The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-04-06

1871 TO lI02 he visited all the tribes of these re-
gins sowing many interesting problems of etlnol-
oSS erecting missions and collecting vast treasures
OF IN ofinatlon about the land and its wonderful
- I re umaS, Apaches Opatcs, Pi1nas and
GUNS lie reached the ella in 1894 and said mass
IL Tue ancient ruin the Casa Grandc" which de-
scIlpeu III former letter In 100 he buiIt tho
nfSI church and. according 10 his biooranher Or
tesa' ne used light porous stone. very suitable
! me he church records are cxtant from 172o-67.
anu SNOW mat during these wears TWENTY-FIVE Tesnit
iatnerS successivey administered Bac and neiab
boring missions. In 17GS the Franciscan fathers
succeeuGd the Jesuits In that wear Father Cares
assumed charge of this Pima mission. This ov+ra
ordinary and sanity priest was one of the area,
men OF 'heSe early days In his quest for perishine
souls he VISITED all the tribes Of Arizona crosso
deserts, scaling mountains and enlnr;n,, faT,iI,e
llISt ana insult. lie mapped. charted and named
mountains, rivers and Indian settlements He took
alituues ana longtudes and was the first white man
10 nave reached the Grand Canyon from the west
ana give 1t specific name Iii, diary on the tim
laIy OF his travels was translated into English last
year by mat eccentric but honest bigot Elliot
Coues. with Mr.. Coues' historic. topographic and
lnValuaoe notes the diary Of the priest in two vol
umes, Is splendid addition to the ctinograpiIc
literature of the southwest.
On the 18th of July 11N1 the great priest WIS
murdered at the mission Of the Immaculate Conccp-
tle npanlaFds. The cornerstone Of the present
beautiful church of the Bac mission was laid bv
the francscap fathers iii 1853 and the date 1871"
still IegIble over the door records no doubt its com
pletlon Bishop Salpointc short time before hi,
conservation published Brief Sketch Of the Mis-
sion OF San Aayicr del Bac,' an interesting pamph-
let but lacking III completeness The historian Her
bert Bancroft calls the church .magnitice
structure. and deyotes three pages of his ITistor[
OF Arizona to this mission. In 1925 soon after
Mexico broke away from her allegiance to the |
mother country and declared herself an independ-
ent republic. chaos rcigned and the fathers were
compelled by the force of circumstances TO abandon
their missions IN Arizona. The Pima and Papago
converts assembled in the church every Sunday and
feast day and for years. in fact until the return IF
4 priest appointed by tho Bishop Of Durango said .
the beads sang their accustomed hymns and made
the stations of the cross. The historic building
shows sadly the wear and tear Of time and threat
cned to become melancholy ruin in few more .
years.
The Bishop of Tuscon. aided by the chamber Of |
and some cnterprisng citizens has en-
tered upon the scene and when the workmen and /
decorators now engaged on the contract of rcha6i-
latlon shall have completed their work the churcn
Of the Papagocs will once again be the boast and
pride OF the Indians of Southern Arizona When i
began this correspondence to The Intermomta;n
catholic had intended to describe the sacred build
ng III detail. but find that the limitations of space
'ontine me within reasonable boundaries. A great
leal Of nonsense, garnshed with objectionable lr-
'ors Af dates and names. has been written in the
49, magazines and newspapers of this church.
~ FL Psion and indeed of Tuscon itself The lat
That claim, made by Dr. Alexander Craig IN
ing nj Angeles Times, on behalf of the antiquit4
later prity of white settlement of Tuscon over ST
other sne, Fla, and Santa Fe, \. NJ. He appeals
ran+; 4 TT of his contention to "a stained and tn
yrac;o cument of vellum, signed by their Catholic
i! talIe es-Ferdinand and Isabella and counter
igSJ. by the viceroy of Mexico aud General Cor
,nadG who in the early part OF l5J2 raised the flag
# Spain the little Indian village of Tuscon
md laid with his hands the cornerstone Of
he first mission. This important document was
ost to the public until about twelve years ago
chen ii discovered by a mere accident among
he archives of The ancient Church of San Xavcr
el Bac, nine miles south of Iuscon. And there !
gu are Even the Chicago Record Herald and The
we Maria of the Fathers of the Holy Cross gave
all sinccrtv publicity 10 this hoax. The doctor
what the French call farceur and Westerns u
1ker, If he had substituted Cabezza de Naca, Pc
70 dc Tobar. Lopez dc Cardenas or-cven Father =
larcos Of MIA for Coronado, who never saw the
anita Cruz river. the hoax would be more plaus- 4
Die and the imposition less daring Sometime, let
5 hope, gifted and conscientious historian will
ppear and do for the early missionaries of the
outhwcst, for the Kinos, the Garccs. the Escalant
nd the other saintlv and heroic priests and mar =
YRS what Parkman has done for the early Jesuit,
Canada and New York and Bryan Clinch for the
parish missionaries of Southern and Lower Cali a
)rnia.
o.. = 81