Tumacacori
NATIONAL MONUMENT ARIZONA
A typical frontier mission church which illustratesSpanish colonial endeavor and commemorates the introductionof Christianity into what is now southernArizona.
To hold the far-flung frontiers of theSpanish Empire of 250 years ago inSouth Central America and Mexico andto bring Christian civilization to hundreds ofnative tribes, Spain sent soldiers and missionarypriests into the wilderness. Missions werefounded among the settled tribes, and presidios(military posts) were set up on theborders of the hostile tribes. The frontiermissions were both churches and centers ofEuropean culture and civilization. By suchmeans, the outlying provinces of SpanishAmerica were extended and secured.
The mission of San Jose de Tumacacoriwas a northern outpost of a mission chainconstructed by Franciscan priests in the late1700’s, on sites established by the Jesuits,in what was then the Province of Sonora.As a reminder that Spain was active on thefrontier in the Southwest long before theUnited States became a nation, Tumacacoriremains today an inspiring symbol of thefaith, courage, and vigor of the early missionarypriests and of the great loyalty and devotionof the Indian converts.
Father Kino and His Work
One of the greatest missionaries was FatherEusebio Francisco Kino, a Jesuit, who introducedEuropean culture to this region. Hefounded his first Sonora mission in 1687, andexplored and mapped the Upper Pima Indiancountry, now southern Arizona and northernSonora, Mexico. Wherever he went, hespread the Christian doctrine, gained friendsamong the Indians, and established missions.He initiated ranching on this frontier by introducingcattle and other livestock. To suchbeginnings some of our thriving moderntowns owe their existence.
Mission church prior to stabilization
Tumacacori History
Father Kino came first into what is nowsouthern Arizona in 1691, when he visited,at the request of the inhabitants, the smallPima village of Tumacacori, which he calledSan Cayetano. The village was a few milesfrom the site of the present mission. Hesaid Mass under a brush shelter built by theIndians for that purpose. By 1698, accordingto Father Kino, Tumacacori had an “earth-roofedhouse of adobe,” fields of wheat, andherds of cattle, sheep, and goats. At everyopportunity he and his successors visitedTumacacori to hold services and to encourageranching and farming. When a missionarywas assigned to Guevavi, to the southeast,Tumacacori became a visita of that mission,that is, a place where the missionaries wentand occasionally held services. After thePima Rebellion of 1751, the village wasmoved to the site where the mission nowstands. It was renamed San Jose de Tumacacori.A small mission was erected here anda presidio was established at Tubac, 3 milesnorth of Tumacacori