The Trail of Padre Kino

One day two or three decades ago, in the moldy archives of Mexico, a scholar came across a musty autobiography the diary of Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino, Society of Jesuits. As the log of this gentle, self-effacing priest was read, pioneers of the southwest found that the restless energy of this man of God was almost solely responsible for the shape of their land. Cattlemen who started from scratch found that the scratch had been furnished by him. Cartographers who had mapped the new country found that he had told them how to get there. Cowboys who bragged of 30 miles in a hard day a-saddle marvelled at this man who covered 40 and 45 miles a day for days on end and found time time to baptise Indians and found missions in between. Soldiers who had fought savage Indians found that he had met them on their own ground-worked among them -civilized many of them.

For the traveller who tires of the thump-thump of the new day in Mexico for the seeker after the romance of the Old Days-the roads that lead from one to another of the missions founded by this pioneer padre are tempting. The trail of Father Kino is a delicate tracery that links the bright future of Sonora to its imposing past. As the Spanish conquistadores plundered their way through Mexico, the Kings of Spain found that the best way to prevent uprisings was to convert the natives to Christianity. They encouraged the Church to send padres after and sometimes before the soldiers to organize the Indians into communities and teach them the ways of civilization. This governmental policy was the instrument that brought the Black Robes of the Jesuits to the rim of Christendom. This was the impetus which started Father Kino-explorer, cartographer, cattleman, organizer and Christian on the road to Mexico. This man, who blazed the way into Pimeria Alta, didn't want to come. Swiss-born, Father Kino was an outstanding mathematician and geographer. During his noviciate, he longed to go to China and continue his studies with the best mathematicians in the world. As he prepared for his first missionary venture, another young priest was preparing himself the Far East was his goal, too.

Two assignments were open: one in China and one in Mexico. They drew lots to see who would go to the new world and who to the old. Father Kino drew Mexico.

His first post in the new country was in Baja, California. Lack of funds and supplies caused the abandoning of the rocky, barren soil of San Bruno, and Kino returned to the mainland.

His interest in the unknown country to the north mounted, and eventually he persuaded the higher-ups to let him go to Pimeria Alta, the outpost of civilization. In In 1685, shortly after the landing of the Pilgrim fathers, Kino left for his work among the Pimas and Opatas.

With his brilliant mind, dominating will, selfless energy, and understanding heart as his only tools, he established a chain of missions along a trail that, today, merits retracing. He tamed the Indians, inspiring them to do the backbreaking labor that the building of a church required. In addition, he charted the new country in the most accurate, and in many cases the only, maps of the area. He brought the Indians the idea of irrigation and worked with them to make the desert bloom. He started farms. He brought cattle raising to a country that is now famous for its cattle. He gave the peaceful Pimas the courage and the character they needed to fight off the death-dealing Apaches. When his missions were destroyed, he rebuilt them. When the Indians renounced the faith and returned to their ways of depredation, he won them back. He inspired all who knew him with his devotion and faith, and all who have since learned of his work with awe at his energy and ingenuity.

Kino died as he lived, among his beloved Indians, dressed in rags, humble, generous, ever kindly and forgiving. Behind him was an empire he alone had created.

Without the accomplishments of this pioneer padre, the development of the West would have been long delayed.

Throughout Sonora, the name of Father Kino is as alive today as it was in the 1680's when he travelled up and down Sonora, and what is now Arizona, and built upon the land the oldest chain of missions on this continent, opening the entire Southwest for civilization. Those missions standing today offer a theme without equal for the visitor who wants to tie together an unsual trip and see something of Mexico's northernmost state.

The trip logically begins at the mission San Xavier del Bac, the White Dove of the Desert, near Tucson. San Xavier is one of the most beautiful and ancient structures in North America and still is serving the native Indians for whom it was erected. Frocked Franciscan friars now in residence at San Xavier, under the direction of Fr. Herman, lead visitors on unscheduled tours through the mission and the information they give will afford an adequate background for the rest of the trip.

Tumacacori Mission, 39 miles along the main highway to Nogales, has been made into a National Monument. Here Earl Jackson, custodian, who has made a thorough study of the Kino missions, is in charge of the grounds and leads visitors through the mission, the gardens and the museum. In the museum are various early-day relics of great interest and some striking dioramas depicting the life and times of the pioneer padres. These dioramas are lit recesses with exceptionally lifelike figurines going about their day-to-day duties and affording a graphic and interesting picture of both the natives and their instructors in the late seventeenth century.

From Tumacacori, the highway follows the bed of the Santa Cruz river to the border city of Nogales, 14 miles away. Nogales is the port of entry into Mexico. Here all foreign-made goods must be registered with the U. S. Customs and a Mexican Tourist Permit obtained. The permit is good for six-months and is necessary for all tourists intending to go more than 15 miles below the border. Mexican consul Sr. Alejandro Villaseñor will be found more than willing to assist the bewildered. The International Border cuts directly through Nogales, dividing it into two towns, the Mexican Nogales, Sonora, and the American Nogales, Arizona. In Nogales, Arizona, any last-minute items for the trip may be purchased. Nogales, Sonora, is always of interest to the tourist. It is filled with novelty and curio shops displaying the handicraft of Mexico and with several excellent restaurants. One of these, La Caverna, is installed in a rock-hewn cave which once served as a prison and it offers the most cosmopolitan food of any cafe in Mexico.

Sixty-four miles from Nogales is the Sonoran city of Magdalena. The highway is now paved to Magdalena, and for some distance beyond. Magdalena is typical of most Mexican citites, with house and store fronts rising directly from the street's edge. There are few, if any, front yards in Mexico. The yard (patio) is enclosed on four sides and forms the center of the Mexican home. The restored mission at Magdalena is the Mecca for thousands of devout Mexican Catholics who come from all over Mexico to worship at the shrine of San Francisco. It is also reputed to be the burial place of Father Kino and a monument has been built just outside the mission proper to mark his tomb.

There are available modern, clean and comfortable accommodations at Magdalena and many visitors use it as a headquarters for a few days while seeing the missions, ruins and country around it. Joaquin Monroi, who may be found in the plaza, is a student of Kino lore, speaks flawless English and will go out of his way to assist the tourist.

The mission San Ignacio, which many people say fascinates them more than any of the other Kino missions, is located about seven miles north and west of Magdalena. Sr. Pedro Valencia, who is 76 and just learning to speak English, is the mayor (presidente) of the little community of San Ignacio and is fond of showing it off to anyone interested. Especially to be noticed is the 300-year-old citrus fruit orchard near San Ignacio which was probably planted by Kino. The fruit is tasty and sweet.

Sixteen miles north of Magdalena, on the main highway, is the village of Imuris. The mission at Imuris has long ago crumbled into an unidentifiable heap, but the town itself is filled with many tales of Kino and his missions and of buried treasure beneath them. Recently discovered at Imuris are the Kino mineral hot springs which many Mexicans believe were blessed by the padre and have indisputable curative powers. Imuris is also the best place to obtain information and guides to the older missions of Cocospera, Remedios, Dolores and Cucurpe. The roads to these missions are little more than trails and are difficult both to find and to travel over without some expert assistance. These four missions are the earliest in the Kino chain and have all fallen in ruins. The country surrounding them is but sparsely inhabited. But the trip up Cocospera canyon is an extremely scenic one and the mission Cocospera is in a somewhat better state of A gravel, but easily taken, highway leads south and west out of Magdalena to Altar, some 64 miles distant. Altar is another place many tourists have used as a headquarters and is accustomed to the ways, whims and desires of the American traveller. Two roads lead out of Altar. One of them passes through the mission town of Pitiquito and on its 23-mile-way to Caborca mission. It is wide, all-weather and semi-surfaced. The other is just a pair of ruts over some rugged little hills, but the missions Oquitoa and Tubutama and the ruins of Atil and Santa Teresa are well worth the effort. The roads are practically impassable after spring rains.

First mission to the north out of Altar is San Antonio de Oquitoa, in the village of Oquitoa. The sleepy little town lies in the Altar river valley and the people who inhabit it are gentle, fun-loving farmers. Oquitoa is kept in constant use through the visits of the priest from Altar. Father Santos Saenz. Though its exterior is unplastered. crumbling, well-weathered adobe, the interior is wellscrubbed and when filled with people at mass is probably more indicative of the early uses of the missions than any other in the chain. Much wheat is simply-grown on the small farms around the mission and is ground into flour for the ever-present tortillas at the Oquitoa mill which is powered by a 150-year-old water wheel. A more recent addition to Oquitoa is its baseball diamond which may be found packed with enthusiasts from nearby villages on any Saturday or Sunday afternoon in the season. Oquitoa is five miles from Altar.

Twelve miles further along the same road are the unmarked ruins of Atil. They lie alongside a new burntbrick church in the little town of Atil and have crumbled into an almost meaningless heap of adobe. Atil is said to have been the smallest of any mission ever built in the Southwest and it is likely that the lack of adequate planning in its construction contributed greatly to its present ruined state.

Only five miles from Atil, on the road to Tubutama. is another but far more interesting ruins, Santa Teresa. There is no village or house of any kind and the ruins are about a hundred yards off the road, overrun with cactus and desert growth. The heaps of dirt which once

Santa Maria de Magdalena, in northern Sonora's most important town, is shrine of San Francisco de Assisi.

were adobe bricks are thoroughly pockmarked with holes of all sizes treasure seekers have dug in pursuit of buried gold. Although there is no historical basis for the story, it persists in Sonora that a huge amount of gold was buried in or around the mission Santa Teresa to keep it from marauding Indians. The Indians, apparently, killed off the priest and all of the novitiates and left no one alive who knew the hiding place. For those who get excited over the compelling lure of something buried, Santa Teresa holds more mystery and fascination than the welldocumented histories of other missions. A very small amount of digging will unearth little pieces of china and rusty iron which undoubtedly once served the padres. The mission San Juan y San Pablo de Tubutama is five miles north of the Santa Teresa ruins and is the last mission standing along this route out of Altar. Tubutama, the mission and the town, sits high on a hill overlooking the Altar valley and the old-time manners and customs of its citizens have a charm all their own. If towns do have a personality, Tubutama has one of great warmth and a personal sort of friendliness. As early as 1760, weary travelers found peace and comfort in the homes of Tubutama. Two notable diaries, which have done much to further the knowledge of history in the Southwest, were written at Tubutama. The first was that of Fr. Pedro Font, chaplain of the second de Anza expedition-which founded Los Angeles and San Franciscoand that of Padre Francisco Garces in 1777, just after the doings in Philadelphia at Independence Hall. The second route out of Altar, the one going through Pitiquito and Caborca, leads to the Gulf of Lower California, the long finger of land mathematician Kino proved to be a peninsula instead of an island and thereby laying the foundation for the later Franciscan missions of California. The road, well-traveled and adequate, winds through rolling hills and across a great flat for the 15 miles separating Altar and Pitiquito. The mission San Diego del Pitiquito is, and has always been, overshadowed by Caborca, but the solidity of its architecture is not without an interest all its own. The master builder who planned it somehow managed to get the feeling of resolute dominance which characterizes the first Fathers into the massive lines of the mission Pitiquito, near Altar, in northern Sonora, has long history. It flourished in days after passing of Kino.

structure. Pitiquito is in infrequent use, but it is in excellent repair. The village, or pueblo, takes its name from the mission and is in the center of an extensive agricultural district. The wide wheat fields are lined with tall, swaying palm trees and the valley is surrounded with sharp, tough little mountains. Only eight miles westerly, the mission La Concepcion de Nuestra Señora del Caborca stands a mile or so from the edge of the city of Caborca in supreme but deteriorated grandeur. Six months after it was activated as a mission. the priest and all of the faithful were slaughtered as they stood by raiding Indians. Murder, rape and bloodshedin following years were to become frequent visitors to Caborca. The construction of the mission itself seems somehow to reflect its tragic history. Without a doubt, the most bloody and dramatic action ever to shake Caborca's walls was the Yankee Incident in 1857. A California adventurer by name Hank Crabbe, inflamed by the potential riches and power that might be obtained in isolated Sonora, talked a hundred of his ilk into joining in a scheme for the taking over of the fabulously wealthy district. The renegades marched through Yuma over the Devil's Highway, El Camino del Diablo, and entered Mexico through Sonoita. Approaching Caborca, they were engaged by an alert Mexican soldiery. In the ensuing six-day battle which raged around the mission of Caborca, all but one of the hundred marauders were killed. Today. the grandest fiesta of the year takes place on April sixth when the old walls are again festooned and Mexicans mingle with Americanos, both celebrating the victory of the Mexican Nationals over the American outlaws. Adequate living accommodations are available in Caborca. The highway leads from there to the Gulf town of Punto Peñasco (Rocky Point) a place much-visited by American sportsmen and well known for its bountiful deep-sea fishing. The entire distance from Tucson to Caborca is only 215 miles and most of it is through some of the most picturesque western scenery Mexico has to offer. With a minimum of pre-planning, today's motorist can visit all of the old historic Kino missions mentioned and can in addition see what the more primitive part of Mexico is like without actually suffering from too many inconveniences