Missions
San José de Tumacácori Mission's church NPS Photo by Clar Speck From his arrival in the Pimería Alta in 1687 until his death in 1711, Padre Kino established over twenty missions. Missions were communities established to convert Native Peoples to Christianity and the Spanish way of life. The Jesuit religious order of Catholic missionaries administered them until the time of their expulsion in 1767. From 1768 until after Mexico earned its independence in 1821 the missions were operated by the Franciscan religious order of Catholic missionaries. Some are still in use today while others have fallen into ruin. San José de Tumacácori, Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi, and San Cayetano de Calabazas mission sites are administered by Tumacácori National Historical Park; the park offers tours of its three sites. Missions of the Pimería Alta include: San José de Tumacácori 
Banámichi Photo by Mike Hopkins When Father Kino first came north to the Opatería, his last jumping off point before moving up the valley to establish his home mission of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Cósari, was the already established mission to the Opata Indians called Los Santos Reyes de Cucurpe. Other nearby missions to the Opata and Pimas Bajos Indians include: |
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Did You Know?
Some Apaches raided somewhere in the Pimería Alta during the full moon nearly every month, using the darkness for cover and the light of the moon to travel swiftly.