no border – all this country belonged to Mexico (according to the Mexicans). Of course the Indians debated this issue with their arrows and stone knives.

Returning to Mexico City tired, hungry and with no cities of gold must have been humiliating. But, Coronado could not have envisioned his legacy. His trip paved the way for other explorers and missionaries to colonize the Southwest. Tucson is now growing by 2000 people every month. The sleepy little town of Sierra Vista is one of the fastest growing towns in the Southwest. And, perhaps some of Coronado’s descendants continue to immigrate into the USA along Coronado’s old route. Who knows, the next time you visit a dentist, you may find one of Coronado’s children working on your teeth. Or, one may be found teaching your child, operating on your appendix or defending you in court. Coronado’s children have retaken California where they now make up the voting majority. Maybe Coronado’s children have turned Coronado’s apparent defeat into a major victory. Winfield Sterling