Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi
Encyclopedia
Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi was founded by Jesuit missionary Fathers Kino and Salvatierra in 1691 as La Misión de San Gabriel de Guevavi, a district headquarters in what is 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...

, near Tumacácori. Subsequent missionaries called it San Rafael and San Miguel, resulting in the common historical name of Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi.

History

Father Juan de San Martin was assigned as the first resident priest (he left in 1703), with construction of a small chapel in 1701. Guevavi was designated as cabecera (headquarters) that same year. The ruins of the mission church are situated amidst a native Sobaipuri or O'odham (Upper Pima) settlement. Fathers Agustín de Campos and Luis Xavier Velarde visited occasionally after that. Father Grazhoffer reestablished a second church Guevavi in 1732.

In 1751, Father Garrucho contracted the building of a new and larger 15 foot by 50 foot church, the ruins of which still exist today. The mother of 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:...

 is buried in front of the altar. By the late 1690s, the Mission consisted of a church, a carpentry shop, and a blacksmith's area. By the 1770s, the settlement had been abandoned. The first Franciscan
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....

 priest, Father Juan Crisóstomo Gil de Bernabé, arrived in 1768 and took up residency at the Mission with about fifty families. The Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...

s attacked in 1769 and killed all but two of the few Spanish soldiers guarding the Mission; in 1770 and 1771 the natives continued their attacks and the cabecera was relocated to Tumacácori. Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi was abandoned for the last time in 1775.

Archaeology

The convento and church have been excavated by the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society and the National Park Service. Historian John Kessell has written a comprehensive history of Guevavi. Archaeologist Deni Seymour has excavated a portion of the indigenous Sobaipuri-O'odham settlement of Guevavi and Father Kino's "neat little house and church."

Tumacácori National Historical Park

The Mission's ruins were incorporated into Tumacácori National Historical Park
Tumacácori National Historical Park
Tumacácori National Historical Park is located in the upper Santa Cruz River Valley of southern Arizona. The park protects the ruins of three Spanish mission communities, two of which are National Historic Landmark sites, and it also contains the Tumacácori Museum, a historic landmark building...

 in 1990. It was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

 in 1990.,

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail

The Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi is one of the designated tour sights of the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
thumb|325px|MAP: [[Juan Bautista de Anza]] National Historic Trail routes in [[Arizona]] and [[California]].The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail is a National Park Service unit in the United States National Historic Trail and National Millennium Trail programs...

, a National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...

 unit in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 National Historic Trail
National Historic Trail
National Historic Trail is a designation for a protected area in the United States containing historic trails and surrounding areas. They are part of the National Trails System....

 and National Millennium Trail
National Millennium Trail
National Millennium Trails are 16 long-distance trails selected from 58 nominees as visionary trails that reflect defining aspects America's history and culture...

 programs. A Brochure Map for driving and detailed Anza Maps by County, with a Historical destinations-events Guide and the official NPS: Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail website are all available for information about the historic 1776 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:...

 trail places. Here, in front of the altar the mother of Juan Bautista de Anza is buried.

See also

  • Spanish Missions in the Sonoran Desert
    Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert
    The Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert are a series of Jesuit Catholic religious outposts established by the Spanish Catholic Jesuits and other orders for religious conversions of the Pima and Tohono O'odham indigenous peoples residing in the Sonoran Desert...

  • Category: Places on the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail

External links

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