Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, founded on 13 March 1687, was the first mission that Father Kino established.  It is located 55 miles south of Tumacácori near the village of Cosari, a Pima settlement, 20 miles above Cucurpe.  The mission name means "Lady of Sorrows" and it was the mother mission of the Pimeria Alta.  The stone shown in the photograph to the left is from the original mission.  Can you see the crosses cut in the stone?

A church with seven bells was on the site in 1693, along with other mission buildings such as a carpentry shop and a blacksmith.  However, the mission population rapidly decreased and by 1744 the Padre Visitador noted that the mission had been vacated.

Father  Antonio de los Reyes on 6 July 1772 submitted a report on the condition of the missions in the Upper and Lower Pimeria Alta.  This was his report on Nuestra Señora de los Dolores as translated by Donald T. Garate.

The ancient mission of Dolores that was administered for many years by Father Eusebio Kino and served as a beginning and foundation for the habitation and establishment of the missions of the Pimería alta, is known today as the village of Dolores. Its fertile and spacious fields are distributed between three ranchers.