Pima County

Mission San Xavier del Bac is a Catholic church
founded by a Jesuit priest, Father Eusebio Francisco
Kino, a European spreading the word of God in a new land
in 1692. While traveling to what is now known as California,
Kino found a Pima Indian village near a stream bed
("Bac" means "where a stream emerges") in the Sonoran Desert.
He stopped and preached to the people who were receptive to
his teachings. Father Kino did not stay in this location,
but visited it often during his travels.

From 1692 through 1782 various priests took charge of the
church and either visited regularly or were commissioned there.
The services took place in a different church than the one that
exists today.

During this time the old church was vulnerable to Apache
attacks but was left untouched. Charles III of Spain banned
all Jesuits from Spanish lands because of distrust of the
secular talents of the Jesuits, so from this time (late 1760's)
on San Xavier would be led by Franciscans.

Today's church was built in 1783. Not much is written about
the Mission from the time it was built until 1828. At this
time the Mexican government demanded loyalty from all Spanish
priests, and many, including the priest at San Xavier, refused.
Therefore, the priest serving at San Xavier was sent home to
Spain, and San Xavier was left vacant.

From 1828-1858 the church began to decay and local Indians,
concerned about the church, took church furnishings into their
homes as a way of preserving what they could. In 1849 the
California gold rush began, and then a large number of people
came to the church on their travels to California.
Most visitors wrote their names on the walls inside.

In 1858 a diary entry by a visitor from Ohio explained that
the door to San Xavier was always open and that the church
had been taken over by birds and that the Indians respected
it too much to vandalize it.

The decaying church was helped in 1859 when the Gadsden
Purchase added Arizona to the Santa Fe Diocese. The Bishop
for the Santa Fe Diocese ordered a scout to Arizona, where
they discovered San Xavier. Repairs were made with Diocese
money and a priest was assigned to serve at San Xavier.

A school was begun several times at San Xavier. The church
received funding through the government for school, but the
first attempt in 1864 failed, as local Indians did not send
their children. In 1895 a school was opened again, and a grant
of $1,000 was given to repair the building. Classrooms were
added on at the start of the century. In 1947 a new school
was built next to the church for the Tohono Oodam children.