No chronologic narrative of early Arizona annals can ever be formed with even approximate accuracy and completeness for lack of data. As already explained the country so far as occupied by Spaniards was but a small part of Pimería Alta, which in turn was but a part of Sonora, the annals of which province as a whole are but imperfectly recorded. From Sonora history we may get a general idea of progress in Pimería, and on Pimería annals we must depend for a similar general idea of events in Arizona, to which may be added only a few scattered items of local happenings. It is not strange, then, that nothing like a consecutive record can be presented; nor can anything be reasonably expected from future research beyond the bringing to light of new items. As we advance from the Jesuit to the Franciscan period, and from Spanish to Mexican rule, the state of things, from a historic point of view, becomes worse rather than better. There is much reason, however, to believe that complete original records, could they be restored, would affect only local, personal, and chronologic minutiae, and would hardly modify the general purport of these chapters.

In this connection, also, it is proper to note that the few and brief presentments of early Arizona annals which are extant, as prefatory matter to modern works devoted chiefly to later history, and to a description of the country and its resources, are not only meagre and fragmentary in detail, as they like my own must necessarily be, but full of errors, and almost wholly misleading in their general scope; though it should be added that the works in question often merit high praise for their accurate treatment of the later topics that come more properly within their field. In these works the tendency is to regard Padre Kino’s wanderings as mission-founding expeditions, though, as a matter of fact, there were no missions in Arizona till long after his death. From the Spanish names on early maps—identical with or corresponding to those of Kino and Venegas, as presented in the preceding chapter—the conclusion has been drawn that up to the Gila valley Arizona was covered with prosperous Spanish missions and settlements, which had to be abandoned later in consequence of Apache raids; yet in truth, as the reader knows, there was no Spanish occupation beyond a narrow region of the Santa Cruz valley, and even there only two missions, Bac and Guevavi, with a few rancherías de visita, under resident padres from 1732, or possibly 1720, and protected in their precarious existence by the Tubac presidio from 1752. The misleading Spanish saint names were simply those applied by Kino and his associates to the rancherías visited on their exploring tours, whose inhabitants, in some instances, were induced to make preparations for the reception of missionaries promised, but who never came. The Arizona missions were never more than two, and they were never prosperous. So, also, the rich mines and prosperous haciendas, with which the country is pictured as having been dotted, are purely imaginary, resting only on vague traditions or the Planchas de Plata excitement, and on the well-known mineral wealth of later times. The Jesuits of course—though the contrary is often alleged—worked no mines, nor is there any evidence that in Jesuit times there were any mining operations in Arizona beyond an occasional prospecting raid; and even later, down to the end of the century, such operations were, on a small scale, confined to the vicinity of the presidios; and the same remark may be made of agricultural operations, all establishments being often abandoned, and oftener plundered by the savages. And finally, it has been the fashion to regard Tucson as a more or less prosperous town from a very early time. Some writers even date its foundation in the sixteenth century; though, as a matter of fact, it is not heard of even as an Indian ranchería till the middle of the eighteenth, and was not properly a Spanish settlement till the presidio was moved there in later years.

On the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, all mission property, being regarded as belonging to the Jesuits and not to the natives, was confiscated by the Spanish government, and its care was intrusted temporarily to royal comisarios. Respecting the definite acts of these officials in Pimería Alta we have no information; but respecting the whole province, the viceroy wrote in 1793: “There is no reason to doubt that they either wasted or embezzled the rich temporalities of all or most of the missions, and that these funds being lost, decadence or ruin could not be prevented.” The southern Sonora establishments were secularized, but those of the Pimería were put in charge of fourteen Franciscans of the college of Santa Cruz de Querétaro, who arrived and were distributed to their destinations in June 1768. Our chief authority for the ensuing period of mission history, though meagre in respect of most details, is the standard chronicle of the Santa Cruz college and the operations of its friars. On the condition of affairs during the few following years, I quote from another volume of this series.

“The missions were found by the Franciscans in a sad state. Some of the establishments had been plundered by the Apaches, and were again plundered, as at Suamca and Bac, during the first year of Franciscan occupation. In some cases the comisarios had grossly neglected their duties. Everywhere the neophytes had been for a year free from all control, and lad not been improved by their freedom. Not only had they relapsed to a great extent into their roving and improvident habits, but they had imbibed new ideas of independence, fostered largely by settlers and soldiers. They regarded themselves as entirely free from all control by the missionaries, whose whole duty in these later times was to attend to religious matters. The padres might not, so these independent aborigines thought, give orders, but must prefer requests to native officials; if they required work done for them they must pay for it. The friars at first had nothing to do with the temporalities, but Galvez in 1770”—it was really in June 1769—“ordered the property returned to their control, and the slight remnants were thus restored. They received a stipend of $300 each from the royal treasury, and spent it on their churches and neophytes. They worked faithfully, though often discouraged, and presently the state of affairs became, in all essential respects, similar to that in Chihuahua, the padres keeping together the skeleton communities, instructing the children, caring for the sick, and by gifts and persuasion exercising slight and varying control over the masses of the Indians, who were Christians only in name. Officers intrusted with the expulsion of the Jesuits, in order to reconcile the Indians to the change and prevent disturbances, had taken pains to make them regard the measure as a release from bondage. This had much to do with the independent spirit that proved so troublesome to the new missionaries. Yet it is to be noted that the Franciscans joined more readily than was warranted by justice or good taste in the prevalent habit of decrying the Jesuits and their system, as is shown in the correspondence cited, where it is often implied that the difficulties encountered were largely due to the oppression and neglect of missionaries in former years. Naturally, the friars were disposed to magnify their troubles and throw the blame on others; but the only charge that was to some extent well founded was that the natives had not been taught to speak Spanish; the systems followed by the two orders did not differ in any important respect, and the Jesuits were by no means responsible for the evils that now beset the missions. By no means all existing troubles, however, arose from the natives’ new-born independence of missionary control. Each establishment had a large number of native officials who quarrelled among themselves; and the few settlers of Spanish or mixed blood had their separate jueces reales, who were not slow to interfere in matters that did not concern them. There was likewise confusion in ecclesiastical affairs, for the friars were forbidden to exercise control over any but Indians”. All this applies to Arizona as well as other parts of Pimería, and is all that can be said on the subject. Notwithstanding these obstacles, and the martyrdom of some of their number, the Queretaranos made some progress, especially in the building of churches; and they even made some extensive explorations in the north with a view to extend the mission field, as we shall presently see. In 1769 the eight missions and sixteen visitas of Pimería Alta had 2,018 neophytes and 178 gente de razón; in 1772 the two missions and three visitas of Arizona had 607 neophytes; but all other statistics of the later part of the century pertain to all the Sonora establishments as a whole, and throw no light on the north. It is probable, however, that there was a marked gain before 1800; and Pimería Alta is also said to have been somewhat less unprosperous than more southern districts. It should be noted moreover that from 1783 the Sonora missions were organized as a custodia of San Carlos, and thus removed from control of the college. The change seems to have had no important bearing on our present subject; at any rate, the friars were not pleased with it, and in 1791 the old order of things was restored. Besides the work of Arricivita, and the viceroy’s report of 1793 already cited, a leading authority for developments of the period, is a report of the Padre Antonio de los Reyes in 1772.

Military annals, so far as our special territory is concerned, are no more fully recorded than those of the missions; yet in this case, as in the other, the general situation of affairs is clear. The coast and island tribes of Sonora had become even more troublesome than the Apaches, and in 1767-71, while these tribes were being reduced to submission, campaigns on the northern frontier were for the most part suspended, and attention was confined mainly, without notable success, to the protection of the presidios and missions. Then aggressive campaigns were resumed, though we have no particulars. By the reglamento of 1772-3, the service against Apaches was rendered more effective by certain reforms in military discipline and Indian policy; and at the same time changes in the sites of the four frontier presidios at Altar, Tubac, Terrenate, and Fronteras were ordered. These changes, except at Altar, were made, including a transfer of Tubac to Tucson, but the exact dates and other details are not known. In 1774, or a little later, Hugo Oconor came as inspector to see that the reglamento had been properly enforced; General Croix from 1779 is credited with having effected useful reforms in the military service; before 1780 the garrison at each presidio was increased from fifty to seventy-five men; and in 1784 a company of Ópata allies was organized, which rendered efficient aid to the Spanish soldiers. In the records which show these facts there is much information respecting the Apaches and their methods of warfare; and all records of the time contain a general complaint of never-ending depredations; but of campaigns, disasters, and other events from year to year, practically nothing is known. In 1786 General Ugarte, by the viceroy’s order, introduced all along the frontier line of the Provincias Internas some radical changes in Indian policy. The Apaches were to be forced by unceasing campaigns, with the aid of friendly Pimas and Ópatas, to make treaties of peace, never before permitted with that nation; and so long as they observed such treaties, though closely watched, they were to be kindly treated, furnished with supplies, encouraged to form settlements near the presidios, taught to drink intoxicating liquors, and to depend as much as possible on Spanish friendship for the gratification of their needs. Hitherto war had been the business, as easier than hunting, by which they had lived; now they were to be made to dread war, as sure to cut off their supplies. The plan seems to have been remarkably successful; at least for twenty years or more there are but slight indications of Apache depredations. They were still regarded as hostile and treacherous at heart, but they were gradually forced to form treaties, which in many instances it was made their interest to keep for years, many of them settling near the Spanish establishments, and being supported by the government at a cost of $18,000 to $30,000 a year. Detached bands sometimes made trouble, as did gentile and renegade Pimas and Pápagos, requiring constant vigilance and bloody chastisement; but in comparison with its condition in earlier and later times, the country in the last decade of the century and first of the next was at peace. Then it was that the Arizona establishments had their nearest approximation to prosperity, that new churches were built, that mines were worked to some extent, and haciendas. Unfortunately, we may not know the particulars.

San Javier del Bac, known as a ranchería since the seventeenth century, and as a mission since 1732 or 1720, was, in June 1768, committed to the care of Padre Francisco Garcés, who wan its minister for eight or ten years, but whose successors are not named in any record that I have seen. The neophytes were scattered and had forgotten their doctrina, so it is said, but they consented to return if not compelled to work. Before the end of the year the mission was destroyed by Apaches, who killed the native governor and captured two soldiers, the padre and most of the neophytes being absent at the time. In several subsequent raids the mission live-stock disappeared, but after 1772 lost ground was more than regained, though Padre Garcés, as we shall see, was for a large part of the time engaged in northern explorations. The official report of 1772 shows a population of 270 on the registers, and describes the church as moderately capacious, but poorly supplied with furniture and vestments. All the churches of Pimería Alta at this period are described as of adobes, covered with wood, grass, and earth. Arricivita, writing in 1791, mentions on one page that the Franciscans have built here adobe houses tor the natives and walls for defence against the Apaches; but though specifying somewhat minutely the various churches that had been built or repaired, he says nothing of such work at Bac. In a similar statement on another page. however, he includes Bac, as well as Tucson, among the places where churches of brick had been built. Yet I think the chronicler would not have dismissed with so slight a notice the magnificent structure still standing at San Javier, which has elicited many a description from modern visitors. The church is said to bear the date of 1797, which is presumably that of its completion. The building, or rebuilding, was probably begun soon after the date of the reports on which Arricivita based his work, and completed in the final decade of the century, during the epoch of comparative peace and prosperity to which I have alluded. Neither church nor mission has any later recorded history. The establishment seems to have had no minister, and to have been practically abandoned from about 1828, though the Pápago ex-neophytes are said to have cared for the building to some extent in later years.

Tucson, as we have seen, is first mentioned in 1763 as a ranchería visita of Bac, which had been for the most part abandoned. In the last years of Jesuit control, however, it had 331 Indians, more or less, under control of the missionaries. Reyes, in his report of 1772, describes San José de Tucson as a visita of Bac, without church or padre’s house, on a fertile site where a large number of gentile and Christian Indians—not registered, but estimated at over 200 families—had congregated. Many of these seem to have been subsequently scattered; at least Anza found only eighty families of Pimas in 1774. Says Arricivita, the Apaches “have always sought to destroy a small ranchería at Tucson, it being the point of entry for their irruptions; but by the efforts of Padre Garcés, there was built a pueblo, with a church, house for the padre, and a wall for defence; and it is today a presidio of Spaniards.” As we have seen, the presidio was transferred from Tubac, in accordance with the reglamento and instructions of 1772. The change was made in or before 1777, and probably by order of Inspector Hugo Oconor, given during his visit of about 1775, so that the date of the founding of Tucson as a Spanish settlement may be set down as probably 1776. The Indians were quartered in a little pueblo adjoining the presidio, called from this time San Agustin del pueblito de Tucson, the presidio also being sometimes called San Agustin. Annals of this place are a blank for many years, and practically so down to 1846, since we know only by occasional mention that the presidio maintained its existence; that the garrison numbered, in officers and men, about 106 men, though the ranks were often not full; and that there was frequent complaint of inadequate arms, ammunition, and other supplies. We have no statistics, but the population of Tucson and the adjoining districts, in the last years of the period covered by this chapter, may have been about 2,000, including the families of the soldiers.

Tubac is a name that first appears in 1752, when a presidio was established there. In 1764-7, and for some years later, it was under the command of Captain Juan B. Anza, and had a population of nearly 500. Under orders following the reglamento of 1772, the presidio was transferred, in 1776-7, to a site farther north, at Tucson. This left the few settlers of the region more exposed to the depredations of the Apaches, and they wished to quit the country, but were prevented from doing so by orders from the government to be enforced by severe penalties. They sent in, however, many petitions for a restoration of the presidio, or for an increase of troops; and at a date not exactly recorded, but before 1784, a company of Pima allies was organized and stationed here. Subsequently Spanish soldiers seem to have been added to the garrison; and the law of 1826 provided for a presidial company at Tubac as well as Tucson, though in later years the company seems to have been one of infantry. The post has no other annals than an occasional mention of its existence and force. In 1828 a silver mine is spoken of as having been worked for several years. In 1834 all the Arizona establishments were organized as a partido with Tubac, or San Ignacio, as Cabecera. In 1842-3 a ranchería of friendly Apaches lived here. Spiritual interests were attended to by the padre of the adjoining mission.

Guevavi, in Jesuit times called San Miguel and also for a time San Rafael, but by the Franciscans termed Santos Angeles, was a mission which, like Bac, dated back to 1732, or perhaps 1720, and in 1764-7 had 111 neophytes, or with its three visitas, 517. Padre Juan Crisóstomo Gil de Bernavé was its minister for several years from 1768. He became president of the missions, and in 1773 was killed by the Indians of his new mission of Carrizal, Sonora.

 

Missions of Arizona, 1768-1846.

 

In 1772 Guevavi had 86 Indians, and with its visitas, 337. The church was a poor affair, and the establishment was often raided by Apaches. Before 1784 it was abandoned, and Tumacácori became head of the mission. The visita of San Ignacio Sonoita, or Sonoitac, seems also to have been deserted before 1784. The name of the latter is still retained, but that of Guevavi seems to have disappeared from modern maps.

Tumacácori, or San José, a visita of Guevavi from Jesuit times, with 199 Indians in 1764-7, and 39 in 1772, was almost in ruins in the latter year, having been attacked in 1769 by the Apaches at midday. But before 1791 a new roof had been put on the church, and from 1784, or earlier, San José had become a mission instead of a visita. Adobe houses for the neophytes and a wall for their protection were also built. After Padre Gil de Bernavé, I have no records of missionaries in charge of this mission and the adjoining presidio in early times; but Fray Narciso Gutierrez was the minister in 1814-20, Juan B. Estelric in 1821-2, and Ramon Liberós in 1822-4. The ruins of Tumacácori are still to be seen near Tubac, on the west bank of the river. San Cayetano de Calabazas, the only pueblo de visita that seems to have survived 1784, had 64 neophytes in 1772, but no church or house for the padre, though these were supplied before 1791. In 1828 Calabazas is mentioned as a rancho near which some poor people worked a gold mine. Aribac, or Arivaca, in the west, appears on a doubtful map of 1733 as a pueblo. Anza, in 1774, says it had been deserted since the Pima revolt of 1751, though mines were worked until 1767. In 1777 it is noted as a place rich in mines, and one Ortiz is said to have applied about this time for a grant of the rancho. Zúñiga, in 1835, mentions it as a ‘rancho despoblado’. It may also be noted here that in the early part of the present century, if not before, the old Terrenate presidio was located at or near the abandoned mission of Suamca, just south of the Arizona line, and was known as Santo Cruz.

The coming of a new order of missionaries to take the place of the Jesuits, the natural desire of the friars to do something more than simply fill the places of their predecessors, their success on the coast in effecting the spiritual conquest of Alta California, and above all the indefatigable zeal of Father Francisco Garcés, the Kino of the Franciscans, caused renewed interest to be felt in the northern interior, in the conversion of the Gila tribes, and of the apostate Moquis. The result was a series of somewhat extensive explorations which must be recorded here, but with comparative brevity, because they were for the most part but re-explorations, and because, in certain phases, they are presented elsewhere in this series of works.

As early as August 1768, Padre Garcés, moved by favorable reports from visiting natives at Bac, set out with one Indian of his mission and four Pápagos from abroad and crossed the country west and north-west to the Gila, visiting many rancherías, and explaining the mysteries of the faith and the grand achievements of the Spanish king. The natives behaved much as in Kino’s time, eager to be converted, to have padres, and to have their children baptized. The friar could do nothing but promise great things for the future, and on his return a severe illness interfered, for a time, with his plans. In 1770, however, a year in which the measles raged among the northern tribes, he was sent for by some of the sufferers, set out “equipped only with charity and apostolic zeal”, and again reached the Gila, where he was as warmly welcomed as before, and from this time the project of founding missions in this region took firm possession of his mind.

The project was approved in Mexico, both by Franciscan and secular authorities; five additional friars were sent to Sonora to be in readiness; and the early founding of the missions was regarded as a certainty, “though a change of viceroys and of presidents caused some annoying delays. Meanwhile, Garcés deemed it necessary to make additional explorations for mission sites as well as to explain to the natives the slight delay, thus preventing dissatisfaction; and accordingly he started August 8, 1771, on a new tour, accompanied only by a single Pápago, with a horse to carry the apparatus for saying mass. He reached the Gila on the 22nd by way of Papaguería, and for about two months he wandered in various directions over the Region of the lower Colorado, possibly crossing that river to the California side. Though Arricivita gives somewhat minute narrative with extracts from the explorer’s diary, it is not possible for me to trace his route, though I attempt a résumé in the appended note.

In this tour the padre was always well treated, though he had much difficulty in obtaining guides, each tribe being anxious that he should not risk his life in the territory of their foes. But the prospects for an early founding of the missions, deemed so encouraging just before, had now mysteriously disappeared, and no further movement was made for three years. In 1774, however, Captain Juan B. Anza obtained permission to explore a route by land to California, being influenced largely, as the Franciscan chronicler states, by the arguments and diaries of Garcés, who, still bent on carrying into execution his mission project, was glad to serve as guide or chaplain for the new expedition, being also accompanied by Padre Juan Diaz. Anza’s party of thirty-four men left Tubac on January 8th, and marched by way of Caborca and Sonoita to the junction of the Gila and Colorado, fording the latter river the 9th of February. Returning from California, this party went up the Gila, and by way of Tucson and Bac to Tubac in May. The Yumas at the junction, under the chief Captain Palma, whose residence was on the island of Trinidad, formed by the two rivers, gave the Spaniards a most friendly reception; and thus, not only was the practicability of this route to California demonstrated, but new interest was awakened in the proposed missions. Garcés had instructions to investigate the possibility of communicating with New Mexico, and with this in view he remained behind at San Simon y Judas on the Gila, attempting to penetrate the northern region, and send a letter to the New Mexican friars; but he was unable to reach the Moqui towns as he wished, and returned by a different route from that followed by Anza and the rest, arriving at his mission of Bac in July.

About this time Apache depredations were more frequent and deadly than usual; and the friars, counting on the renewed interest felt in northern affairs, deemed the opportunity favorable for securing some needed reforms—such as an escolta and a second missionary for each mission—in Pimería Alta as a necessary preliminary to the proposed advance; but though the viceroy issued a favorable preparatory decree, nothing was effected in the direction of increased protection for the southern establishments. As to the new ones proposed, Captain Anza, having gone to Mexico, and being called on for a report, advised that they should be founded, not on the Gila, where they would be exposed to Apache raids, but on the Colorado, and there only after new explorations and Under the protection of a strong presidio to furnish a guard for each mission. At the same time came orders from Spain to send reenforcements to California. It was therefore decided that Anza should conduct the Californian expedition by the Colorado route, and that in connection with his expedition the required explorations should be made. A letter of Inspector Oconor to Father Garcia also shows that the proposition to transfer the presidios of Horcasitas and Buenavista to the Gila and Colorado, respectively, had been approved. At the same time the Querétaro college resolved to turn over the missions of Pimería Baja to the bishop, in order to have missionaries to spare for the new service. Thus the prospects seemed bright again

I have before me a report of December 1774, addressed to the viceroy by Governor Crespo of Sonora, who had been requested to give his views on the proposed expedition. His chief recommendations were, that Anza should march, not through Papaguería, but by way of Bac, or better still, down the San Pedro and Gila; that instead of going down to the Colorado junction he should cross over to the Jalchedunes country, crossing the river there, and proceeding directly to Monterey, thus avoiding the southern California desert; and above all, that in connection with this expedition, steps should be taken to explore a way to New Mexico and the Moqui towns, which the writer believed to be easily accessible from the south-west. It was in this connection, also, that the government called upon the New Mexican authorities and friars for their views on the best way of reaching the Moquis from Sonora or California. This phase of the subject has been presented earlier in this volume as a part of New Mexican annals. Father Escalante was the leading spirit in resulting efforts. He not only visited the Moquis, counting 7,494 souls, and earnestly advocated their subjection by force of arms, but he gave in detail his views as to the best routes of approach. He thought the way from the south and the Gila would present no very serious difficulties, but was sure that from the west and Colorado would be found impracticable, and had no doubt that the best route of all was one from Monterey, directly east and then south-east to Santa Fé. The zealous padre had the courage of his convictions, and soon started with Padre Dominguez on an exploring tour to the north-west, bent on reaching Monterey; but he had to turn back from Utah Lake, returning by way of Moqui, only to learn that another Franciscan had successfully traversed the central route which he had declared the most difficult of all.

Anza, now lieutenant-colonel, left Tubac on his second expedition the 23d of October, 1775. Besides the California party of 207, he had twenty-five men—including ten soldiers and Padre Pedro Font as chaplain—who were to return to Sonora, and also two friars, Garcés and Tomás Eixarch, with six servants and interpreters, who were to be left on the Colorado. His route was by Tucson to the Gila, and down that river to the Colorado, which he forded at the end of December, leaving the two friars, he went on to California. On the return, Anza crossed the river on May 14, 1776. Padre Eixarch, whose experience among the Yumas had been most satisfactory, here rejoined the party, but Garcés had gone up the Colorado and could not be found. Palma, the Yuma chief, also joined the Spaniards for a trip to Mexico; and the return march was through Papaguería to Caborca and Altar, where they arrived on the 1st of June. Though the diaries of Anza and Font, and doubtless the report of Eixarch, contained much information about the Yumas and other tribes, there was no real exploration, such as had been suggested in the preliminary correspondence, except that accomplished by Garcés.

 

PADRE FONT'S MAP OF 1777.

 

 

Left by Anza on the Colorado, Father Garcés immediately set out on his exploring tours, leaving his companion at Palma’s ranchería to prepare the Yumas for mission life. In December he went down to the mouth of the Colorado, and in February 1776, up the river to the country of the Yamajabes, or Mojaves; crossed the country westward to San Gabriel in March, explored the great Tulares valley in April and May, and returned to the Colorado. Details of these Californian wanderings do not belong here. Though in receipt of Anza’s letter, the explorer resolved to visit the Moqui towns, and set out from the Mojave region on the 4th of June. This journey, as the second through this region, and the first of which we have a detailed account, is a most interesting and important one, to which nothing like justice can be done in the appended résumé of the diary, which, however, as a record cannot be omitted. The starting-point was probably in the region of the later Fort Mojave, or latitude 35º, and the winding and complicated route corresponded in a general sense with that of Oñate in 1604-5, and the line of the modern Atlantic and Pacific railroad. Garcés was most kindly treated everywhere on the way, but on the Moquis even he could make no impression. They would have nothing to do with him, and took no interest in his picture of hell and heaven. Some visiting Zuñis offered to guide him to New Mexico, but he deemed it unsafe to make the trip, fearing also that his coming might be deemed by the authorities an intrusion; and so, having passed two nights in a corner of the courtyard at Oraibe, and having written a letter to the padre at Zuñi, he left this inhospitable tribe, and found his way back to the Colorado, down that river to the Yumas, and thence back to his mission of San Javier del Bac in September.

Padre Garcés supplemented his diary with extensive information respecting the geography of the country and the disposition of the different native tribes, adding also his views as to the methods by which the new spiritual conquest might best be effected. Though differing on some details, Anza and all the friars agreed that missions should be established on the California side of the Colorado, under the protection of a strong presidio. The natives were eager for such establishments, Palma, the Yuma chief, visiting Mexico to advance the cause; the government was favorably disposed; promises were freely made; and it was supposed there would now be no delay. Yet for various reasons, including the departure of Anza for New Mexico, the Apache warfare and consequent difficulty of obtaining men and money, and divers controversies in Mexico, nothing whatever was done for three years. Then Garcés went again to the Colorado in 1779, and was soon joined by another friar and a guard of twelve soldiers. Meanwhile the Yumas had become tired of waiting and were disgusted by the petty nature of the mission enterprise in comparison with promises of the past; other tribes were hostile to the Yumas; and Palma had lost something of his authority. In 1780 the formal founding of two mission pueblos was ordered; but the idea of a presidio was abandoned, and a new system was devised, under which each mission was to have ten soldiers and ten settlers. Friars and officials qualified to judge in the matter protested against the system as suicidal, and the result fully justified their fears. In July 1781, the two missions of San Pedro y San Pablo and Concepcion were destroyed and about fifty Spaniards were killed, including Padre Garcés with three other friars, and Captain Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada, on his way to California with reinforcements and supplies. The missions were on the California side of the river, and all needful details of this disaster, with its causes and results, have been presented in another part of my work.

After the military expeditions sent from Sonora to avenge this massacre, expeditions which practically accomplished nothing, there were no further definite efforts to found Spanish establishments on the Gila and Colorado; the whole region was left to the aborigines; indeed, the viceroy’s instructions of 1786 required that the Yumas should be let alone until the Apaches were conquered, no attempt to be made meanwhile to open communication with California by land. A project for such communication with the peninsula, to be protected by one or more presidios near the head of the gulf, was indeed discussed in 1796-7, but nothing more. Lieutenant-colonel Jose Zúñiga is said to have explored in 1794 a route from Sonora to New Mexico by way of Tucson and Zuñi, but of particulars nothing is known. The meagre record of developments at the Moqui towns after the visit of Garcés has already been presented. In 1779-80, Anza, now governor of New Mexico, learning that the Moquis were in great trouble, made an earnest effort to effect their submission. Visiting the pueblos he learned that by drought, resulting in famine and pestilence, supplemented by raids of Navajos and Yutas, this brave people had been almost annihilated, only 800 surviving of the 7,500 counted in 1775. The proud chief at Oraibe still declined to submit to the Spanish king or a foreign god, or to accept aid for his afflicted subjects; but he permitted such as might desire it to depart, and thirty families were brought out to be settled in New Mexico. Nothing more is known of the Moquis in Spanish or Mexican times.

Another matter demanding brief mention here, as pertaining to Arizona annals of the century, is the Peralta grant of Gila lands. It is claimed that by cédula of December 20, 1748, the king, Fernando VI, in reward for services to the crown conferred on Don Miguel Peralta de Córdoba the title Barón de los Colorados, and ordered the viceroy to grant him 300 leagues of land in the northern regions. On October 10, 1757, officials of the inquisition recommended the grant, and certified on the testimony of Padre Paver of Bac, of Padre Garcia, and of Bishop Tamaron, that to the lands selected in Pimería Alta, the missions had no conflicting claims. On January 3, 1758, Viceroy Amarillas accordingly granted the tract north of San Javier mission, including the Gila River, and extending ten leagues north and south by thirty leagues east and west. In a document dated ‘El Caudal de Hidalgo, Pimería Alta’, May 13, 1758, Peralta, Caballero de los Colorados certifies that he has surveyed the grant and formed the required map. The documents were recorded in the audiencia office at Guadalajara, as shown by a certificate of June 23, 1768 On August 1st of the same year, Peralta applied to Carlos III for a confirmation granted by indorsement, December 2, 1772, and by a formal approval of January 22, 1776. By his will of 1788, Peralta bequeathed the estate to his son Miguel Peralta, who in 1853, siding at San Diego, California, obtained from President Santa Anna a certified title, that is, copies of all records in the case from the Mexican archives, with the president’s assurance of its validity and sufficiency. From the younger Peralta, the title passed in 1864 to George M. Willing Jr, and from the latter in 1867 to James Addison Reavis, the present owner. This immense grant of over 2,000 square miles extends from the region of the Pima villages eastward, for some seventy-five miles up the Gila valley, including valuable portions of three counties. Respecting its validity, depending on the genuineness of the documents and on various legal technicalities, I have of course no opinion to express. In a sense the title is plausible enough on its face; but it is somewhat remarkable that the annals of the province, as recorded, contain no allusion to Peralta, to the caballero de los Colorados, or to the Caudal de Hidalgo.

Of mining operations in Arizona, during any portion of the Spanish or Mexican period, nothing is practically or definitely known. The records are barely sufficient to show that a few mines were worked, and that the country was believed to be rich in silver and gold. In several districts have been found traces of these early workings; and these, with traditions arising from the Planchas de Plata find at Arizona proper just south of the line, are for the most part the only foundation for the many ‘lost mines’ of which much has been vaguely written, and more said. I have already remarked that modem writers have greatly exaggerated the country’s former prosperity in mining and other industries, and it may be added that they have as a rule given the wrong date to such prosperity as did exist, by assigning it to the earlier yean of the Jesuit period. Contrary to what has been a somewhat prevalent impression, there are no dear indications of prehistoric mining, that is, by the Pueblo Indians, when their towns extended over a huge part of the territory; and there is no proof either that the Jesuits ever worked any mines, or that in their time there were carried on any mining operations except on a very limited scale near the Tubac presidio, though in occasional prospecting tours it is probable that some discoveries were made. In Franciscan times for over two decades the same state of things continued. But from 1790 for twenty or thirty years, the period of comparative peace with the Apaches, the veritable era of Arizona’s early prosperity, there can be no doubt that many mines were opened from time to time, and that some were profitably worked, though we have no definite record of particulars, and though there is no reason to believe that there were any very extensive or wonderfully rich developments. It is to this period almost exclusively that we must trace the old workings discovered in later years, and also all the traditions of lost mines that have any other than a purely imaginary foundation. I append a few items of interest in this connection, without attempting to reproduce or analyze the many newspaper reports on the ancient mines.

What has been said in this chapter, though relating mainly to the eighteenth century, also includes nearly all that can be known of the country’s annals down to 1845. There are no data on which to found anything like a chronologic record of events from 1800, and the few items of local interest that are accessible have already been presented. The prosperity that began in 1790 may be regarded as having continued to about 1820, but as having disappeared entirely with the end of Spanish rule in 1822. During these three decades the Apaches were for the most part at peace under treaties which by gifts and rations it was made their interest to observe. Many of them came to live in rancherías near the presidios. At the same time the presidial garrisons were vigilant, and with the aid of friendly Pimas and Pápago had little difficulty in protecting the country from the occasional raids of the distant and hostile bands. It was the golden era of Pimería history, though only so in comparison with past and future misfortunes. Naturally under these circumstances, not only were the missions somewhat prosperous, as shown particularly by the magnificent church structure at Bac, but mines were worked as before explained, and stock-raising ranchos and haciendas were built up in the region extending from Tucson to the south-east and south-west. The ruins of these establishments are yet to be seen at many points.

Then during the last years of the war for independence—which, however, in itself produced no direct developments in connection with the history of this far north—and especially in the early years of Mexican rule, all this was changed and all prosperity vanished; the Apaches resumed their depredations, the garrisons became demoralized, and all other establishments were practically abandoned. The causes of this radical change must apparently be sought, not in any modification of policy in treating the savages nor in any new feeling of hostility on the part of the Apaches, but simply in the neglect of the presidios by the government. Hitherto strict discipline had been enforced, soldiers and officers had been promptly paid, experience had taught the best methods of management, and the military organization was in every way effective. But from 1811 money and food began to be inadequately and irregularly supplied; credits, discounts, and paper money began to do their work of demoralization; official peculations and speculations became rife; and discipline and vigilance began to be relaxed. The Apaches, hostile as ever at heart, as soon as their rations ceased to be furnished liberally and regularly went on the war-path as the second best way of making a living; the friars, from feelings of loyalty to Spain and disgust at independence, gradually lost interest in the presidios that had protected the existence of their missions; and the settlers, harassed by the savages, deprived of protection, and burdened by taxes, failed to give a hearty support to the soldiers, and gradually abandoned their ranchos. Finally all was desolation and disaster. This fatal neglect of the presidial organizations has been more fully set forth, so far as details are concerned, in the annals of California, where, however, in the absence of formidable foes, the results were much less disastrous.

Don Ignacio Zúñiga, who had served for years as commander of northern presidios, writing in 1835 on the condition of Sonoran affairs, gives an excellent idea of the Pimería disasters and their causes, though it is probable that he somewhat overrates the preceding prosperity. He declares that since 1820 no less than 5,000 lives had been lost; that at least 100 ranchos, haciendas, mining camps, and other settlements had been destroyed; that from 3,000 to 4,000 settlers had been obliged to quit the northern frontier; and that in the extreme north absolutely nothing was left but the demoralized garrisons of worthless soldiers, though in the most recent years, for lack of anything worth plundering and on account of the hostility of the Pimas and Pápagos, Apache raids had been somewhat less frequent than before. This writer’s plan was to restore everything as nearly as possible to the old condition. The presidial companies must, he thought, be discharged and new ones organized, to be paid and disciplined as in Spanish times; control of the temporalities must be given again to the friars; colonists of good character must be sent to occupy the deserted northern ranchos; some of the presidios should be moved to better positions; and finally the Colorado and Gila establishments should be founded as proposed in the past century. As a matter of course, no such reforms were carried out.

The Sonora record shows a period of general warfare against the Apaches in 1832-6, ending in some kind of a patched-up peace; also troubles with the Pápagos in 1840-1; and a little later serious revolts of the Yaquis and Mayos. Unfortunately political and revolutionary controversies introduced new complications into Indian affairs, Gándara and other partisan leaders being accused of trying to advance their own interests by inciting the Yaquis and Pápagos to revolt. Moreover this political warfare was most disastrous in its effects on the frontier presidios, the commandants being often called from their proper duties to aid in sustaining the state government. For the period of 1842-5 I have a large number of detached fragmentary records, which, while not sufficing for a complete chronologic narrative, give a very satisfactory idea of the general condition of affairs on the frontier. There is no indication that in Arizona any Mexican settlement existed, except at Tucson and Tubac, where under protection of soldiers a few settlers still managed to live. From the two presidios complaints of inadequate force, arms, horses, and other supplies are frequent. In 1842-3 the Pápagos and Gila tribes were concerned in hostilities at the instigation of Gándara as was charged, but they became repentant and were pardoned in May 1843. There were still rancherías of friendly Apaches at Tucson and Tubac, who even served as allies of the Mexicans in various campaigns; and some of the distant Apache bands were generally well disposed; but others were constantly on the war-path. Not much damage was done in Arizona because there were no ranchos left to be plundered, but farther south disasters to life and property were unceasing. On hearing of one of these raids, Captain Comaduran of Tucson generally started to cut off the retreating foe; several such campaigns are recorded, including one on a larger scale under Colonel Narbona in June 1843; and results at best were a few Apaches killed, a few women and children captured, a few cattle recovered, or perhaps the chief of some band forced to sue for peace, with a neverending supply of plausible reasons why no more could be accomplished. The reports are strikingly similar to those we read in the newspapers of 1886 respecting Apache warfare in the same region. In April 1845 Colonel Elias Gonzalez made a full report on the condition and needs of the frontier presidios, showing no improvement in the general state of affairs; and at the same time he presented a plan for a grand campaign with over 1,000 men in August. In September, when the forces had been united and all was nearly ready for the start, Colonel Elias was summoned to the south with his troops to support the governor in suppressing a revolution. It was decided in a council of war at Tucson to disobey the summons and go on with the Apache campaign; but we have no record of results, except that Comaduran in December, with a force of 155 men, succeeded in killing six Apaches.

Of the missions and visitas down to 1827, there is nothing to be added to the few local items already presented, except to note the visit of Bishop Bernardo del Espiritu Santo in 1821 and after 1827 there is nothing to show the existence of the Arizona establishments. Hamilton states that they “were finally abandoned by a decree of the government in 1828”; and though I have not found the original record, I have no doubt that such was practically the truth. The order of expulsion against Spaniards probably caused the departure of some of the friars in 1827-8, the management of the temporalities was taken away from them, and some of the establishments—including all in Arizona—were abandoned. South of the line, however, the Queretaranos still remained at several of the missions in charge of spiritual interests for many years; and even in the north the Pimas and Pápagos continued to live more or less continuously in communities at Bac, Tumacácori, and perhaps some of the other pueblos.

The only explorations of Arizona in Mexican times, besides those effected by the military detachments in pursuit of Apache raiders, were those of foreign trappers, chiefly Americans from New Mexico. The adventures of some of these parties, as described by James O. Pattie in a published narrative, have already been noticed. The Patties first trapped on the Gila and its branches in the autumn of 1825, again visiting the region in 1826, and in the same year going down to the junction and up the Colorado in the track of Garcés. In the autumn of 1828 they again followed the Gila down to the Colorado, and made their way to California. The narrative is devoted mainly to personal adventures and encounters with bears and Indians, having more fascination than real value. Of the few trapping parties which may have preceded those with which Pattie was connected, and the many that followed them, very little is known; but there were few of the later years in which the Arizona streams were not trapped to some extent. Pauline Weaver was a famous pioneer who traversed the country as early as 1832, as did Kit Carson perhaps still earlier. In 1829-32 the parties of Ewing Young and David Jackson crossed Arizona to California, as did a party of New Mexicans under José Antonio Vaca; and many of the early trapping and trading pioneers mentioned in the annals of California had visited this country sooner or later, though the regular route for trading parties and immigrants from Wolfskin’s trip of 1831 was by a route north of the Colorado. Down to about 1836 the Apaches are said to have been friendly to the Americans; but about that time the famous chief Juan José was treacherously killed with many of his people by one Johnson, and the Apaches immediately attacked and killed Charles Kemp’s party of 22 trappers on the Gila, as well as other parties farther east in New Mexico.