European colonization of Arizona
Encyclopedia
The modern colonization of Arizona
started with the arrival of Europe
ans in 1528. Prior to this time, there were migrations of people in and out of this region. These people undoubtedly brought different tools, plants and cultures which affected the various peoples who were already residing in Arizona, just as their European counterparts did later in history. European colonization can be broken down into four politically defined time frames: Spanish, Mexican, Territorial and Recent.
and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
. The accounts of the early Spanish explorers with large mythical cities such as Cíbola
, and large mineral deposits of copper
and silver, would attract settlers and miners to the region in later years. The explorations led to the Columbian Exchange
in Arizona and widespread epidemics of smallpox
among the Native Americans.
Early Franciscans and Jesuits in Arizona also set up numerous missions such as San Xavier del Bac around the area to convert the Native Americans. The missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino in particular traveled around the Pimería Alta, exchanging gifts and catechizing the natives, who were then used as scouts for the purpose of learning developing events on the frontier. In 1680, the Pueblo Revolt
drove Spaniards temporarily from northern New Mexico
, but the area was reconquered in 1694.
describes the exchange of crops, animals and diseases between the European and American continents. For example, the introduction of new types of livestock substantially affected the culture and environment in Arizona. In 1541, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado reported that southern plains Native Americans traveled by foot, their belongings were pulled by dogs. A hundred years later, the Navajo had incorporated horses into their way of life and were learning about sheep, and by the 19th century had vast flocks. The exchange of Old World
animals and plants caused greater and more widespread changes than those of individual European military, religious figures, and conquistador
s' explorations.
Wheat
crops that the Pimas irrigated came from seed introduced by missionaries like Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino in the 17th and 18th centuries. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the major Pima food crops had been corn, beans, and squash
. Those could only be grown during spring and summer months when frost
s were not a danger. Wheat, on the other hand, could be sown in December and harvested in June, enabling the Pimas to farm year-round. That allowed them to live in larger, more permanent settlements, a crucial defensive measure against their enemies.
One of the most devastating consequences of the Columbian Exchange happened at a microbial level. Because many of the Asia
n, African, and European diseases originated in animal
s, especially those that had lived in herds, they had developed relatively successful adaptations to them. The exchange produced smallpox
, measles
, distemper, rinderpest
, and constantly mutating strains of influenza
. Smallpox first broke out in the Caribbean
in 1518. Two years later it spread to Mexico and became a pandemic
, sapping the strength of the Aztec
, Tarascan, and Incan empires. Indian populations drastically declined by 66 to 95 percent during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Because no Europeans lived among the Arizonan Indians for much of the 16th and 17th centuries, the documentary record remains largely mute.
The first visitors from the Old World may have been Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca
and his three companions, including a North African named Estevan. Shipwrecked off the Gulf coast of what is now Texas
in 1528, the shipwrecked ones survived as slaves and shamans before trekking across half the continent
. Some scholars believe they crossed Texas into New Mexico, nicking the southeastern corner of Arizona, before turning south into Sonora. Others argue they took a more southern route through Coahuila
and Chihuahua. Regardless of where they went, they heard stories of Indian kingdoms to the north "where there were towns of great population and great houses." When they finally ran into a Spanish slaving party north of Culiacáb, Sinaloa
, eight years later, they and their tales reached Mexico City
. These stories launched the first documented penetrations of Arizona.
Fray Marcos de Niza
led the initial expedition. Because Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza
wanted to find his own Tenochitlán while keeping rival Hernán Cortés
at bay, the Franciscan
and his guide, Estevan, slipped quietly out of Mexico City and up the coast of New Spain
. Estevan plunged up ahead and traveled as far north as the Zuni pueblos. He died after being wounded by Zuni arrows. Fray Marcos claimed to have followed in Estevan's footsteps until he came to a hill across from the Zuni pueblo of Cíbola
, which he described as "larger than the city of Mexico." A number of researchers question whether he left the Sonora at all. They agree with Coronado, who called Fray Marcos a liar.
Regardless, Fray Marcos's description of Cíbola, just one of seven cities he called the "greatest and best" of all Spanish discoveries in the New World
, triggered the expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
in 1540. Governor
of Nueva Galicia
in western Mexico, Coronado led more than 300 Spaniards, including at least three women, and more than a thousand Indians on a path that took them from southern Nayarit
to central Kansas
, with the excursions of his lieutenants extending his own travels. Melchor Díaz crossed the Colorado River into California. Pedro de Tovar fought a battle with the Hopi
Indians. García López de Cárdenas became the first European to see the Grand Canyon. Hernando de Alarcón
sailed up the Gulf of California
and navigated the shoals of Colorado. Coronando's party made the first systematic European exploration of the Southwest.
With the exception of Alarcón, who inquired the Yuman-speaking Indians along the Colorado about their methods of curing, their sexual practices, and their chronic war
fare with one another, most members of the Coronado expedition showed little interest in the Native Americans of Arizona. There has been much disagreement about their route through the state
because archaeological evidence has been lacking. Historian
Herbert Eugene Bolton and geographer Carl Sauer believed that they ascended the San Pedro River
, but Charles DiPeso argued that they crossed into Arizona near the modern town of Douglas
. There is now significant archaeological evidence to corroborate Coronado's passage through Arizona (Brasher 2007; Seymour 2008).
Coronado's failure to find great cities of gold
and silver
put an end to Spanish designs on the region for the next forty years. No other Europeans entered Arizona until the 1580s, and then they came from New Mexico, not Sonora. The fortunes being made in Zacatecas
, Guanajuato
, and San Luis Potosi
were much greater than those imagined in the fantasy of Cíbola, and because of those great silver strikes, Mexico's source of prosperity remained in the south.
In 1583, Antonio de Espejo
led nine soldiers and more than a hundred Zunis on a search for precious metals through the north central part of the state. Espejo traded with the Hopis and claimed their territory for Philip II of Spain
. He also discovered silver and copper
deposits in the vicinity of Jerome
, east of Prescott
. Both actions rekindled Spanish curiosity about Arizona, but neither resulted in a permanent Spanish presence.
An expedition of more far-reaching consequences was Juan de Oñate
's colonization of northern New Mexico in 1598. Oñate and his large party of men, women, and livestock
left the mining communities of southern Chihuahua in late January of that year. By November the Spaniards were in Hopi territory, chasing after the ore
Espejo had discovered. The northern Arizona winter drove them back to the Zuni pueblos and eventually to the Rio Grande
. Oñate therefore commissioned one of his captains, Marcos Farfán de los Godos, to search for the minerals instead.
Farfán and eight companions, along with some Hopi guides, rode southwest across the Little Colorado into the timbered country of the Mogollon Rim. There he and his party encountered Jumana Indians, who may have been Yuman-speaking Yavapais. The Jumanas daubed themselves with minerals of various color
s, wore skins of deer
and beaver
, and lived on a diet of venison
, wild plant foods, and maize. The Jumanas led Farfán to the valley of the Verde River
.
The Verde enchanted Farfán with its "splendid pastures, fine plain
s, and excellent land for farming." The river
also passed within a few miles of the mineral deposits discovered by Espejo, which were being mined by the Indians themselves. Farfán wrote: "These veins are so long and wide that one-half the people in New Spain could stake out claims in this land." This contributed to a legend of Arizona's fabulous wealth that attracted Spanish explorers
, seeking water and silver.
never became part of the Spanish empire
. Like the rest of Arizona north of the Gila River
, it remained in the hands of Native Americans for the next three hundred years. By 1600, however, the Spaniards had encountered most of the Indians—Pais, River Yumans, Sobaipuri
s, and Hopis—who emerge more clearly in later historical records. None of the early Spanish explorers recorded any contacts with two of Arizona's largest and most famous Native American peoples, the Athapaskan-speaking Navajos
and Apaches, on Arizonan soil. To Coronado, much of what later became the Apache territory was an unpopulated, rugged terrain of pine forests and rushing rivers.
It is possible that the ancestors of the Apaches and Navajos simply stayed out of Coronado's way. Coronado crossed paths with the Apachean Querechos in northeastern New Mexico, and Espejo fought people who were probably Athapaskans in northwestern New Mexico, but apparently Apaches did not move south of the Little Colorado until the 17th century. Like the Spaniards, the Athapaskans were relative latecomers to the Southwest.
They were also opportunists. Linguists have shown that all Navajo and Apache groups spoke dialects of a single language, one related to those spoken by Athapaskan hunters and gatherers in northern Canada, meaning that the people who later became the Navajos and Chiricahua
, Jicarilla
, Lipan, Mescalero
, Kiowa
, and Western Apache
s migrated south along the western edge of the Great Plains at about the same time. They used coyote- and wolf-sized dogs to carry their belongings and used bison
for meat and hides. Oñate dubbed them the "Vaquero Apache."
Once they reached the Southwest, the Athapaskans diverged and absorbed many of the traits of their neighbors. Some groups established strong trading relationships with the Pueblo peoples, exchanging salt
, bison hides, and deer skin for cotton blanket
s and agricultural produce
. They also began farming in well-watered locations throughout the Four Corners area, including Arizona. By the 1630s, Spaniards in New Mexico were referring to them as Apaches de Nabajú.
Pueblo influences deepened after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt
, which temporarily drove the Spaniards out of northern New Mexico. When the Spaniards reconquered the area in 1692, many rebels took refuge among the Apaches de Nabajú, teaching them how to make pottery, weave close-coiled baskets, perform complex ceremonies, and inspiring them to organize themselves into matrilineal clans. Puebloan and Athapaskan elements fused to create a new system of action and belief that became the Navajo culture
.
The Navajos also took a thorough knowledge
of domestic animals from the Spanish. Horses enabled them to raid their neighbors. Sheep and goat
s allowed them to fan out across the mesa
and canyon country of the Colorado Plateau. By the end of the 18th century, they were even carrying a trade in woolen blankets with Spanish communities in New Mexico. Hunters and gatherers by origin, the Navajos quickly became the greatest Indian pastoralists in North America.
Contacts with the Pueblo peoples and the Spaniards revolutionized Apache society as well. During the 17th century, small Apache groups continued their southward migrations. As bands splintered and drifted away from one another, cultural and linguistic differences developed. The Western Apaches, who settled in the White Mountains
, adopted matrilineal clans and ceremonial masked dancers from their Pueblo neighbors. The Chiricahua Apaches, on the other hand, never organized themselves into clans, indicating that their relationships with the Pueblo Indians were more tenuous.
The Chiricahuas did ally themselves with small groups of Uto-Aztecan hunters and gatherers in southeastern Arizona and northern Mexico known as the Sumas, Mansos, Janos, and Jocomes. When the Spaniards appeared, these groups and Apache newcomers joined together to raid Spanish herds. The Sumas and Mansos died out or were absorbed into Apache society, but the Chiricahuas prospered. Over the next two hundred years, the Chircahua Indians would become known for frightening Hispanic
settlers.
By the late 17th century, the Apaches and their allies had begun praying upon the Piman communities of southern Arizona. In March 1699, the Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino and Juan Mateo Manje, the second-highest civil official in Sonora, visited Sobaipuri
(an important early subgroup of the O'odham
) settlements in the Tucson Basin. Manje reported that Sobaipuri along the San Pedro River had "just finished devastating a rancheria of Apaches, capturing some children and other booty
. This was a response to an Apache attack on the pueblo of Santa Maria three weeks earlier, when the enemies ran off the few horses the community had. The people of Humari [a Pima chief] has gone forth to avenge that raid, just as these Pimans would do now."
Earlier, the Spaniards had tried to bring the Hopis back into their sphere of influence. In 1629 the Franciscans founded a mission at Awatovi
, followed by additional missions at Shongopovi
and Oraibi. The Hopis began to resist in a variety of ways, poisoning one of the first missionaries and protesting the abuses of others. When the Pueblo Revolt broke out, the Hopis swiftly dispatched the four Franciscans living among them. Then, in 1700, to make sure the missionaries never regained a foothold in their territory, they destroyed the Christian
village of Awatovi
and killed its men. Both the Franciscans and the Jesuits made sporadic attempts to return to the Hopi mesas, but their attempts failed.
As a result, the Sonoran Desert rather than the Colorado Plateau became the focus of missionary activity in Arizona for the rest of the colonial period. Missionaries and Spanish officials alike dreamed of extending the empire to the Gila River, to Hopi country, and beyond, but the Apache resistance halted the Spanish advance in what came to be called the Pimería Alta
.
Even there the European presence was dangerously lacking in security
and stability. Beginning in 1698, Kino and his colleagues established missions among O'odham living in the river valleys of northern Sanora. Some of the new converts rebelled in 1695, but the missions
withstood the rebellion and Kino pushed onward. He explored Tohono O'odham (Papago) country as far west as the Colorado River, visited the Sobaipuri Pimas along the Santa Cruz and San Pedro, and traveled as far north as the Salt River Valley
, where he preached to the Gileños, as the Akimel O'odham living along the Salt and Gila rivers were called. Nearly everywhere he and his companions went, the O'odham welcomed them with food
, arches made of branches, and simple wooden crosses
. It was generally thought among the Pimas that Kino was charismatic and energetic. They responded to his warmth and his drive.
They also appreciated the material gifts he gave them: grain seeds, vegetables, fruit trees, and small herds of livestock. Kino and his fellow missionaries knew that in order to convert the Indians, they had to change the way they lived as well. The foundation of their efforts therefore became the policy of reducción, which involved "reducing" the Indians to village life, in which they could easily become catechized
and controlled. The O'odham moved to gathering camps each year to harvest mesquite pods, cholla
buds, saguaro fruit, and other wild foods. It was part of their seasonal round, but Jesuits feared such movement because they believed that the Indians reverted to their "pagan" habits away from mission discipline.
In northern Sonora, most Pimas accepted, or were forced to accept, Spanish ideas about the way civilized people should live. In Arizona, on the other hand, missionization proceeded more slowly. Kino founded missions San Xavier
and San Miguel at the Piman communities of Bac and Guevavi along the Santa Cruz, but the Jesuits soon abandoned those northern outposts. They were not staffed until 1732, twenty-one years after Kino died.
The rest of Pimería Alta never came under Spanish control. Nonetheless, both the Sobaipuris along the San Pedro River and the Gileños along the Gila became staunch allies of the Spaniards, fighting with the Apaches and trading with the communities of Tucson and Tubac. According to historian Kieran McCarty, the Pimas served as the perennial listening post during both the Spanish and Mexican periods for situations developing beyond the frontier
. Without the O'odham allies, Hispanic Arizona would not have survived.
, prospectors, California expedition, Apache Wars
, reservations, are part of the European colonization of Arizona.
, and gentrification of the Colorado River.
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
started with the arrival of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans in 1528. Prior to this time, there were migrations of people in and out of this region. These people undoubtedly brought different tools, plants and cultures which affected the various peoples who were already residing in Arizona, just as their European counterparts did later in history. European colonization can be broken down into four politically defined time frames: Spanish, Mexican, Territorial and Recent.
Spanish
Although the first European visitors to Arizona came in 1528, the most influential expeditions in early Spanish Arizona were those of Marcos de NizaMarcos de Niza
Fray Marcos de Niza was a Franciscan friar. He was born in Nice , which was at that time under the control of the Italian House of Savoy....
and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján was a Spanish conquistador, who visited New Mexico and other parts of what are now the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542...
. The accounts of the early Spanish explorers with large mythical cities such as Cíbola
Cibola
Cibola commonly refers to one of the legendary Seven Cities of Gold.It may also refer to:* Cibola, Arizona* Cibola County, New Mexico* Cibola National Forest, in New Mexico and Oklahoma...
, and large mineral deposits of copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and silver, would attract settlers and miners to the region in later years. The explorations led to the Columbian Exchange
Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was a dramatically widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human populations , communicable disease, and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres . It was one of the most significant events concerning ecology, agriculture, and culture in all of human history...
in Arizona and widespread epidemics of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
among the Native Americans.
Early Franciscans and Jesuits in Arizona also set up numerous missions such as San Xavier del Bac around the area to convert the Native Americans. The missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino in particular traveled around the Pimería Alta, exchanging gifts and catechizing the natives, who were then used as scouts for the purpose of learning developing events on the frontier. In 1680, the Pueblo Revolt
Pueblo Revolt
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, or Popé's Rebellion, was an uprising of several pueblos of the Pueblo people against Spanish colonization of the Americas in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.-Background:...
drove Spaniards temporarily from northern New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, but the area was reconquered in 1694.
The Columbian Exchange
The Columbian ExchangeColumbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange was a dramatically widespread exchange of animals, plants, culture, human populations , communicable disease, and ideas between the Eastern and Western hemispheres . It was one of the most significant events concerning ecology, agriculture, and culture in all of human history...
describes the exchange of crops, animals and diseases between the European and American continents. For example, the introduction of new types of livestock substantially affected the culture and environment in Arizona. In 1541, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado reported that southern plains Native Americans traveled by foot, their belongings were pulled by dogs. A hundred years later, the Navajo had incorporated horses into their way of life and were learning about sheep, and by the 19th century had vast flocks. The exchange of Old World
Old World
The Old World consists of those parts of the world known to classical antiquity and the European Middle Ages. It is used in the context of, and contrast with, the "New World" ....
animals and plants caused greater and more widespread changes than those of individual European military, religious figures, and conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
s' explorations.
Wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
crops that the Pimas irrigated came from seed introduced by missionaries like Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino in the 17th and 18th centuries. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the major Pima food crops had been corn, beans, and squash
Squash (fruit)
Squashes generally refer to four species of the genus Cucurbita, also called marrows depending on variety or the nationality of the speaker...
. Those could only be grown during spring and summer months when frost
Frost
Frost is the solid deposition of water vapor from saturated air. It is formed when solid surfaces are cooled to below the dew point of the adjacent air as well as below the freezing point of water. Frost crystals' size differ depending on time and water vapour available. Frost is also usually...
s were not a danger. Wheat, on the other hand, could be sown in December and harvested in June, enabling the Pimas to farm year-round. That allowed them to live in larger, more permanent settlements, a crucial defensive measure against their enemies.
One of the most devastating consequences of the Columbian Exchange happened at a microbial level. Because many of the Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n, African, and European diseases originated in animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s, especially those that had lived in herds, they had developed relatively successful adaptations to them. The exchange produced smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
, distemper, rinderpest
Rinderpest
Rinderpest was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and some other species of even-toed ungulates, including buffaloes, large antelopes and deer, giraffes, wildebeests and warthogs. After a global eradication campaign, the last confirmed case of rinderpest was diagnosed in 2001...
, and constantly mutating strains of influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
. Smallpox first broke out in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
in 1518. Two years later it spread to Mexico and became a pandemic
Pandemic
A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance multiple continents, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic...
, sapping the strength of the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
, Tarascan, and Incan empires. Indian populations drastically declined by 66 to 95 percent during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Because no Europeans lived among the Arizonan Indians for much of the 16th and 17th centuries, the documentary record remains largely mute.
Early Spanish Expeditions
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the New World, one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition...
and his three companions, including a North African named Estevan. Shipwrecked off the Gulf coast of what is now Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
in 1528, the shipwrecked ones survived as slaves and shamans before trekking across half the continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
. Some scholars believe they crossed Texas into New Mexico, nicking the southeastern corner of Arizona, before turning south into Sonora. Others argue they took a more southern route through Coahuila
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...
and Chihuahua. Regardless of where they went, they heard stories of Indian kingdoms to the north "where there were towns of great population and great houses." When they finally ran into a Spanish slaving party north of Culiacáb, Sinaloa
Sinaloa
Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....
, eight years later, they and their tales reached Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. These stories launched the first documented penetrations of Arizona.
Fray Marcos de Niza
Marcos de Niza
Fray Marcos de Niza was a Franciscan friar. He was born in Nice , which was at that time under the control of the Italian House of Savoy....
led the initial expedition. Because Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza
Antonio de Mendoza
Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, Marquis of Mondéjar, Count of Tendilla , was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from April 17, 1535 to November 25, 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from September 23, 1551 to July 21, 1552...
wanted to find his own Tenochitlán while keeping rival Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
at bay, the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
and his guide, Estevan, slipped quietly out of Mexico City and up the coast of New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
. Estevan plunged up ahead and traveled as far north as the Zuni pueblos. He died after being wounded by Zuni arrows. Fray Marcos claimed to have followed in Estevan's footsteps until he came to a hill across from the Zuni pueblo of Cíbola
Cibola
Cibola commonly refers to one of the legendary Seven Cities of Gold.It may also refer to:* Cibola, Arizona* Cibola County, New Mexico* Cibola National Forest, in New Mexico and Oklahoma...
, which he described as "larger than the city of Mexico." A number of researchers question whether he left the Sonora at all. They agree with Coronado, who called Fray Marcos a liar.
Regardless, Fray Marcos's description of Cíbola, just one of seven cities he called the "greatest and best" of all Spanish discoveries in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, triggered the expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján was a Spanish conquistador, who visited New Mexico and other parts of what are now the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542...
in 1540. Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Nueva Galicia
Nueva Galicia
El Nuevo Reino de Galicia or Nueva Galicia was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was named after Galicia in Spain...
in western Mexico, Coronado led more than 300 Spaniards, including at least three women, and more than a thousand Indians on a path that took them from southern Nayarit
Nayarit
Nayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico...
to central Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, with the excursions of his lieutenants extending his own travels. Melchor Díaz crossed the Colorado River into California. Pedro de Tovar fought a battle with the Hopi
Hopi
The Hopi are a federally recognized tribe of indigenous Native American people, who primarily live on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. The Hopi area according to the 2000 census has a population of 6,946 people. Their Hopi language is one of the 30 of the Uto-Aztecan language...
Indians. García López de Cárdenas became the first European to see the Grand Canyon. Hernando de Alarcón
Hernando de Alarcón
Hernando de Alarcón, a Spanish navigator of the 16th century, noted for having led an early expedition to the Baja California peninsula, meant to be coordinated with Francisco Vasquéz de Coronado's overland expedition, and for penetrating the lower Colorado River, perhaps as far as the modern...
sailed up the Gulf of California
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
and navigated the shoals of Colorado. Coronando's party made the first systematic European exploration of the Southwest.
With the exception of Alarcón, who inquired the Yuman-speaking Indians along the Colorado about their methods of curing, their sexual practices, and their chronic war
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
fare with one another, most members of the Coronado expedition showed little interest in the Native Americans of Arizona. There has been much disagreement about their route through the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
because archaeological evidence has been lacking. Historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Herbert Eugene Bolton and geographer Carl Sauer believed that they ascended the San Pedro River
San Pedro River (Arizona)
San Pedro River is a northward-flowing stream originating about ten miles south of Sierra Vista, Arizona near Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. It is one of only two rivers which flow north from Mexico into the United States. The river flows north through Cochise County, Pima County, Graham County, and...
, but Charles DiPeso argued that they crossed into Arizona near the modern town of Douglas
Douglas, Arizona
Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico and a history of mining.The population was 14,312 at the 2000 census...
. There is now significant archaeological evidence to corroborate Coronado's passage through Arizona (Brasher 2007; Seymour 2008).
Coronado's failure to find great cities of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
and silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
put an end to Spanish designs on the region for the next forty years. No other Europeans entered Arizona until the 1580s, and then they came from New Mexico, not Sonora. The fortunes being made in Zacatecas
Zacatecas, Zacatecas
Zacatecas is a city and municipality in Mexico and the capital of the state of Zacatecas. It is located in the north central part of the country. The city had its start as a Spanish mining camp in the mid 16th century. Prior to this, the area's rich deposits in silver and other minerals were known...
, Guanajuato
Guanajuato, Guanajuato
Guanajuato is a city and municipality in central Mexico and the capital of the state of the same name. It is located in a narrow valley, which makes the streets of the city narrow and winding. Most are alleys that cars cannot pass through, and some are long sets of stairs up the mountainsides....
, and San Luis Potosi
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí....
were much greater than those imagined in the fantasy of Cíbola, and because of those great silver strikes, Mexico's source of prosperity remained in the south.
In 1583, Antonio de Espejo
Antonio de Espejo
Antonio de Espejo was a Spanish explorer who led an expedition into New Mexico and Arizona in 1582-1583. The expedition created interest in establishing a Spanish colony among the Pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande valley.-Life:...
led nine soldiers and more than a hundred Zunis on a search for precious metals through the north central part of the state. Espejo traded with the Hopis and claimed their territory for Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
. He also discovered silver and copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
deposits in the vicinity of Jerome
Jerome, Arizona
Jerome is a town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the town is 353.-History:...
, east of Prescott
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
. Both actions rekindled Spanish curiosity about Arizona, but neither resulted in a permanent Spanish presence.
An expedition of more far-reaching consequences was Juan de Oñate
Juan de Oñate
Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar was a Spanish explorer, colonial governor of the New Spain province of New Mexico, and founder of various settlements in the present day Southwest of the United States.-Biography:...
's colonization of northern New Mexico in 1598. Oñate and his large party of men, women, and livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
left the mining communities of southern Chihuahua in late January of that year. By November the Spaniards were in Hopi territory, chasing after the ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
Espejo had discovered. The northern Arizona winter drove them back to the Zuni pueblos and eventually to the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
. Oñate therefore commissioned one of his captains, Marcos Farfán de los Godos, to search for the minerals instead.
Farfán and eight companions, along with some Hopi guides, rode southwest across the Little Colorado into the timbered country of the Mogollon Rim. There he and his party encountered Jumana Indians, who may have been Yuman-speaking Yavapais. The Jumanas daubed themselves with minerals of various color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
s, wore skins of deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
and beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
, and lived on a diet of venison
Venison
Venison is the meat of a game animal, especially a deer but also other animals such as antelope, wild boar, etc.-Etymology:The word derives from the Latin vēnor...
, wild plant foods, and maize. The Jumanas led Farfán to the valley of the Verde River
Verde River
The Verde River is the north and northwestern watershed of the Salt River–Verde River Watershed that co-join and enter the Gila River at Phoenix, Arizona, located in the U.S. state of Arizona...
.
The Verde enchanted Farfán with its "splendid pastures, fine plain
Plain
In geography, a plain is land with relatively low relief, that is flat or gently rolling. Prairies and steppes are types of plains, and the archetype for a plain is often thought of as a grassland, but plains in their natural state may also be covered in shrublands, woodland and forest, or...
s, and excellent land for farming." The river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
also passed within a few miles of the mineral deposits discovered by Espejo, which were being mined by the Indians themselves. Farfán wrote: "These veins are so long and wide that one-half the people in New Spain could stake out claims in this land." This contributed to a legend of Arizona's fabulous wealth that attracted Spanish explorers
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
, seeking water and silver.
Missionization of the Pimería Alta
Despite this, Verde ValleyVerde Valley
The Verde Valley is a valley in central Arizona in the United States of America. The Verde River runs through it. It is overlooked by Mingus Mountain and the Mogollon Rim.- History :The first notice of this region appears in the report of one Espejo,...
never became part of the Spanish empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
. Like the rest of Arizona north of the Gila River
Gila River
The Gila River is a tributary of the Colorado River, 650 miles long, in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.-Description:...
, it remained in the hands of Native Americans for the next three hundred years. By 1600, however, the Spaniards had encountered most of the Indians—Pais, River Yumans, Sobaipuri
Sobaipuri
The Sobaipuri are one of many indigenous groups occupying Sonora at the time Europeans first entered the American Southwest. They were a Piman group who occupied southern Arizona and northern Sonora in the 15th-19th centuries...
s, and Hopis—who emerge more clearly in later historical records. None of the early Spanish explorers recorded any contacts with two of Arizona's largest and most famous Native American peoples, the Athapaskan-speaking Navajos
Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation is a semi-autonomous Native American-governed territory covering , occupying all of northeastern Arizona, the southeastern portion of Utah, and northwestern New Mexico...
and Apaches, on Arizonan soil. To Coronado, much of what later became the Apache territory was an unpopulated, rugged terrain of pine forests and rushing rivers.
It is possible that the ancestors of the Apaches and Navajos simply stayed out of Coronado's way. Coronado crossed paths with the Apachean Querechos in northeastern New Mexico, and Espejo fought people who were probably Athapaskans in northwestern New Mexico, but apparently Apaches did not move south of the Little Colorado until the 17th century. Like the Spaniards, the Athapaskans were relative latecomers to the Southwest.
They were also opportunists. Linguists have shown that all Navajo and Apache groups spoke dialects of a single language, one related to those spoken by Athapaskan hunters and gatherers in northern Canada, meaning that the people who later became the Navajos and Chiricahua
Chiricahua
Chiricahua are a group of Apache Native Americans who live in the Southwest United States. At the time of European encounter, they were living in 15 million acres of territory in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona in the United States, and in northern Sonora and Chihuahua in Mexico...
, Jicarilla
Jicarilla Apache
Jicarilla Apache refers to the members of the Jicarilla Apache Nation currently living in New Mexico and speaking a Southern Athabaskan language...
, Lipan, Mescalero
Mescalero
Mescalero is an Apache tribe of Southern Athabaskan Native Americans. The tribe is federally recognized as the Mescalero Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Apache Reservation in southcentral New Mexico...
, Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...
, and Western Apache
Western Apache
Western Apache refers to the Apache peoples living today primarily in east central Arizona. Most live within reservations. The White Mountain Apache of the Fort Apache, San Carlos, Yavapai-Apache, Tonto Apache, and the Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Indian reservations are home to the majority of...
s migrated south along the western edge of the Great Plains at about the same time. They used coyote- and wolf-sized dogs to carry their belongings and used bison
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
for meat and hides. Oñate dubbed them the "Vaquero Apache."
Once they reached the Southwest, the Athapaskans diverged and absorbed many of the traits of their neighbors. Some groups established strong trading relationships with the Pueblo peoples, exchanging salt
Edible salt
Salt, also known as table salt, or rock salt, is a mineral that is composed primarily of sodium chloride , a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of ionic salts. It is essential for animal life in small quantities, but is harmful to animals and plants in excess...
, bison hides, and deer skin for cotton blanket
Blanket
A blanket is a type of bedding, generally speaking, a large piece of cloth, intended to keep the user warm, especially while sleeping. Blankets are distinguished from sheets by their thickness and purpose; the thickest sheet is still thinner than the lightest blanket. Blankets are generally used...
s and agricultural produce
Produce
Produce is a generalized term for a group of farm-produced goods and, not limited to fruits and vegetables . More specifically, the term "produce" often implies that the products are fresh and generally in the same state as where they were harvested. In supermarkets the term is also used to refer...
. They also began farming in well-watered locations throughout the Four Corners area, including Arizona. By the 1630s, Spaniards in New Mexico were referring to them as Apaches de Nabajú.
Pueblo influences deepened after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt
Pueblo Revolt
The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, or Popé's Rebellion, was an uprising of several pueblos of the Pueblo people against Spanish colonization of the Americas in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.-Background:...
, which temporarily drove the Spaniards out of northern New Mexico. When the Spaniards reconquered the area in 1692, many rebels took refuge among the Apaches de Nabajú, teaching them how to make pottery, weave close-coiled baskets, perform complex ceremonies, and inspiring them to organize themselves into matrilineal clans. Puebloan and Athapaskan elements fused to create a new system of action and belief that became the Navajo culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
.
The Navajos also took a thorough knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
of domestic animals from the Spanish. Horses enabled them to raid their neighbors. Sheep and goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s allowed them to fan out across the mesa
Mesa
A mesa or table mountain is an elevated area of land with a flat top and sides that are usually steep cliffs. It takes its name from its characteristic table-top shape....
and canyon country of the Colorado Plateau. By the end of the 18th century, they were even carrying a trade in woolen blankets with Spanish communities in New Mexico. Hunters and gatherers by origin, the Navajos quickly became the greatest Indian pastoralists in North America.
Contacts with the Pueblo peoples and the Spaniards revolutionized Apache society as well. During the 17th century, small Apache groups continued their southward migrations. As bands splintered and drifted away from one another, cultural and linguistic differences developed. The Western Apaches, who settled in the White Mountains
White Mountains (Arizona)
The White Mountains of Arizona are a mountain range and mountainous region in the eastern part of the state, near the border with New Mexico; it is a continuation from the west of the Arizona transition zone–Mogollon Rim, with the Rim ending in western New Mexico...
, adopted matrilineal clans and ceremonial masked dancers from their Pueblo neighbors. The Chiricahua Apaches, on the other hand, never organized themselves into clans, indicating that their relationships with the Pueblo Indians were more tenuous.
The Chiricahuas did ally themselves with small groups of Uto-Aztecan hunters and gatherers in southeastern Arizona and northern Mexico known as the Sumas, Mansos, Janos, and Jocomes. When the Spaniards appeared, these groups and Apache newcomers joined together to raid Spanish herds. The Sumas and Mansos died out or were absorbed into Apache society, but the Chiricahuas prospered. Over the next two hundred years, the Chircahua Indians would become known for frightening Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
settlers.
Sobaipuri
The Sobaipuri are one of many indigenous groups occupying Sonora at the time Europeans first entered the American Southwest. They were a Piman group who occupied southern Arizona and northern Sonora in the 15th-19th centuries...
(an important early subgroup of the O'odham
Tohono O'odham
The Tohono O'odham are a group of Native American people who reside primarily in the Sonoran Desert of the southeastern Arizona and northwest Mexico...
) settlements in the Tucson Basin. Manje reported that Sobaipuri along the San Pedro River had "just finished devastating a rancheria of Apaches, capturing some children and other booty
Booty
Category:Article Feedback Blacklist...
. This was a response to an Apache attack on the pueblo of Santa Maria three weeks earlier, when the enemies ran off the few horses the community had. The people of Humari [a Pima chief] has gone forth to avenge that raid, just as these Pimans would do now."
Earlier, the Spaniards had tried to bring the Hopis back into their sphere of influence. In 1629 the Franciscans founded a mission at Awatovi
Awatovi Ruins
Awatovi Ruins is a National Historic Landmark in Navajo County, Arizona, United States, designated in 1964. In 1540, Coronado's men visited this village. What remains are the ruins of a five hundred year old pueblo. There are also ruins from a Spanish mission built in the 17th century...
, followed by additional missions at Shongopovi
Shongopovi, Arizona
Shongopovi is a census-designated place in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. The population was 632 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Shongopovi is located at ....
and Oraibi. The Hopis began to resist in a variety of ways, poisoning one of the first missionaries and protesting the abuses of others. When the Pueblo Revolt broke out, the Hopis swiftly dispatched the four Franciscans living among them. Then, in 1700, to make sure the missionaries never regained a foothold in their territory, they destroyed the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
village of Awatovi
Awatovi Ruins
Awatovi Ruins is a National Historic Landmark in Navajo County, Arizona, United States, designated in 1964. In 1540, Coronado's men visited this village. What remains are the ruins of a five hundred year old pueblo. There are also ruins from a Spanish mission built in the 17th century...
and killed its men. Both the Franciscans and the Jesuits made sporadic attempts to return to the Hopi mesas, but their attempts failed.
As a result, the Sonoran Desert rather than the Colorado Plateau became the focus of missionary activity in Arizona for the rest of the colonial period. Missionaries and Spanish officials alike dreamed of extending the empire to the Gila River, to Hopi country, and beyond, but the Apache resistance halted the Spanish advance in what came to be called the Pimería Alta
Pimería Alta
The Pimería Alta , an area of the 18th century Sonora y Sinaloa Province in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, encompassed parts of what are today southern Arizona in the United States and northern Sonora in Mexico....
.
Even there the European presence was dangerously lacking in security
Security
Security is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...
and stability. Beginning in 1698, Kino and his colleagues established missions among O'odham living in the river valleys of northern Sanora. Some of the new converts rebelled in 1695, but the missions
Mission (Christian)
Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...
withstood the rebellion and Kino pushed onward. He explored Tohono O'odham (Papago) country as far west as the Colorado River, visited the Sobaipuri Pimas along the Santa Cruz and San Pedro, and traveled as far north as the Salt River Valley
Salt River (Arizona)
The Salt River is a stream in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about long. Its drainage basin is about large. The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the Verde River...
, where he preached to the Gileños, as the Akimel O'odham living along the Salt and Gila rivers were called. Nearly everywhere he and his companions went, the O'odham welcomed them with food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
, arches made of branches, and simple wooden crosses
Crosses
Crosses may refer to:* Cross, the symbol* Crosses , the fourth album for the Belgian rock band Zornik* Crosses, Cher, a French municipality* Crosses, a musical project featuring members of Deftones and Far...
. It was generally thought among the Pimas that Kino was charismatic and energetic. They responded to his warmth and his drive.
They also appreciated the material gifts he gave them: grain seeds, vegetables, fruit trees, and small herds of livestock. Kino and his fellow missionaries knew that in order to convert the Indians, they had to change the way they lived as well. The foundation of their efforts therefore became the policy of reducción, which involved "reducing" the Indians to village life, in which they could easily become catechized
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
and controlled. The O'odham moved to gathering camps each year to harvest mesquite pods, cholla
Cholla
Cholla can refer to the following things:* Cholla cacti, a genus of cyllindrically-stemmed cacti* Cholla , a painting horse born in Nevada* Jeolla , former Korean province...
buds, saguaro fruit, and other wild foods. It was part of their seasonal round, but Jesuits feared such movement because they believed that the Indians reverted to their "pagan" habits away from mission discipline.
In northern Sonora, most Pimas accepted, or were forced to accept, Spanish ideas about the way civilized people should live. In Arizona, on the other hand, missionization proceeded more slowly. Kino founded missions San Xavier
Mission San Xavier del Bac
Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about 10 miles south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham San Xavier Indian Reservation...
and San Miguel at the Piman communities of Bac and Guevavi along the Santa Cruz, but the Jesuits soon abandoned those northern outposts. They were not staffed until 1732, twenty-one years after Kino died.
The rest of Pimería Alta never came under Spanish control. Nonetheless, both the Sobaipuris along the San Pedro River and the Gileños along the Gila became staunch allies of the Spaniards, fighting with the Apaches and trading with the communities of Tucson and Tubac. According to historian Kieran McCarty, the Pimas served as the perennial listening post during both the Spanish and Mexican periods for situations developing beyond the frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
. Without the O'odham allies, Hispanic Arizona would not have survived.
Mexican Period
With the independence of Mexico, the European colonization continued.Territorial Period
Manifest DestinyManifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
, prospectors, California expedition, Apache Wars
Apache Wars
The Apache Wars were a series of armed conflicts between the United States and Apaches fought in the Southwest from 1849 to 1886, though other minor hostilities continued until as late as 1924. The Confederate Army participated in the wars during the early 1860s, for instance in Texas, before being...
, reservations, are part of the European colonization of Arizona.
The Depression and World Wars Period
Hopi education revolt, Navajo Livestock ReductionNavajo Livestock Reduction
The Navajo Livestock Reduction was imposed upon the Navajo Nation by the federal government in the 1930s. During the 1920s and into the 30s, the Federal Government decided that the land of the Navajo Nation could not support the increasingly large flocks of goats and sheep and the herds of cattle...
, and gentrification of the Colorado River.
External links
- http://chichilticale.com/