Frank Coronado Mishap

The following is an article written by cousin John J. Coronado, Jr. for a 1994 edition of The Coronado Newsletter.  John was the son of John (Doc) Coronado.

He describes a harrowing experience for the young Coronado family on the ranch in 1910.

__________

This is a short story about my uncle, Frank Coronado, told to me many years ago by my father, Doc Coronado.

The Coronado boys were all raised on the Coronado ranch and were all expert horsemen, because they had all learned how to ride at a young age.  They were on their own if they wanted to saddle up a horse and head for the hills for a ride.  In 1910, when this story takes place, Jim was 13, John (Doc) was 11, Frank was 10, and Paul was 9.

One day Uncle Frank saddled up a horse and went out riding.  Some of the other kids saw him leave the ranch. It was mid-afternoon when he left and it was assumed that he would return for dinner, since none of the kids ever missed dinner.

But Frank did not show up at the dinner table and his father, Mariano Coronado, grew worried.  He ordered his other sons and some farm hands to saddle up and head out to look for him.  They spread out and formed a line and rode up to the first hill.  There was a grove of oak trees at the top and they spotted Frank immediately.  He was hanging in one of the trees.  He had ridden under the tree and a sharp branch had entered the back of his neck and was lodged at least a foot along his back.  Frank was out cold and wasn't moving.  Nobody seemed to know what to do, so two riders headed back to tell his father and to get medical help.

Mariano ordered the two to ride as fast as they could to get the doctor and get him back here as fast as possible. Mariano ran for the barn and got a saw and some rope.  He quickly saddled his horse and headed for the scene.

Frank Coronado, as a young man,
 with his mother, Louisa

When Mariano arrived, he could see that the ranch hands had tied rope around Frank in several places, like a harness.  He lassoed a big limb high above Frank and tied it to the harness.  Several of the group pulled on the rope and took the weight of Frank off the limb.  A ranch hand was already in the tree and had the saw ready to cut the limb.  When it was cut, Frank was lowered down to a saddle horse and secured in the saddle with more rope.

The group and Frank arrived at the ranch house about the same time that the doctor arrived.  The rope was cut off Frank and his father carried him into the house so the doctor could look at him.  As it turned out the wound was not as bad as it could have been, nothing deep, just surface cuts.  Frank was given a shot, the branch was removed, and he slept until the next day.  When he woke up, he asked about his horse.  His brothers went out to search and they found the horse grazing in the hills by Blue Rock Springs.  Frank was happy to know his horse was back.  He was a strong kid and recovered fully in a short time.