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Rudy Dale | all galleries >> Galleries >> The Art of U.S. National Parks Signs > Coronado
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Jerry Dahm

Coronado

Hereford, Arizona

Coronado National Memorial ~ http://www.nps.gov/coro

Coronado National Memorial commemorates and interprets the significance of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado’s expedition and the resulting cultural influences of 16th century Spanish colonial exploration in the Americas. The Memorial preserves and interprets the natural and human history of the area for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.

As a result of this expedition, what has been truly characterized by historians as one of the greatest land expeditions the world has known, a new civilization was established in the great American Southwest” reported the House Committee on Foreign Affairs in 1939. “To commemorate permanently the explorations of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado…would be of great value in advancing the relationship of the United States and Mexico upon a friendly basis of cultural understanding,” stated E. K. Burlew, Acting Secretary of the Interior in 1940. It would “stress the history and problems of the two countries and would encourage cooperation for the advancement of their common interests.”

The site was first designated “Coronado International Memorial” in 1941 in the hope that a comparable adjoining area would be established in Mexico. Despite interest by the government of Mexico, the Mexican memorial was never created; therefore, Coronado National Memorial was established by Harry S. Truman in 1952.


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