To Alarcon, Belongs The Discovery Of The Colorado River, Which He
Named The Buena Guia.
He went up the river twice in boats, the second time
ascending possibly as high as a hundred miles
Above the mouth of the Gila.
Finally he entered "between certain very high mountains, through which this
river passeth with a straight channel, and the boats went up against the
stream very hardly for want of men to draw the same." He claims to have
passed above this place undoubtedly one of the lesser canyons of the
Colorado found below the Needles, where the Santa Fe Railway crosses the
river - and here magicians tried to destroy him and his party by setting
magic reeds in the water on both sides. Of course this failed, but Alarcon
decided to go no further. Here he erected a very high cross, on which was
carved a statement to the effect that he had reached this spot, so that if
Coronado's men should find it, they would know he had ascended the river
thus far.
Town of San Hieronimo is Established. In the mean time, a small force of
seventy or eighty of the weakest and least reliable of the men of
Coronado's army was left in September, 1540, at a town which Cabeza de Vaca
had named Corazones, or hearts, because the people there fed him on the
hearts of animals. Coronado's plan was to establish a town here, which he
or his lieutenant in charge of this portion of the army called San
Hieronimo de los Corazones.
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