Francisco Vázquez de Coronado y Luján
Canyon. In this exploration he hauled some supplies for Coronado, but eventually he buried
them with a note in a bottle. Melchior Díaz was sent down from Cibola by Coronado take
charge of the camp of Corazones and to establish contact with the fleet. Soon after arriving at
the camp he set out from the valley of Corazones in Sonora and traveled overland in a
north/northwesterly direction until he arrived at the junction of the Colorado River and Gila
River. There the local natives, probably the CocoMaricopa (see Seymour 2007b), told him
that Alarcón's sailors had buried supplies and left a note in a bottle. The supplies were
retrieved and the note stated that Alarcón's men had rowed up the river as far as they could,
searching in vain for the Coronado expedition. They had given up and decided to return to
their departure point because worms were eating holes in their ships. Díaz named the river the
"firebrand" river because the natives used fire brands to keep their body warm in the winter.
annaabi.ee 
