Archaeology Southwest, Vol. 23, No. 2

Preserving Missions in the Pimería Alta

Dale S. Brenneman and Diana Hadley, Office of Ethnohistorical Research, Arizona State Museum

The mission complex at Caborca, Sonora, is a focal point of the community, but its stark white enclosure of columns and arches also sets it apart. Beyond it lies a natural domain of river, desert, and mountains. The adjacent river nearly destroyed the church in a major flood event, but community members organized to restore it and to celebrate their unique history (see pages 12-13). Image credit: Henry D. Wallace.

The mission complex at Caborca, Sonora, is a focal point of the community, but its stark white enclosure of columns and arches also sets it apart. Beyond it lies a natural domain of river, desert, and mountains. The adjacent river nearly destroyed the church in a major flood event, but community members organized to restore it and to celebrate their unique history (see pages 12-13). Image credit: Henry D. Wallace.

This issue of Archaeology Southwest discusses the preservation history of missions in the Pimería Alta, an area of modern-day northern Sonora and southern Arizona that stretches from the Río Magdalena northward to the Gila River, and from the Río San Miguel and San Pedro River westward to the Gulf of California and the Colorado River. The editors note that this history begins with the arrival of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino and the Jesuit mission program in 1687, and continues through recent work at Caborca and ongoing concerns at Tubutama. Issue authors present a wide range of topics, including mission-specific articles, mission music, mission-related legends, an important tour program, building materials and adobe, heritage fruit trees, and cattle and horse breeds that can be traced to Kino’s time.

Enjoy!

Articles include:

  • Preserving Missions in the Pimería Alta – Dale S. Brenneman and Diana Hadley, Office of Ethnohistorical Research, Arizona State Museum
  • A Brief History of Preservation at Mission San Xavier del Bac – Bernard L. Fontana, University of Arizona, Retired
  • The Sanctuary Lions of San Xavier del Bac – Bernard L. Fontana, University of Arizona, Retired
  • San Xavier’s New Lions – Gloria F. Giffords, American Institute for Conservation
  • San Xavier del Bac – Father Stephen Barnufsky, Mission Pastor
  • The San Xavier District – Austin Nuñez, Tohono O’odham Nation
  • Preservation of the Tumacácori, Calabasas, and Guevavi Mission Ruins – Jeremy Moss, National Park Service
  • Missions of the Pimería Alta: A Sonoran Perspective on Preservation – Júpiter Martínez, Centro INAH Sonora, and Abby Valenzuela, ENCRyM-INAH
  • Nuestra Señora de los Dolores – Júpiter Martínez, Centro INAH Sonora
  • Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago de Cocóspera – Júpiter Martínez, Centro INAH Sonora, and Abby Valenzuela, ENCRyM-INAH
  • San Pedro y San Pablo del Tubutama – Irene Ortíz Gastélum, Leonor Elvíra Ortíz Romero, and Lucrecía Ortíz Gastélum
  • The Mission Church of La Purísima Concepción de Nuestra Señora de Caborca – Gloria Elena Santini de Vanegas, Patronato del Templo
  • Intangible Colonial Artifacts: The Example of Oquitoa – James S. Griffith, Southwest Center, University of Arizona
  • Connecting with Mission History: SMRC and the Kino Mission Tours – Dale S. Brenneman, Southwest Mission Research Center and Office of Ethnohistorical Research, Arizona State Museum
  • Following in the Hoofprints of Father Kino – Enrique Salgado, Patronato de Kino
  • Music of the Missions – David Shaul
  • Mission 2000 – Donald T. Garate, National Park Service
  • Old Adobe Buildings, Speak to Me! – David Yubeta, National Park Service
  • The TICARAT Model: A Binational Adobe Workshop – R. Brooks Jeffery, University of Arizona
  • The Kino Heritage Fruit Trees Project – Jesús García, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
  • Wilbur-Cruce Spanish Barb Horses – Marjorie Dixon, Dragoon Mountain Spanish Barbs
  • Father Kino’s Cows – Diana Hadley, Office of Ethnohistorical Research, Arizona State Museum
  • Telling the Native Side of Mission History – Dale S. Brenneman, Office of Ethnohistorical Research, Arizona State Museum
  • Resurrecting Tucson’s Mission San Agustín – Diana Hadley, Office of Ethnohistorical Research, Arizona State Museum
  • Back Sight – William H. Doelle, President & CEO, Center for Desert Archaeology