Why Build A Fortress?

     The most obvious question regarding the history of the Presidio is why it existed in the first place. The Tucson presidio was constructed because of conflicts between three groups of people with competing claims to the landscape of the Tucson Basin.   From 1698 to 1820, the Sobaipuri (O'odham), the Apache and the Spanish government all claimed the valley of Tucson for their own.   

     The Spanish colonized the Tucson basin by converting the indigenous Sobaipuri residents to Christianity, and in so doing, built fortifications to protect them from the Apaches.   The Tucson Presidio was constructed to provide both permanent defense and a permanent claim to the Tucson Basin.  The Apache responded to the new fortifications with occasional periods of warfare. 

A statue from Tucson's Presdio Plaza. The statue portrays a soldier (a dismounted member of the Spanish calvary) from the Spanish Coloinal Period. During this time metal armor and firearms were rare on the northern frontier of New Spain.