The Dolores star., 1921-10-07

An interesting feature of the discussion of the
joint resolution was the bringing out of The his
tory of the Colorado river and the early American
Southwest i'll concise and accurate form. This
was set forth in report furnished by George
Otis Smith, director Of the geological survey
the history of the naming Of the Colorado, Grand
and Green rivers and of the state Of Colorado
This report explains how the Colorado came
bear no less than nine names between 1910 and
1II6. Ii also sets forth how the Green river came
be known the "Ghost river" to geographers.
Among the facts brought ont these:
II the Coronado pedition of 1540-io sent
out by Niceroy Mendoza. that first explored the
pueblo country of New Mexico and Arizona and
the Great Plains far northeast us central Kan
and discovered the Colorado river and the
Grand canyon. Alarcon discovered the Colorado
its mouth and gave ii the name of Rio de
Buena Guia good gude) because that Men
dozas device" Diaz, travelling along the river
saw the Indians carrying burning BRANDS with
which to themselves; so he named it Rio
del Tizon tfirebrand). Cardenas discovered the
Colorado at the Grand canyon, but for some rea-
son refrained from naming it, probably because
soon afterward it identified with the Rio del
Tizon. So the Coronado expedition gave the COLO
RADIO its two first nanRs
The Coronado expedition disappointing and
it was until 1881 that an expedition under
Rodriguez revisited the region This revived in.
terest in the conquering and settling or New
Mexico.
The contract for the conquest and settlement
finally awarded i'll 1885 to Juan de Onate
who was made governor. adelantado and captain
general of the province of New Mexico. In 1898
Onate reached the Santa Fe region with an army
and colony of 400 men. of whom 13O had their
families Onate ruled New Mexico until 1907
by 1905 he and his subordinates had reexplored
practically all the ground covered by GoronadO
and opened new trails. In 1904 he made jour
ney from San Gabriel, his headquarters near Santa
Fe to the head of the Gulf of California He
went by way of Zuni. Moqui and Williams river
to the Colorado and down the east bank of that
river to the gulf. Crossing the Colorado Chiuuito
little Colorado 10 leagues southwest of Moqui
he named it "1tio Colorado because the
water is nearly red" Be it noted that the name
Colorado is here given for the first time not to
the Colorado river but to one of its branches the
Little Colorado. To the Colorado ITSELF Onate
gave the name Rio Grande de Buena Esperapza"
good hope).
At some indefinite time during the next hundred
years the name Colorado transferred from
the Little Colorado to the main river and before
the end of the century had been pretty well estab-
lished Father Kino the great Piman apostle
16s3-l111, uses the name freely he does the
alternative name Rio del NOrte; and he even he.
slows upon 1t new name, Rio de los ApostOles
revolt of the Pueblo Indians in 1880 resulted
in the entire evacuation of New Mexico by the
Spaniards until Its reconquest by vergas In 1892
"a, when most of the missions reestablshed
also San Diego. the first of the California mis-
sions, established in 1863; and in the next
30 years II others had been established dottng
the coast from San Diego to San Francisco bay
Father Silvestre Veez de Escalante. then sta
toned at the Zuni mission. spent eight days at
Moqui in June, 1775 trying to discover whether
there an Indian trail across the Grand canyon.
He failed to extract any information from the
Indians and concluded that the canyon was i'm
passabe. In letter the subject written to
Father Garces August 49, 1875. he called the river
the canyon Rio Grande de los CosninOs. The
COsnlna tHavasupai) Indians settled on
Cataract creek. The next year. 177G -iarces him.
self travelled from Mohave to Moqui. and went