Arizona weekly citizen., 1895-09-21
EARLY EXPLORATIONS
of Arizona and Description of the San Xavier Mission Church.
 (Globe Silver Reltl

| San Xavier Mission Church. (Globe Silver Belt)
 The early history cf Arizona is
 fraught with intense interest. Accord
 ing to tha Amerlcan Encyclopedia of | History, Arizona was first explored by Don Jose de Vasconcallos in the year 1926. Bancroft makes no mention of this pioneer traveller. Cabeza de Veca, he says, tr8versed the continent from the Texas coast to California in 1536
 but probably did not go as far north as Arizona. However, his reports of the poDulous towns which the DRtives told him lay north of his route, excited great interest in the Spanish provinces of Mexico, and expeditions were plan ned to explore the unknown country, year 1539, when Fray Marcos de N ga organized an expedition, accompanied by Francisco Vaequez de Coronado.
 Niza sent negro Franciscan friar, named EstRvanico, ahead of him into the territory that is now Arizona. Es- tavanico pushed north, sending runners back to the main company Of explorers with wonderful stories of the natural wealth of the country and of it's inhab- itants. Estavanico was well received by the natives until he reached one of Is1 fo .,.l. aaftA of L, home ot the Zunis, where he was met with hostile demonstration, and be and most of bis companions finally killed.
 Arizona was explored by Christians, therefore, either 19t or 1Sl years (sc- cording to which statement is acceptedl before the landing of the Pilgrims on the coast of Massachusetts.
 The subjugation of the natives musS be credited to the Jesuit and Francis can missionaries, who were the path finders for the military exI editions which followed them. To these mi5- sionaries we are indebted for the most reliable historical data of that early period, and for interesting relics and architectural monuments which are not less valuable to the antiquarian than the written records.
 The most important and best pre- served of the old missions in the south west is, perhaps, San Xavier del Bac, nine miles south of Tucson. The mis- sion is supposed to have been establish ed by the Jesuits, for the Pepagos, about the year 1894, snd small adobe church occupied the site where stands the present structure, begun about the year i7S3 and completed in I797. The Jesuiis were expelled in 1767 and the Franciscan friars wsre placed in charge of the missions in Sonora.
 A sketch of the Mission of San Xavier del Bsc. by a missionary Of Arizona, gives very good description of the church. The editice belongs to the Moorish style. On the fronts piece. which shows the full width of fhe church with its two towers, in low relief, is the coat of-arms of the order If St. Francis of Assiei, founder of the Franciscan Order It consists of an escutcheon, with white ground flied m with twisted cord Ia psrt of the Franciscan dress) and a cross on which are nailed one arm of the Savi.r and one of St. Francis, representing the union of the disciple with the Divine Master in charity and the lovo of sui feriDg. On the right side of the es cutcheon is the mouOgram of sus the Savior of men, and thht of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the left. The life size statue of St. Francis that surmounted the frontispiece, has decayed and fallen away.
 The church built of stone and brick, is 105x27 feet inside the walls. Its form is that of cross, the transept forming on each side O: the nave u chapel of twenty-one feet square. The nave is divided into six portiOne, marked by as many arches, each resting on two pIl- lars set against the walls, supporting the rooi, which is of brick ard cement three feet thick. Above the transept is cupola fifty feet in elevation. The main walls of the church are to ' feet thick.
 As you face the altar, there is on the right wall fresco representing the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the disciples, and on the opposite wall picture, also iD fresco, of the Last Supper. These paintings measure about 9x5 feet each.
 In the first chapel to the right are the two alters, one facing the nave with the image of Our Lady of Sorrows, standing at the foot Of large cross which is deeply engraved in the wall, | and the other with the image of the | Immaculate Conception. In the same chapel are two frescoes representing Our Lady of the Rosary, and the Hid den Life of Our Savior. The opposite l cnapel Is aleo adorned with two altars, | one dedicated to the Passion of our Lord, and the other to St. Joseph. l Also, the two paintings: Our Lady of l the Pillar, and the Presentation of l Our Lord in the Temple.
 The main altar, which stands at the | mead or the church facing the nave is l dedicated to St. Francis Xavier. the 1 patron saint Above the image of St. i francls Xavier is that of the Holy virgin; between the statutes of St. l Peter and St. Paul. and at the summit or The altar piece, the bust of God, the creator. On the walls near the main aitar are the paintings: The Adora. ton or the Wise Men, with the Flighe into Egypt; and the Alteration of tht