The San Francisco call., 1896-04-26

cords of the early missionaries in Sonora
so that it is proba bic that it was in exist
ence as early as 1894. There are certain
peculiar architectural features about the
mission churches that were built in about
this time in Southern Arizona, or Northern
Sonora as it was then, that point to the
possibility of their all being designed by
the same man.
The few records on the subject that can
be found state that the Jesuit missionaries
first established churches for the Indians
in Sinaloa in 1890. In 1857 they were at
work in Sonora, and by 1890 had estab-
lished four missions, with the famous
Father kineo as superior. Indian con-
verts came from different tribes in the
north and begged the fathers to come to
their country and build churches for them.
The first mission church built within the
territory that now constitutes Arizona was
known as Guavi. CAT present 1t is an
almost obliteraSed ruin.) The records place
this at 1892, and further on state that 'at
the end OF 1884 two missions had Just been
established as far north as the Gila River
and ali tue others were in a prosperous
condition"
From this, several eminent authorities
conclude that Tumacacori must have al
ready been in existence, particularly as 1t
was in the heart of the country where the
Indians lived who had asked for missions
in the first place. 1t is known that there
was no resident priest at any of the new
missions before the year r720, but there
are paptismal records of visiting priests to
show that Tumacacori must have been in
existence many years at this time.
From 1720 to 1867 the records show that
Tumacacori passed through many severe
trials. The worst of these was revolt of
~&al md Ind orlo
that broke out in 1751 and lasted over two
years. Many of the priests were killed,
and the others forced to leave the country.
a mum Der of the smaller missions were
laid in ruins and never re-established.
In 1854 this revolt was over and the In
dians returned to the missions and begged
the priests to come back. All of the
churches that had survived were found in
a deplorable condition. Tumacacori had
suffered less than many of the others, but
it took the priests many years to put 1t in
its old condition. When they felt that the
worst of their hard work was over the
edict came from Spain in 1867 expelling all
Jesuit missionaries from the country.
For three years there were no mission
aries at any of the churches, although the
Indians are said to have kept up their re-
ligious deVotions to q certain extent and
given some care to the sacred edlhces. In
1863 twelve Franciscan priests came to the
thirty missions each priest had to look
after several churches.
Rev. Francis Garcez was assigned to San
Xa1ler, twenty miles to the north, and he
occasionally performed services in Tuna
cacori. But this edIfice never became of
its old importance for great many years.
About 1876 IL was in its glory. Every in
jured portion mad been repaired, and the
interior was highly decorated There were
plenty of priests In the country by this
time, and Tumacacori is said to have had
ten OF them. The entire surrounding coun-
try was prosperous, and the Indians consid-
cred nothing too good to Law on the affairs.
In ITO the cry of independence was
heard in New Spain, and as a consequence
the missions began to suffer for lack of
money. Things went from bad to worse
and reached a climax in 1927, when the
fall of the Colonial Government in
Mexico compelled most of the missions
TO be abandoned. A few secular priests
visited Tumacacori from time to time, but
most of them were killed by the Apaches,
who also did considerable damage to the
mission. There are no official records of
the church after 1927. since which time 1T
has been going to ruin.
Tumacacori mission was practically un-
known to the civilized world until 1855, in
which year Major Emory or the first Mexl-
can boundary commission discovered 1t
and reported it to the Government. His
letter stated that at the time there
were three German families living in the
old church. They could scarcely speak
English and were unable 10 tell how they
managed to get to that part of the world.
They said it was their intention to make
their homes in the locality, but the
chances are they were killed by the
Apaches. who made numerous raids in the
years that followed.
Just to whom Tumacacori mission be-
longs to is a matter the Supreme Court
will soon decide. In 1880 all abandoned
church lands in Mexico were secularized.
Tumacacori was considered on Govern
ment property and given in grant to the
grandfather OF James Ainsa, who at pres
ent resides in this City. According to the
treaty with Mexico the land should be-
long to the, heirs OF the man to whom it
was given. But there are numerous legal
technicalities that have not been complied
with. so the chances are the Supreme
Court will declare it Government land and
open to settlement under the desert land
act.
it is to be hoped, however, that the Gov