Francisco Garcés
Encyclopedia
Francisco Hermenegildo Tomás Garcés (April 12, 1738 – July 18, 1781) was a Spanish Franciscan
missionary who explored much of the southwestern part of North America, including what are now Arizona
, southern California
, and northeastern Baja California
. Garcés was born April 12, 1738, in Morata de Jalón (Valdejalón county), Zaragoza province
, Aragon
, and was ordained in 1763. He served at the Franciscan college of Santa Cruz in Querétaro
New Spain
(Mexico). In 1768, when the King of Spain expelled the Jesuits
from their extensive mission fields in northwestern New Spain, present-day Baja peninsula Mexico and the Southwestern United States
), Garcés was among their replacements. He was assigned to Mission San Xavier del Bac
near present-day Tucson, Arizona
.
The expulsion of the Jesuits by the Spanish King set in motion a sequence of dramatic events in the missions. While the Franciscans from the Querétaro college took over responsibility in the Sonoran Desert
region in the present day State of Sonora
Mexico and southern U.S. Arizona
, other Franciscans from the college of San Fernando in Mexico City, under the leadership of Junípero Serra
, were assigned to replace the Jesuits in Baja California.
Serra's Baja California Franciscans were also charged with spearheading a bold advance of the Spanish missionary frontier northward into the Las Californias
Province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain
, beginning in 1769. In 1773, control of the Baja California missions passed to the Dominicans
. The Franciscans in upper Las Californias, present day California, like the Jesuits in Baja California before them, recognized the desirability of establishing on overland connection with New Spain through the region of the Colorado Desert
crossing the lower Colorado River
.
Garcés became a key player in that effort. He conducted extensive explorations in the intervening, unsettled region of the Colorado and Mojave
deserts and northern Arizona, sometimes on his own and a major expedition in 1774 with the soldier-explorer Juan Bautista de Anza
and the legendary De Anza Expedition. The missionary met with and produced accounts of several Indian tribes, including the Havasupai and Mojave.
In 1779 Garcés was assigned to ill-fated hybrid mission/colonies being established on the Colorado River among the Quechan
. The warlike native peoples soon clashed with the disruptive Spanish settlers, and in July of 1781 Garcés and his fellow missionaries were among those killed at the Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer
in a general uprising and massacre. Garcés' body was later re-interred at Mission San Pedro y San Pablo del Tubutama
. He is considered to be a martyr.
, named in Garcés honor, is a historic Railroad Station and Hotel located in The City of Needles, California
, the site where he passed by in 1776. The El Garces Hotel was built by the Santa Fe Railroad under contract with the Fred Harvey Company
in 1908. It is designed in an elegant Neoclassical
and Beaux-Arts style, was considered the "Crown Jewel" of the entire Fred Harvey chain.
There are two memorials to Father Garcés in Bakersfield, California
: a statue located at the Garces Memorial Circle
on Chester Avenue and the city's Catholic high school, Garces Memorial High School
. Garces National Forest
was established by the U.S. Forest Service in southern Arizona on July 1, 1908 with 78,480 acres (317.6 km2) from portions of Baboquivari, Tumacacori and Huachuca National Forests. It was combined with Coronado National Forest
on July 1, 1911 and the name was discontinued.
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
missionary who explored much of the southwestern part of North America, including what are now Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and northeastern Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
. Garcés was born April 12, 1738, in Morata de Jalón (Valdejalón county), Zaragoza province
Zaragoza (province)
Zaragoza is a province of northern Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Aragon.Its capital is Zaragoza, which is also the capital of the autonomous community. Other towns in Zaragoza include Calatayud, Borja, La Almunia de Doña Godina, Ejea de los Caballeros and Tarazona.Its...
, Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, and was ordained in 1763. He served at the Franciscan college of Santa Cruz in Querétaro
Querétaro
Querétaro officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro de Arteaga is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 18 municipalities and its capital city is Santiago de Querétaro....
New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
(Mexico). In 1768, when the King of Spain expelled the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
from their extensive mission fields in northwestern New Spain, present-day Baja peninsula Mexico and the Southwestern United States
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
), Garcés was among their replacements. He was assigned to Mission San Xavier del Bac
Mission San Xavier del Bac
Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about 10 miles south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham San Xavier Indian Reservation...
near present-day Tucson, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
The expulsion of the Jesuits by the Spanish King set in motion a sequence of dramatic events in the missions. While the Franciscans from the Querétaro college took over responsibility in the Sonoran Desert
Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is a North American desert which straddles part of the United States-Mexico border and covers large parts of the U.S. states of Arizona and California and the northwest Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur. It is one of the largest and hottest...
region in the present day State of Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
Mexico and southern U.S. Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, other Franciscans from the college of San Fernando in Mexico City, under the leadership of Junípero Serra
Junípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
, were assigned to replace the Jesuits in Baja California.
Serra's Baja California Franciscans were also charged with spearheading a bold advance of the Spanish missionary frontier northward into the Las Californias
Las Californias
The Californias, or in — - was the name given by the Spanish to their northwestern territory of New Spain, comprising the present day states of Baja California and Baja California Sur on the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico; and the present day U.S. state of California in the United States of...
Province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
, beginning in 1769. In 1773, control of the Baja California missions passed to the Dominicans
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
. The Franciscans in upper Las Californias, present day California, like the Jesuits in Baja California before them, recognized the desirability of establishing on overland connection with New Spain through the region of the Colorado Desert
Colorado Desert
California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert, which extends across southwest North America. The Colorado Desert region encompasses approximately , reaching from the Mexican border in the south to the higher-elevation Mojave Desert in the north and from the Colorado River in...
crossing the lower Colorado River
Colorado River
The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...
.
Garcés became a key player in that effort. He conducted extensive explorations in the intervening, unsettled region of the Colorado and Mojave
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
deserts and northern Arizona, sometimes on his own and a major expedition in 1774 with the soldier-explorer Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Early life:...
and the legendary De Anza Expedition. The missionary met with and produced accounts of several Indian tribes, including the Havasupai and Mojave.
In 1779 Garcés was assigned to ill-fated hybrid mission/colonies being established on the Colorado River among the Quechan
Quechan
The Quechan are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the border with Mexico...
. The warlike native peoples soon clashed with the disruptive Spanish settlers, and in July of 1781 Garcés and his fellow missionaries were among those killed at the Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer
Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer
Mission San Pedro y San Pablo de Bicuñer was founded on January 7, 1781 by Father Francisco Garcés to protect the Anza Trail where it forded the Colorado River....
in a general uprising and massacre. Garcés' body was later re-interred at Mission San Pedro y San Pablo del Tubutama
Mission San Pedro y San Pablo del Tubutama
Mission San Pedro y San Pablo del Tubutama is located in Tubutama, Sonora and was first founded in 1691 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino.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...
. He is considered to be a martyr.
Legacy
The El Garces HotelEl Garces Hotel
The El Garces Hotel is a historic railroad station and hotel located in Needles, California. Built by the Santa Fe Railroad under contract with the Fred Harvey Company in 1908, the El Garces is designed in an elegant Neoclassical and Beaux-Arts style and was considered the 'Crown Jewel of the...
, named in Garcés honor, is a historic Railroad Station and Hotel located in The City of Needles, California
Needles, California
Needles is a city located in the Mojave Desert on the western banks of the Colorado River in San Bernardino County, California. It is located in the Mohave Valley, which straddles the California–Arizona border. The city is accessible via Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 95...
, the site where he passed by in 1776. The El Garces Hotel was built by the Santa Fe Railroad under contract with the Fred Harvey Company
Fred Harvey Company
The origin of the Fred Harvey Company can be traced to the 1875 opening of two railroad eating houses located at Wallace, Kansas and Hugo, Colorado on the Kansas Pacific Railway. These cafés were opened by Fred Harvey, then a freight agent for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad...
in 1908. It is designed in an elegant Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
and Beaux-Arts style, was considered the "Crown Jewel" of the entire Fred Harvey chain.
There are two memorials to Father Garcés in Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
: a statue located at the Garces Memorial Circle
Garces Memorial Circle
Garces Memorial Traffic Circle, informally known as Garces Circle or just The Circle, is the only traffic circle in Bakersfield, California. The traffic circle is located at the intersection of Chester Avenue, Golden State Avenue and 30th St in Bakersfield. The Circle was originally built as a...
on Chester Avenue and the city's Catholic high school, Garces Memorial High School
Garces Memorial High School
Garces Memorial High School, commonly shortened to Garces High School, is a Catholic high school in Bakersfield, California.Founded in 1947, the school is named after Father Francisco Garcés, a Spanish Franciscan friar and missionary who explored much of the southwestern part of North America,...
. Garces National Forest
Garces National Forest
Garces National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service in Arizona on July 1, 1908 with from portions of Baboquivari, Tumacacori and Huachuca National Forests. It was named in honor of Franciscan missionary Father Francisco Garcés - an early exlorer of southwestern North America...
was established by the U.S. Forest Service in southern Arizona on July 1, 1908 with 78,480 acres (317.6 km2) from portions of Baboquivari, Tumacacori and Huachuca National Forests. It was combined with Coronado National Forest
Coronado National Forest
The Coronado National Forest includes an area of about 1.78 million acres spread throughout mountain ranges in southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico....
on July 1, 1911 and the name was discontinued.