Hernando de Alarcón
Hernando de Alarcón (c. 1500–1541) was a Spanish explorer who led a voyage in 1540 from the port of Acapulco with two ships, the San Pedro and the Santa Catalina. His mission was to support Coronado’s northward search for wealth and to check for a sea route between the Atlantic and the Pacific. He sailed into the Gulf of California and reached the northern end of the gulf, where he explored the coast and entered the mouth of the Colorado River on September 26, 1540. He became the first European to see parts of the lower Colorado River and the area that would later be known as California, naming the river Buena Guía, or “good guide.” On a second voyage he likely moved past present-day Yuma, Arizona. One of his pilots produced an early, fairly accurate map of the Gulf of California and the river’s lower course.
Alarcón was probably born in Trujillo, Castile (Spain) around 1500 and traveled to the Americas as a young man. By 1540, Spain funded expeditions north from Mexico after its conquest, hoping to find wealth and a possible water passage. The viceroy of New Spain sent Coronado to search for the mythical Seven Cities, and Alarcón’s orders were to meet Coronado at a certain point along the coast, though the meeting never happened. He left letters at the appointed latitude, later found by another explorer.
He is noted for treating Indigenous peoples more humanely than many contemporaries and wrote about the Yuma Indians, describing their customs. He died in 1541 in the area that is now California. California Historical Landmark No. 568 on the Colorado River near Andrade in Imperial County commemorates his expedition as the first non-Indians to sight land in present-day California.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:15 (CET).