Tumacacori National Historical Park

     Three miles south of Tubac is the Tumacacori National Historical Park.  The park consists of three separate mission sites: San Cayetano de Calabazas, Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi, and San Jose de Tumacacori. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt set aside the land as an historic park.

 

Historical Perspectives:  1690s - Salem Witch Trials,  1750s - George Washington is an officer in the British Army, fighting in the French and Indian War, 1775 - Founding Fathers are meeting and planning to petition Great Britain for more freedoms.  Boston is in and out of martial law curfews.       
San Cayetano de Calabazas

 

     Established in 1756 by Jesuit Father Francisco Pauer, this is the youngest of the three missions.  The name means Saint Cajetan of the Squash (which was named for the squash gourds that are native to the area) The mission frist shows up in a baptismal record of June 2, 1756.

• 1777 - buildings set on fire by invading Apaches
• 1786 - abandoned when the last of the Tohono O'odham left because of the warring Apaches.
• 1800s - the area was used as a farm, ranch, fort, and various other purposes.  With the Apaches still attacking, Calabazas was totally abandoned by 1878.
• 1960 - Father Norman Whalen recruited preservation volunteers.
• 1974 - Arizona Historical Society took over the site.
• 1990 - Added to Tumaccori National Historical Park.  This site can only be visited with a pre-arranged ranger as a guide.

  Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi

 

   This mission was started in January of 1691 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino.  The day before he also started the Tumacacori mission.  Guevavi is an O'odham word meaning big well or big spring.

• 1751 - Father Garruch contracted the building of a church.  The ruins still exist.
• 1775 - The mission is abandoned.  This site can only be visited with a pre-arranged ranger as a guide.

San Jose De Tumacacori

 

      Tumacacori my stem from two O'odham words meaning flat rocky place.

• Established as a mission in January 1691 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino
• 1800 - Franciscans start to build a cathedral similiar to San Xavier del Bac, just south of Tucson.  Building is slow.
• 1821 - The walls are up to 14 feet high.  Within a few years, the work is almost completed until the Franciscans are expelled.  The mission cathedral is repeatedly gutted by Apaches and treasure hunters.



A beautiful ruin.





Inside of church



detail of original artwork



The last person buried here was Juanita Alegria in 1916. She was just a baby.  Her grave is the only one that has been identified. 



The granary





This is a modern construction of a traditional O'odham home or "ki".  It is made of mesquite timbers, ocotillo sticks and mud. This dwelling was built in 1997 using traditional hand tools.  When completed, it was dedicated to San Francisco Xavier.


• 1929 - The National Park Service restores the church to its former, if unfinished, glory.

                
Mission records of baptisms, marriages and burials are available for those that lived in the mission districts, and can be found online.