footprintsm padres in N.ri.

4(/iC

P11iIIS

ottbe

Spaffish Padres

In

flew mexico

and

Jirizova

BY

m. Hlordan

THI COMPANYLOS CAL.

I SOC

Foot Prillts of the

Spanish Padres.

[The following interesting and ins/ruc-live taper was read by M J. Riordan.of Flagstaff, Arizona, be/re the New-man Club, of Los Angeles, Cal., at i/smeet ng in that city on the '8/h ofOclober, 1900 1

In all the world there is no bluersky, than that which arches Arizona; inall the world there is no brighter sun,no softer moonlight, no more brilliantsetting of stars than there. Indeed, therichness of her heavens has come to beknown among astronomers by the dis-tinctive name of "Arizona blue." Butthere are other things in Arizona andNew Mexico beside skies and stars andmoonlight. On-er great rangesof mountains rear their crests to theclouds; long reaches of ashen, waterless,sage-clothed valley lie between, withhere and there a stretch of pine, a clumpof cedar, or a fringe of cottonwood. Theearth at frequent intervals is cleft intwain by tremendous gorges, reachingfar down into the nether depths. Themountains are honey-combed with

passes and rifts and defiles. Walls ofsandstone cliffs, hundreds of feet inheight, and sheer, once the bulwark ofthe seas, drag their slow lengths alongfrom southeast to northwest,, and diea;ay at the great Salt Lake, by whichthe prophet of Mormon builded hisbusy l'ive.

Two main water-ways, the Rio Grandefeeding into the Gulf of Mexico, and theColorado into the Gulf of California,drain this vast area. Numberless minorstreams aided by the snows of Coloradoand Utah supply the central rivers. Cli-mate is regulated by altitude. On theplateaus and mountains of 5500 feet andhigher, the temperature is mild, the airinvigorating. In the foothills and val-leys below that level heat prevails, andbecomes intense, as sea-level is ap-proached. The fervor of the -sun andlack of thoisture have parched vast tractsof low-lying country into a gray, for-bidding waste, where jack-rabbits, coy-otes, rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, taran-tulas, scorpions and lizards of all classes,size and colors, have their habitat, andupon which the chief forms of vegeta-tion are yucca, loco, sagebrush, manza-nita, palo verde, and an infinite varietyof cacti, declining in size from the mon-umental Sahuaro to little pincushionsstrewn about in reckless profusion. Butthere are oases in these deserts beautifulin their greenery as Persian meadows, asrich in their fertility as the alluvialbenches of the Nile.

4

It is a far from Arizona to thehills of Judea and many weary miles ofland and sea lie between. Once the jour-is made, however, a striking similaritybetween the two is immediately appar-ent. Tissot's "St. John Preaching in theDesert" might well be a scene at the footof the Valpi mesa; Dote's "Hagar inthe Wilderness" is a characteristic bitfrom the painted desert; Rubens' "De-scent from the Cross" might have beensketched at one of the limestone promi-nences on which the Lagunas pasturetheir flocks; the paralytic waiting forthe stirring of Bethsaida's waters mightbe happened upon today at the borderof Oraibi's well. The same high lightsand deep shadows, the same stuntedand somber-hued vegetation, the samehills and plains, scarred by deep fissures,the same solemn wildernesses, make thetwo widely-separated countries kindredin their physical expression. This simi-larity is often remarked by those whohave traveled in both places. But an-other tie, stronger than that of externalresemblance, binds the Judean hills tothe wilds of Arizona and New Mexico;a likeness of human endeavor spent inthe same cause, and with an identityof purpose makes them sisters in thehigher, nobler life of the soul.

It was in the land of Israel that thefaithful Eleven, after receiving the com-mission, to "teach all nations" inaug-urated the missionary movement whichrenewed the face of the earth religious-

ly, socially, and politically. It was inArizona and New Mexico, Israel'scounterpart in the Western World, fif-teen centuries after Peter spoke to thepeople of Jerusalem, that another mis-

work was begun, which shall beforever memorable by reason of the he-roic efforts of its promoters, and by rea-son of the results which it produced.

Less than twenty-nine years after, theGenoese sailor touched at San Salvador,Cortez had completed the subjugation ofthe Aztec capital in Mexico. With thisevent, missionary work began in earneston this continent. A devoted band ofSpanish priests immediately set about theconversion of the native population, andbefore 1524 a church was built upon thesite of the present cathedral in the Cityof Mexico. In 1527 the chulich in Mex-ico had expanded to such an1 extent thatClement VII decided to erect it into abishopric, and on December 12th of thatyear Fray Juan de Zumarraga was ap-pointed to the see. Henceforward, in-credible advances were made by the new-ly established church until in 5539, forty-seven years after Columbus landed, ithad spread beyond the present borderof Mexico into the trackless wildernessesof Arizona and New Mexico.

The causes leading to the first mis-sionary excursion into the present ter-ritory of the United States are full ofromantic interest. Cabeza de Vaca andthree companions, survivors of the expe-dition of Narvaez to the coast of Florida

in 1528, wandered on foot throughsouthern swamps and savannas untilfoot-sore and bedraggled, they arrivedabout April, 1536, at Spanish settlementsin Mexico.

The story of this perilous journeyhas been vividly told by our own Lum-mis in that unique style of his, instinctwith the smoke of the camp and thebreath of the plains. In their aimlesswandering reports had reached themthrough the Indians whom they met, ofpopulous cities with many-storied housesand of mines of precious metal lying tothe north and west of their path in thecountry now comprising Arizona andNew Mexico. Relating tEe tales theyhad heard, the viceroy, Antonio de Men-doza, was stirred with the ambition toacquire this land, with its fabled wealthof Ophir, for his master, His CatholicMajesty, and the souls of its inhabitantsfor that other and greater Master, Christthe King. Casting about for a suitableagent to make the necessary reconnois-sance, Fray Marcos de Nizza, of theOrder of St. Francis the Seraph offeredto undertake the task, and was promptlycommissioned by the viceroy to pene-trate the unknown country to the north,and to report whatever of interest to thecause of religion or of country thatmight be found. The priestly envoywas a Savoyard, a native of Nice, atthat time belonging to the Duchy ofSavoy. He had seen service in Peruwith Pizzaro, and in Nicaragua with

Pedro Alvarado, and was consequent-ly no novice in the wild life of a pioneer.He had been a vice-commissary and pro-vincial of his order, and we are toldin tIle letters of obedience from his su-periors that "he was a regular priest,pious, virtuous and devoted, a good the-ologian, and familiar with the sciencesof cosmography and navigation."

Armed with the commission fromMendoza he started out from San Mig-uel de Culiacan, in Sinaloa, on March7th, 1539, accompanied by Friar Onor-ato, Estevanico, a Moroccan negro, anda number of Indians. Estevanico wasone of the survivors of the ilifated Nar-vaez expedition, and had made the over-land journey from Florida to Mexicowith Cabeza de Vaca. No doubt he wasselected to accompany De Nizza be-cause of his familiarity with the roughlife of a pioneer, and for the knowledgeof making his way among Indians whichhe had gained on that remarkable trip.Onorato fell ill when the Rio del Fuertewas reached, and was sent back. Theothers of the party pushed forward,crossing the Rios Mayo and Yaqui, andreaching a place near the present Matapain Sonora about the middle of April.From this point Estevanico was sentahead to blaze the way.

Marcos de Nizza followed the routeindicated by the negro and entered theterritory of Arizona at the point wherethe San Pedro river crosses the line.Ascending the San Pedro, he branched

off near the present site of Benson,crossed the Gila and Salt rivers, andthe White mountains, and probablyreached the southern headwaters of theLittle Colorado river. Here, when with-in two or three days' travel of the sevencities of Cibola as his destination wasknown to him, a terrified Indian methim, and related how Estevanico hadreached the first of the cities, and hadbeen murdered by its inhabitants. Thisnews dashed the hopes of the good friar,and dissipated the splendid visions hehad entertained during all his days ofpatient plodding. He determined, how-ever, not to abandon the enterprise with-out viewing the city which he had trav-eled so far to see. His Indian followersin fear of Estevanico's assailants op-posed any nearer approach to the Cibo-lan stronghold, and even threatened tomurder the intrepid friar should he at-tempt it. In his extremity. Fray Marcosretired to a secluded spot, when he gavehimself to prayer, and upon his returnto the Indians he succeeded in induc-ing a few of them to accompany himto an eminence, where from afar hecaught a fugitive view of the object ofhis desire, the terraced Indian puebloof Hawiku, in the neighborhood of thepresent site of the pueblo of Zuni,New Mexico. Building a pile of rockin sight of the village, and raisinga wooden cross, he took possessionof the country for his Catholic Majes-ty, and gave it the name of the New

9

Kingdom of. St. Francis. Then heturned his face hoireward, and, foot-sore but cheerful, retraced the wearymiles to Culiacan. Such is the storyof the first European entry into Arj-zona,—a negro and a few Indians, ledby a simple priest on a mission intendedto open the way to the Cross, the wordsof the Master, "Go teach all nations,"spoken by Galilee's distant sea, the im-pelling motive of it all. At first thoughtit seems to have been an inconsiderableenterprise; but upon further considera-tion we find it full of daring, hardshipand distress. Consider what an under-taking it would be for one of us tostrike out across country from Los An-geles today for Chihuahua, Mexico, orDenver, Colorado, or Yellowstone Park,Wyoming, or Baker City, Oregon. withIndians for companions and a burro fora Pullman. Who of us would not lookupon it with dismay? Yet the distancefrom Los Angeles to each of these pointsis practically that Irom Culiacan to Zuniby the route Fray Marcos de Nizza trav-eled, approximately 775 miles. The.tripto any of the points named could nowbe made in comfort even astride a burro,as compared with the journey accom-plished by our hero. We could at leastspeak the language of the country: wewould know what was before us; wewould have no fear of attack from manor beast, yet who of us could be inducedto undertake it? Friar Marcos venturedinto a country, the desolation of which

none but those who have seen can con-ceive. Mile after mile of dreary, water-less, treeless plain, his food, such as hecould wheedle from the natives, his"rest a stone," and crafty savages hisassociates. On the deserts he crossedeven now there is danger from thirst,from reptiles, and insects, from heat andfrom Indians. This very day we readof the ravages of the Yaquis in the landhe traversed. Only yesterday we waitedwith bated breath for news of the nextsavage raid of the cruel Apache, throughwhose very lair Fray Marcos passed un-daunted. On the return trip he had theadded burden of disappointed hope tocarry, and the added discomfort of ex-cessive heat to bear. No sun on theAmerican continent beats down withmore pitiless ardor than that whichscorched a large part of his course, andthe refraction from the sand-dunes andbare rocks intensifies it immeasurably.Surely it is not too much to say thatMarcos de Nizza performed a heroicfeat when he returned to Culiacan afterhis journey, covering over miles, inan air line, a distance equal to that fromLos Angeles to the Mississippi river, orfrom New York city to the Coloradoline. Still he was not discouraged.Rather did his experience urge him torenewed effort. He made his report tothe viceroy in September, 5539. It wasin glowing terms, and told not of hishardships, but of the wonderful thingshe had seen and of the limitless possibili-

ii braiyArizona State

ties in souls and in wealth, which heforesaw in the quest of his NewKingdom of St. Francis. Mendoza wasfilled with entluisiasm at the report, andset about the or ization of a militaryexpedition for the exploration and sub-

the newly discovered coun-try. The governor of Culiacan, Fran-cisco Coronado, who had talked withFray Marcos on his return, volunteeredto lead the enterprise, and was accord-ingly put at. 'its head with the title ofcaptain-general. He raised an army ofsoo Spaniards and Indians in theCity of and conducted it toCuliacan, which was made his tempo-rary base. Leaving the main body of thearmy to follow at its leisure, and withthe four Franciscan priests, Marcos deNizza, Antonio Victoria, Juan de Pa-dilla, and Juan de Ia Cruz, the laybrother Luis de 'F.scalona, and an es-cort of picked men, he sallied forth, lightof heart, and full of martial spirit. Onthe third day, Fray Antonio Victoriabroke his leg, and was sent back. Coro-nado, with his party, followed practi-cally the route blazed by Fray Marcos,and under the 'guidance of the friar,reached the Zuni pueblo, which had beendescribed to him. It proved to be suchan insignificant community in the lightof popular anticipation that the soldiersturned upon Fray Marcos, deriding andabusing him for having led them on awild-goose chase. The poor friar,wounded by the gibes of the soldiers

12

and fearful that he had unwittinglybeen the occasion of a tremendous blun-der, asked and was granted permissionto return to Mexico. He retraced hissteps once more, and gave the rest ofhis life to work among the natives ofMexico, dying in the capital city March25th, 1558.

Marcos de Nizza, probably the firstwhite man to breathe the air of Arizonaand New Mexico, is one of the historicfigures of the world. That he had un-bending will, untiring perseverance, fear-lessness, hardiness, strenuousness, hispioneering in the wilds of Arizona estab-lished beyond dispute, but he had be-side, as his superiors told of him, learn-ing, sanctity, and zeal—the marks of thetrue priest of all times and places. Heaccomplished much, for it was no smallthing to have pointed the way to thatvast expanse of country comprising thesister territories of Arizona and NewMexico; and yet his name has not es-caped slander. lie has been persistentlyaccused of exaggeration, lying and deceitin his report. It remained for truth-loving non-Catholic Americans to vindi-cate his honor; as Robert Louis Steven-son vindicated the memory of Damien.Charles F. Lummis, who we all knowloves truth for its own sake, thrust hiscritical rapier through the long line ofMarcos de Nizza's slanderers from Cor-ter down. He says, "Fray5tatements were absolutely truthful."And George Parker Winship, Assistant

'3

in American History at Harvard, de-fends the good friar's statements in de-tail in the fourteenth annual report ofthe Bureau of Ethnology.

It is but fair to state that it is a

mooted question among historians as towhether Arizona was not penetrated in1538 by Fray Juan de Ia Asumpcion, ayear before the advent of Marcos deNizza. On this question Bandelier saysthat, "while all the evidence presenteddoes not come up to the requirements ofhistorical certainty, the present conditionof the case leads me to believe that thejourney (1. e., the journey of Fray dela Asumpcion into Arizona in 1538) wasreally made," and Dr. Elliott Coues says,"I believe Juan de Ia Asumpcion to haveentered Arizona in 1538." Whatever thefacts may be, Marcos de Nizza's expedi-tion was the one which discovered thecountry for practical purposes, and inhim we recognize at once the hero,priest and explorer. When Arizona, as a

upon to place the statuesGf her heroes in the nation s Pantheonat Washington surely Marcos de izza sfigure will be her gift, and it will be afitting companion-piece to the statue ofthat •other explorer-priest, the gentleJesuit, Pere Mar4uette.

We left Coronado with his army, twopriests and a lay brother, in sight of oneof the cities of Cibola. An hour's workplaced him in possession of the pueblo,and he lost no time in preparing to pushhis conquest farther. He had heard

54

from the Indians of another group ofpueblos in the province of Tusayan,about 100 miles to the northwest ofCibola. This group is the one at pres-ent known as Moqui. He sent Pedrode Tobar with an escort of seventeenmen and Fray Juan de Padilla, to addthis province to his conquest. Theycompleted their task and heard from theIndians of a great river about seventymiles to the westward. This news wasreported to Coronado, who at once de-tailed Captain Cardenas with a small

to verify the report. In due timeCardenas reached the mighty river, andfor the first time in history, in the year1540, white men stood on the brink ofthat marvelous chasm, the Grand Canyonof Arizona. Who can describe the swellof astonishment that must have sweptthe souls of these men as they peered

depths of that colossal gorge.agape twelve miles across and

over 66bo deep, with its templesand pinnacles and minarets thousandsof feet high, its mighty embrasures andbattlements and buttresses, set as on the

of the New Jerusalem, itsmystery of color, vermilion and orangeand yellow and brown; its sea of tenu-ous light purple golden and blue,and over all a silence, brooding as dark-ness brooded over the face of the deepwhen all the world was young. Thisstupendous work of Nature, still incom-prehensible to the human mind, musthave been tQ these ardent Spaniards,

coming upon it from the glare of thedesert, as the visions of the City ofGod were to the Prophets—the Apoca-lypse to John the Beloved. What won-der that they and the companions, towhom they told their wonderful expe-rience, were fired anew by the desire forexploration. It is probable that FrayJuan de Padilla, whose course we shallnow follow, did not accompany the partyto the Grand Canyon. He remainedwith the main body of the expeditioncaring for its spiritual wants, and labor-ing with zeal among the natives.

Rumors of a land with extensive citiesand abounding in gold, lying to theeastward, became rife in Coronado'scamp. An Indian, from the plains tribes,whom the Spaniards nick-named ElTurco, gave currency to these reports,and as they passed from mouth tomOuth, they gained in definiteness, untilthe Spanish soldiers, including Coro-nado, were aflame with eagerness topush on to the conquest of the land ofgold and plenty, which they called Qui-vira The expedition changed its headquarters from Zuni to Acoma and laterat the suggestion of Fernando Alvarado'who made a reconnaissance to Pecos alittle tà the south and east of the pres-ent Santa Fe, it moved on to a point ator near the present site of Bernalillo.Here the winter months were spent,Fray Padilla constantly working withthe natives, and small exploring partiesvisiting the pueblos up and thq

16

Rio Grande. With the breaking up ofwinter, the soldiers became impatientto push on to the fabled land of Quivira.The start was made, and full of visionsof treasure, they set out to the east-ward, traveling through New Mexico,Indian Territory, and Kansas, into thelatter of which it is thought they pene-trated as far as the Republican Fork ofthe Kansas river. Some believed thatthey reached the Missouri river, andCoronado with a small party is supposedto have explored as far north as Ne-braska. Quivira, like the mirage in thedesert, was always a few days ahead,until at length Coronado was led to agroup of poverty-stricken Indian tepees,which were pointed out to him as theplace of his golden dream. Disgustedand disheartened at the sight of thereality, he returned to Bernalillo, andprepared to abandon the exploration ofthe north and to strike back to Mexicowith the whole party. Fray Padilla fol-lowed the explorers through all theirwanderings. His anxiety for souls, andfor the expansion of the Church, keep-ing pace with the adventurers' lust fortreasure and conquest. All these toil-some miles to the plains of Kansas hetrudged afoot, borne up by the thoughtthat but a few leagues ahead he wouldcome upon Quivira, where a multitudeof souls might be brought to the lightof the true faith.. When upon the re-turn to Bernalillo, it was determined toabandon the expedition and set out for

'7

Mexico, he and Fray Juan de Ia Cruzand Brother Escalona, of all the partyopposed this course. The hardshipswhich he had endured, far from dis-heartening him, fixed him all the firmerin the determination to devote his energyto the redemption of the savages. Heasked, therefore, that he and his com-panions in religion might be left to pur-sue their holy calling in the boundlesswilds of the north. The request wasgranted, and after assigning him a negro,a Portuguese soldier named Do Campoand some Mexican Indians as compan-ions, and afew sheep, mules and a horse,Coronado and his adventurous bandbade him farewell, and started on thehomeward march. Left practically alonein this savage country, with his shipsburned behind him as it were, with near-ly a thousand miles between him and thefirst vestige of civilization, his thoughtsrested not on the loneliness of hisdition, but on the great work of salva-tion before him. Juan de Ia Cruz de-cided to remain at Bernalillo to instructthe Indians and baptize those of themof good disposition, and those whomight be in danger of death. BrotherEscalona went to Pecos. But Fray Pa-dilla's heart was with the roaming tribesof the plains in the land of Quivira.Not content to remain with the pueblos,he set out with Do Campo, two MexicanIndians, and some guides for the landhe had wearily traveled months before.The mere suggestion of this project is

Is

bewildering, but to him in his great self-abnegation, it was duty. With a heartfull of his work, he started out with hisattendants, and after incredible hard-ships, reached his destination. No greattime elapsed until this servant of Godmoistened the sands of the westernprairies with his martyr blood. Treach-erous savages came upon him, but evenwith murder staring him in the face, histhoughts were not of self, but of thoseabout him. Calling out to his compan-ions, he bade them flee, and in utterabandonment he• submitted himself tohis barbarous assailants, and gave uphis noble soul to its Master. His wasthe first martyr blood shed in the greatwest—probably the first on the Americancontinent. It poured out gladly,unselfishly, and from it has sprung aharvest of Christian flowers, whose fra-grance is with us still.

Years after his death, in October, 1599,another Spaniard, Onate, with a bandof soldiers and two Franciscan priests,ventured toward the land of Quivira, thepriests to search for the body of theirmartyred brother. It is said that it wasbrought back, and the Indians of Isleta,thirteen miles south of Albuquerque,have a tradition which persists to thepresent day that the sacred remains ofPadilla rest beneath the chapel of their

and they firmly maintain that atregular ititervals of about 25 yearsthe incorrupt body in its cottonwoodcasket rises to the surface from the

'9

depth of the grave. This phenomenon,si st be not a miracle, is said to haveoccurred no later than about five yearsago, and one old Indian of the puebloasserts that he has twice witnessed theresurrection. The Indians, it is said,expect this phenomenon at stated pe-riods, and prepare themselves for theevent, and after its occurrence they rev-erently return their treasure to its rest-ing-place, with all the solemnities of theChurch. However this may be, it is

true that Padilla's life was the realmiracle. Fearless, kindly, self-sacrific-ing, resourceful, this Andalusian priestwas a fit prototype, as he was the proto-martyr the Catholic Church in theUnited States.

Father Juan de Ia Cruz and the laybrother, Luis de Escalona, also laiddown their lives for their flocks. Theywere murdered by the Indians, and withtheir disappearance from present Ameri-can territory, the last vestige of Coro-nado's ill-starred expedition was re-

moved. The reports which Coronadoand his men carried into Mexico put acheck to any further exploration to the

north, and it was not until forty

years after Coronado's undertaking, thatwhite men again ventured into NewMexico. In that year two Franciscanpriests and a lay brother, with an escortof twelve soldiers, came to the province

of the Tiguas in New Mexico, for thepurpose of spreading the Gospel. Thesoldiers went back unnerved at the sight

20

of so many Indians; but the religiousremained, and one by one were massa-cred.

Next, in 1582, came Espejo, who vis-ited New Mexico and the pueblos ofMoqui, and tramped about a large partof Arizona. With him was Fray Ber-nardino Beltran. Then came Onate in1596, bringing eight priests and two laybrothers. This was the first expeditionto accomplish anything of permanence.Towns and missions were founded, morepriests were sent for, the Indians werereduced to submission, explorations weremade to Zuni and Moqui, and the Colo-rado river was traced to its mouth. In

or i6o6 Onate founded the presentcity of Santa Fe, and by x6o8 the mis-sionaries had reported upward of 8ooobaptisms. "In 1617," says Lummis,"three years before Plymouth Rock,there were already eleven churches inuse in New Mexico." On June soth,1626, the missions of New Mexico wereerected into a Franciscan province, andthe first custodio, Fray Alfonso de Ben-avides, in a memorial sent to the Kingof Spain in 1626, and published in Brus-sells in 1631, reports upwards of 40,000converts, and what may surprise ourpresent day educators who imagine thateducation was discovered in Boston har-bor, he mentions over a dozen schools infull operation among the Indians of NewMexico. The progress of the Churchwas astounding until in the year i68o,practically all the pueblo Indians of New

21

Mexico and Arizona were Christianized.In that year a great uprising occurred,involving all the pueblos. Time is lack-ing to discuss its causes. It is sufficientto say that those usually assigned, theexactions of the padres, have no founda-tion in fact. The rebellion was wellplanned and mercilessly executed, andin a short time swept the Spanish workof eighty years, civil and ecclesiastical,off the face of the earth. In it eighteenpriests were massacred, and innumerablechurches, chapels and schools were de-stroyed. It was not until 1695 that orderwas restored, and effective missionarywork resumed. From this time until1821, the year of Mexican independence,the Church kept pace with the civilpower, doing its work effectually andwell. We have lists of 292 priests wholabored in Arizona and New Mexico,from Marcos de Nizza's entry until 1821,and of these thirty-six are known tohave been martyred.

Among them all, besides those of Mar-cos de Nizza and Juan de Padilla, twofigures loom against the historic can-vas in striking outline. These are Euse-bio Kino, the Jesuit, and FranciscoGarces, the Franciscan, both of whomlabored principally in Arizona. FatherKino was the first Jesuit in Arizona, andthe first priest to engage in active mis-sionary work in the southern part ofthe territory. In. the northern part,among the Moquis, the Franciscans la-bored faithfully, one being martyred at

22

Oraiba, and another at Valpi, the villagenow famous for its snake dance, in thegreat revolt of x68o. Father Kino wasa native of Trent, in the Austrian Tyrol,his true name being Eusebius Kuhn,which, to suit the genius of the Spanishtongue was changed to Kino. He wasa man of more than ordinary learning,even for a Jesuit. So pronounced washis gift in the science of mathematicsthat he was offered this chair by theDuke of Bavaria in the University ofIngolstadt. His zeal for souls was apassion, and preferring to indulge it, hedeclined all worldly advancement, andasked to he sent on the mission to theNew World. His superiors gratified hisdesire, and in i68o assigned him to Mex-ico. Here he took up the work of con-version of the Indians in Sonora, andin i6gi, with Father Juan Maria de Sal-vatierra, he crossed into what is nowArizona, and founded the missions ofGuevavi and San Xavier del Bac.

He made the mission of Dolores inSonora his headquarters, and from thispoint made a number of missionary triqsinto Arizona. In 1694 he penetrated asfar as the Gila river. He made a thor-ough examination of the great ruinsknown as Casa Grande, which even to-day are the largest and most interestingremnant of the civilization which hadpassed away before Marcos de Nizza'sfirst entrada in 5539. In this great ruinhe had the happiness to offer up theholy sacrifice of the Mass. Altogether

23

he is known to have made three tripsas far as the Gila, and in 1699 he wentto the westward to a point on the Colo-rado river, near the present site ofYuma, naming the stream Rio de losMartires, river of the martyrs. In allhis journeyings, the spiritual welfareof the Indians was his prime motive,ruling passion. He preached to them,aided them in their difficulties, lovedthem with the love of a true Christianpastor. The hardships that he under-went must have been excessive, as onewho has crossed the territory on theSouthern Pacific Railroad will readilyrealize. Dangers beset his every stepthrough this forbidding region, yet heperformed his work unconscious of them,or at least ignoring them, and aftertwenty-nine years of labor amid suchsurroundings, in his seventieth year, herendered his faithful soul to its Creator.He is justly called the Apostle of thePimas, and the fruit of his work amongthem survives to this day. Near the siteof the mission of San Xavier del Bãc,which he founded, his successors, theFranciscans, in the year 1783, began theerection of the present church of SanXavier del Bac, which, as Lummis saysin the July Land of Sunshine, "is be-yond cavil, the finest mission edifice inthe United States." Father Kino wasin many respects the most lovable char-acter in the long line of missionaries inArizona and New Mexico. Full of char-ity and zeal and self-sacrifice, he became

all things to his beloved savage children.The land that knew the touch of hisfaithful hand, the love of his gentleheart, shall be blessed forevermore.

After Father Kino, the Jesuits admin-istered the missions of Sonora and Ari-zona until in 1767, the Spanish govern-ment issued an order of expulsionagainst them, and after stealing theirproperty under the popular guise of con-fiscation, it was thoughtful enough tosupply the places made vacant with theFranciscan Fathers. A band of four-teen Franciscans left Queretaro on Aug-use 5th, 1767, bound for the missionsmade desolate by the order of the un-scrupulous government. They traveledoverland to the port of San Bias, wherethey took ship, and after suffering thehorrors of wreck, arrived in a dilapi-dated condition at the port of Guaymas,whence they traveled afoot to the vari-ous missions assigned them in Sonoraand Arizona.

Fray Francisco Garces, born in theKingdom of Aragon, April 12th, 1738,was appointed to the mission of SanXavier del Bac, the scene of FatherKino's labors in Arizona. He took resi-dence there in June, 1768, and imme-diately began his apostolic work amongthe natives. Two months after his ar-rival he made a visitation to the sur-rounding rancherias, penetrating as faras the Gila river. In 1770, he made an-other trip to the Gila, following the rivera considerable distance and baptizing

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many natives. In 1771 he again visitedthe Gila, extending his trip to the In-dians on the Colorado river, and spend-ing two months and a half away fromhis mission of San Xavier. These va-rious excursions among the Indians en-couraged him to formulate a plan forthe establishment of a group of newmissions along the Gila and Coloradorivers, after the type of the Sonora andCalifornia foundations. He also under-took the opening of overland communi-cation between the Mexican and the Cal-ifornian missions, as well as between themissions of New Mexico and those ofSonora and California. Under the ex-isting conditions, these three groups ofmissions were isolated one from theother, and all from the mother country.It was his vast project to establish aline of new missions which would bringthem all into close relation, and thusunify their work, make it more effectiveand form of the three distinct groupsone body working with a common pur-pose, and as a harmonious whole. Withthis end in view, under the auspices ofthe government, he started out on Jan-uary 8, 5774, from the presidio of Tubac,with a military expedition in commandof Captain Anza, in the direction of theColorado river. They crossed this rivernear the present Yuma, traversed thegreat California desert, and arrived atthe San Gabriel mission on March 22nd,where Fray Garces had the happiness ofmeeting your great California pioneer

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and priest, Father Junipero Serra.Father Garces returned to the Coloradoriver, where he explored up and downits course for many leagues, finallyturning to San Xavier del Bac, July roth,1774. On October 21st, 1775, the re-doubtable priest, under orders of theMexican viceroy, Bucareli, undertookan extensive journey, in orier, ashis letters of instruction read, "to ex-amine the country, treat with the neigh-boring natives, and investigate the ani-mus and adaptability of the natives forthe catechism and vassalage of our sov-ereign." On this trip the good fatherkept a minute journal of his daily travel,which forms a story of adventure asthrilling in its details as the records ofMarco Polo's travels in China, or HenryM. Stanley's in Darkest Africa. Hetraveled from Tubac to the Gila, downthe Gila to Yuma, down the Coloradoto the gulf, and back up the Colorado toFort Mojave. and from Mojave acrossthe desert to San Gabriel mission. FromSan Gabriel he struck out to the north,crossing the Tehachapi range, and pene-trating to Bakersfield, Kern river andTulare lake, whence he returned to FortMojave, crossed the Colorado about thatpoint, passed through Kingman andHackberry in Arizona, turned to thenorth and struck the lateral canyonsentering into the Grand Canyon. Hepassed Cataract canyon, north of Will-iams, and struck the Grand Canyon,which he named Puerto de Bucareli near

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the point which travelers now visit. Withonly a glance at this mighty gorge, withits valley of Jehosaphat in the centerand the Judgment Seat of God risingdooo feet from its depths, the travelerturned his face to the eastward, and setout for the Moqui pueblos. Crossingthe glaring sands of the Painted Desert,he arrived at Oraibi, the first of thevillages, in July. Scant courtesy await-ed him there, and his stay among themwas for only four days. It is interestingto read the note in his diary under dateof July 4th, 1776, the day when the Lib-erty bell in Philadelphia was ringingout the glad tidings that America wasfree. While on one side of the conti-nent a new nation was feeling the glad-ness of her first breath of life, this hum-ble friar in the loneliness of an Indianvillage, set in the midst of the desert,was writing these words:

"July 4th—As soon as day broke Iheard singing and dancing in thestreets. The rout passed by the placewhere I was, and then only did I seethat some of the Indians were paintedred, with feathers and other decorationson the head, beating the sound of thedance on a kind of drum, with two smallsticks, to which the flutes played an ac-companiment, and many persons kepttime to the music, as well through thestreets as on the house-tops. I observedthat in some places the processionspaused. The sun having now risen, I

saw coming nigh unto me a great multi-28

tude of people, the sight of which causedme some fear of losing my life. Therecame forward four Indians, who ap-peared to be principals, of whom the tall-est one asked me, with a grimace, 'Forwhat hast thou come here? Get theegone without delay,—back to thy land."I made them a sign to be seated, butthey would not. I arose with the SantoChristo in my hand, and partly in Yuma,and partly in Yavapai, and partly in Cas-tillian, with the aid of signs, which arethe best language to use with Indians,I explained to them my route, namingthe nations whom I had seen, those whohad kissed El Christo; I told them thatall these had been good to me, that I

also loved the Moquis, and for thatreason I came to say to them that God isin the sky, and that this Senor, whomthey saw on the cross, was the image ofGod, Jesu Christo, who is good. Tothis responded an old man in Castillianlanguage, and making a wry face: 'No,no.' Then I said, 'Fetch my mule."After a little the Yavapai youth ap-peared with her, and having arranged mythings, I mounted on her back, showingby my smiling face, how highly I appre-ciated their pueblo and their fashions."

Shaking the dust of this ungratefultown from his feet, he turned back toMojave, followed the Rio Coloradodown to Yuma, went up the Gila, andarrived at San Xavier on September17th, 1776. During all that wonderful triphe never lost sight of his mission,—the

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conversion of the Indians. He preachedto them through interpreters, madepeace between various tribes, baptizedthe dying, conquered the headstrong.The hardships he underwent are incon-ceivable. Hunger and thirst, heat andcold, sleepless nights and anxious days,were his constant portion. The diaryof his trin was done into English byDr. Elliott Coues, and was issued withcopious notes only a few months ago.It was the last work of this eminentauthor, who died on Christmas day oflast year. Every student of the historyof the Southwest should familiarize him-self with this work; and while in itsnotes the author does not show an un-derstanding of Catholic doctrine, hiswork otherwise is beyond criticism, andhis appreciation of Fray Garces is un-bounded. He says of him:

"Garces, like the Saviour, so loved hisfellow-men that he was ready to die forthem. This is true religion of whateversect or denomination, called by what-ever name."

Garces did not accomplish his pet pro-ject of establishing communication be-tween the missions of New Mexico, Ari-zona and California, owing to the unre-liability of the Mexican officials. Theyfavored his work, but at critical periodswithheld promised assistance.

In this connection it is interesting tonote that Don Hugo O'Conor—it wouldnot be complete without the Irish—ip-spector-general of the Mexican army,

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wrote Father Garces on December 13th,1775, that the project of moving troopsto the Gila and Colorado rivers had hisapproval, and that its execution was leftin his hands. In the meantime, how-ever, O'Conor was appointed to the gov-ernorship of Campeche, and his succes-sor evidently overlooked the needs ofthe friars. Father Garces, upon his re-

San Xavier, devoted himself tothe offices of his ministry among the In-dians, and there, in 1781, in auprising, he was clubbed to death by hisfaithless children. Thus with the mar-tyrs palm in his hand, the life of thisnoble missionary went out.

Of all the missionaries of the west hewas the most forceful, aggressive andenergetic, and withal the most kindly,self-sacrificing and devoted. He knewno fear. The fiber of his heart was ofsoldier stuff, but unlike the soldier whoventures in phalanx and with sword inhand, he bearded the savage alone,armed with no other weapon than theimage of his crucified Lord. Like SirGalahad, "his strength was thestrength of ten, because his heart waspure."

After him a line of heroic spirits tookup his work and propagated it with heartand hand and brain, even unto the pres-ent day, till we, the children of theirtravail, can look back to a spiritual an-cestry flowing with the blood of mar-tyrs and saints, and the ancestry ofkings has nothing nobler, purer, holier.

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Some of you have known, as I have,the saintly Salpointe, gone to his eter-nal rest; the gentle Bourgade, the mod-est Gerard, and the energetic Ferrariand Artuis, who are even now workingin the footsteps of Nizza, Padilla, Kinoand Garces. We have personal knowl-edge of their daily hardships, of theircheerful labors, and of the sanctity oftheir devoted lives.

Of these and of the early workers inthe vineyard we may say, as Paul saidof himself, that they were "in journey-ing often, in perils of waters, in perilsof robbers, in perils from the Gentiles,in perils in the city, in perils in the wil-derness, in perils in the sea, in perilsfrom false brethren; in laboi and pain-fulness, in many watchings, in hungerand thirst, in many fastings, in cold andnakedness."

It was the prototypes of such as thesethat John saw in his Apocalyptic vision."I saw," he says, "a great multitudewhich no man could number, of all na-tions and tribes and people and tongues,standing before the Throne and in sightof the Lamb, clothed with white robesand palms in their hands. They shallno more hunger nor thirst; neither shallthe sun fall on them, nor any heat.the Lamb, which is in the midst of theThrone, shall rule them, and shall leadthem to the fountains of the waters oflife, and God shall wipe away all tearsfrom their eyes."