Tumacacori, Priestly Monument of the Ages

Tumacacori, Priestly Monument

ESTABLISHMENT of a museum at Old Tumacacori Mission is evidence that the National Park Service plans toplace this mission among itsmany outstanding attractionsin Arizona, and give to it the place ithas justly deserved for so many years.

The mission was originally foundedin 1691 by that famous Jesuit priest,missionary and explorer, Father Eusebia Francisco Kino. After the year1769 priests belonging to the order ofFranciscan Fathers took charge of themission and repaired its walls, maintained and improved the buildings andliving conditions until about 1828 whenthey were ordered to return to Spain.

The story of Tumacacori-a story reaching far beyond the ordinary comprehension ofAmericans-has its beginnings, in fact,almost a hundred years before the settlement of Jamestown. At the timethat William Penn was performing his"Holy Experiment" on the Deleware,the Italian, Kino, was founding Christianity and Empire for the King ofSpain in what is today Sonora and Arizona. For two and a half centuriesthis country, named by Kino "PrimeriaAlta", has felt the influence of varied races and civilizations. Today the ground is being cleared and the time is ripe for adequate presentation of its story a story which cannot be limited to Tumacacori, but must, of necessity, cover the chain of missions to which Tumacacori belongs.

By act of Congress, September 15,1908, Tumacacori Mission was declared a National Monument. For the next 20 years the mission was restored and cared for by Nogales citizens, with funds they could obtain mostly through private contributions. About this time the Park Service appointed a custodian, built him a home on the grounds and built comfort services. Again things lapsed and just during the last The monument area abuts upon the International Highway, U. S. 89-the only important highway into the heart of Mexico west of El Paso (U. S. 85). Within two years this motorist route now under construction in Sonora is destined to be followed by great num-bers of American tourists bent upon enjoying the winter pleasures of the Gulf towns of Sonora and the intriguing features of Central Mexico.

The historic background of human affairs in this region stretches back powers. Part of the region is now a prosperous section of the United States; the greater part is in Sonora, Mexico. There is, here, an overlap of the National interests which, for many Americans, may well serve as a point of be-ginning for better understanding of things Mexican. But leaving out of consideration the International signi-ficance of the Tumacacori project there remains the fact that here we have segregated a nicely defined chapter of American history that is not dupli-cated elsewhere in our National Parks System. It is no insignificant chapter. Its bearing upon our national affairs has been of consequence, and the ma-terial objects about which the inter-pretation is to be woven are of grand and romantic nature.

It is a credit to our legislators that Tumacacori is a National Monument, This year has the old mission come into itsown and its true value recognized.

With the aid of C. W. A. labor, walls,attractive entrance gates and muchimprovement of a general nature wasdone to the grounds and buildings.Since December 7, F. E. R. A. laborhas been doing excavation work underthe direction of Paul Beaubien, whohas unearthed a great variety of ob-jects Indian, Spanish, Mexican andAmerican. Much valuable data is be-ing obtained from the walls, rooms,colonnades and floors, which are beingexposed after years of hiding. Nodoubt these will present interestingarchitectural studies as well as monu-ments to many eras of civilization thathave entered Arizona through theborder gateway.

Plans have been submitted by FrankPinkley, superintendent of National

FEBRUARY, 1935 ARIZONA HIGHWAYS 15 of the Ages Mission of San Jose Elevated to Museum Will Glorify Name of Father Kino

Parks, calling for the establishment of a museum at Tumacacori Mission. This museum will be true Spanish in design to fit the landscaping now in progress. It will be approximately 40 feet in width and 70 feet long. Exhibits in the museum will present a chronological history of events and culture from prior to the Spanish entrance into this area until the present day. Pima and Papago samples of clothing, ornaments, ceremonial regalia, foods, cooking utensils, hunting and warfare weapons, basketry and pottery. Miniature groups would show the Kino caravan, 1690; Dedication of Dolores Mother Mission of the Kino Chain; Tumacacori during the Jesuit period, 1691-1767; Extent of Jesuit development-1687-1767; Franciscans replace Jesuits 1768; Church construction; Interior of Tumacacori; Origin and influence of Mission architecture; Burning of Tumacacori by the Apaches, 1820; Mexican Republic, 1821; American travel in Primeria Alta, 1846-1853; Tumacacori as a National Monument; Closing of Sonora Missions, 1935.

The ruins as they stand consist of the walls and tower of an old church building, the walls of a mortuary chamber at the north end of the church building, and a court or churchyard, surrounded by an adobe wall two and a half feet thick and six feet high. The walls of the church building are six feet thick, built of adobe and plastered both inside and outside with lime mortar one inch thick. The inside walls of the main church building received two coats of this plaster, a first or inner coat being of a rather coarse character and the finishing coat being of a very fine, hard, and lasting type. The dome over the sanctuary and the belfry tower are constructed of burned brick, this being one of the characteristics of the architecture of the Mission, in which respect the construction differs from many other early Spanish missions. Inside, the dimensions of the church are 18 feet wide by 75 feet in length. The part used for the altar is situated at the north end. It is 18 feet square, surmounted with a circular dome, finished on the inside with white plaster decorated or frescoed in colors. The plaster and decorations are in a good state of preservation, but the altar is entirely gone. To the east of the sanctuary there is a sacristy, 16 by 20 feet, 20 feet high, covered with a barrel-vaulted roof built of burned ary chamber. The wall is three and a brick. The sanctuary and sacristy are the only parts of the mission which are now roofed over. In the south end of the church there was a choir loft carried on an arch. This loft and arch are now broken down. The outside wall of the north end of the church building is decorated with white plaster studded at regular intervals with clusters made of fragments of broken slag and broken brick.

About 25 feet north of the church building, and in the center of the churchyard, there is a circular mortu-half feet thick by 16 feet high, built of adobe, surmounted on the top with a row of ornamental cornice brick (made of burned brick). The chamber has one entrance. The walls were orignally decorated on the outside with white plaster studded with fragments of red brick.

The entrance to the church is at the south and has an arched doorway. To the east of the entrance there is a room, about 18 feet square, with a winding stairway inside leading up to the belfry. (Continued on Page 21)