The border vidette., 1929-10-05
MAY RESTORE OLD MISSION

A telegram received Monday
by Attorney Charles L. Hardy
from United States Senator Hen
ry F. Ashurst at Washington,
said he would look Into the
matter at once" of having the
United States government con
sent to have the old Tumacacori
Mission eighteen miles north Of
Nogales, rehabilitated. Writ G
Bowman, we'll known public
spirited Nogales and California
millionaire. recently agreed to
pay so per cent of the cost of
restoring the old mission to such
condition that services may
again be held there, as in the
days of long ago, if the people
of Santa Cruz county will raise
the other fifty per cent.
F. M. Dougherty and T. T.
Pendleton of Texas, owners OF
the Baca Float, have also agreed
to donate 81 900 toward the re
storation of the old place of
worship was established by
Father Kino, who reached So
nora in 1867. and by 1890 had
established tour missions, Cue
vavi, San. .Cayetano, Tumacacori
and San Xavier del Bac..
Regarding the first missions,
the following from Treasure
Land" is interesting:
The residents of the Santa
Cruz valley we so urgent ia their
demands for missionary service,
and the field was so inviting that
the mission of Guevavi, at the
head waters of the Santa Cruz
river, was founded, shortly fol
lowed by one at Tumacacori, near
Tubac, and then another at San
Xavier, near Tucson. The first
church built at San Xavier was
small and modest adobe build
ing, hastily erected to meet the
wants of the new mission. The
fragments of records found in
the church give an idea of the
population that lived in the vi.
cinity, by the number of bap
tisms which were yearly admin
istered from 1920 to 1867. This
population must have been con
siderable. The records show
that Twenty-Five Jesuit mission
aries successively administered
at San Xavier between the dates
mentioned, the last of which was
that of their expulsion by the
Spanish government.
This mission was one of the
most fourishing until 1851, when
the Indians revolted. being in
stigated by an Indian called Luis,
from Saric, who pretended to be
q wizard Of marvellous power.
The missions that escaped
complete ruin during the revolt,
which lasted four years, were
hardly started again when the
Jesuits were expelled. The Fran
ciscan, Father Garcez, found San
Xavier in a pitiable condition,
but by his great frugality and
apostolic virtues, be gained the
love and confidence of his flock.
In 1868 the church of San
Agustin del Tucson was found.
ed. The church itself has en-.
tirely disappeared, but a remnant
of the residence of the priests,
the workshops and granaries,
still remains, q mouldering pile
of brown ruins on the edge of
the river, ten minutes walk from
Tucson. This was sometimes
called the Church of the Holy
Infant. The date of it's founda.
ton was lately discovered in one
of the records in the government
archives at Hermosillo, Mexico.
The erection of the present
San Xavier church was begun in
1888 and finished in 1877, the
date appearing on one of the
doors of the structure. This is
further confirmed by the testi.
mony of a few old people who
assisted at the dedication.
THE brothers Jaunas had
charge of the construction, as we
are informed. and they after.
wards superintended the erection
of similar structures at Tumaca
cori and Caborca; but the fathers
themselves, as we'll as the lay
brothers, must have contributed
somewhat to the adornment of
the edifice. No mention, how.
ever, is made of any of their
names on the records extant."