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About Coronado National Memorial
Coronado National Memorial commemorates the first major exploration of the American Southwest by Europeans. It lies at the southern end of the Huachuca Mountains, on the United States-Mexico border, within sight of the San Pedro River Valley. It is here, in February 1540, that Francisco Vasquez de Coronado's Expedition first entered the present U.S. in search of the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.
Although Coronado, together with his 1,400 men and 1,500 animals, never found the city of gold, they discovered the Zuni, Hopi, Apache, the Pueblo Indians along the Rio Grande River and even the Grand Canyon, before retracing their route to Mexico in 1542.
The Memorial encompasses 4,750 acres of mostly oak woodland, a natural mountain habitat at an elevation about 5,000 feet where a variety of plants and animals abound. Yucca, Cholla, Beargrass, Bobcats and Mountain Lions are also quite common.
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