What route did the Expedition take?

Due to the passage of time and the lack of archaeological evidence, the entire route of the Coronado Expedition is not known. However, historians and archaeologists have been able to find some sites and reconstruct portions of the route they took by using journals and reports from the expedition and trying to locate sites that would be fruitful for doing archeological digs. There are several challenges in undertaking this task.

First, the names of places change over time, and the names given by the Spanish chroniclers may not match up with the name of a place today. For example, the Spanish, using a name they heard from Indians, referred to a river they called the Rio Nexpa. It may refer to the San Pedro River today, but we are not certain. There is the related problem of some places that were prominent 500 years ago but are nonexistent today. Also, features of the land may change over the centuries. For instance, places the Spanish may have used as sources of water may dry up, either because of a changing climate or because of the depletion of an aquifer.

While it is not easy to locate Coronado Expedition locations, new sites are being discovered. The Tucson-based archaeologist Dr. Deni Seymour believes she has located two important Coronado sites in southern Arizona, as well as a host of smaller sites. These findings are redrawing the map of Coronado’s route.

Watch this video for insights as to how she goes about this work:

Coronado: The New Evidence | PBS