Cross of Coronado
The crucifix a 13-year-old Boy Scout Indy fights for in 1912 and wins back in 1938.
The Cross of Coronado is a crucifix owned by the Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado and the object of the opening of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 1912, Boy Scout Indiana Jones, played by River Phoenix, takes it from a group of graverobbers led by a man named Garth while exploring caves with his scout troop. In 1938, Indy takes it back from the graverobbers' employer off the Portuguese coast.
Quick Facts
- Associated figure
- Francisco Vázquez de Coronado
Lore & Background
Garth's treasure hunters find the cross in a cave deep in present-day Arches National Park; they were hired by the man known as Panama Hat. After a chase on horseback and aboard a circus train, Indy flees home, where Garth and his men, with the help of the local sheriff, make him give the cross back. Garth admits his respect for the young man and gives him his fedora. In the 1938 showdown on Panama Hat's ship, Indy struggles with the villain's men and gets the cross back; a crate explodes and the ship blows up, seemingly killing Panama Hat and his crew.
Reader's Guide
Tom Stoppard created the Panama Hat character, played by Paul Maxwell, to link the prologue's segments featuring the young and adult Indianas. Roger Ebert praised the opening with Jones as a Boy Scout and the Cross of Coronado as the most original and effective part of the film.
More in Production & Legacy
Elsewhere in Indiana Jones
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