Early Franciscan missions The indigenous peoples of Arizona remained unknown to European explorers until 1540 when
Spanish explorer Pedro de Tovar (who was part of the
Coronado expedition) encountered the
Hopi while searching for the legendary
Seven Cities of Gold. Contact with Europeans remained infrequent until three missions were established in 1629 in what is now northeastern Arizona. In 1680, the
Pueblo Revolt resulted in the destruction of all three missions, greatly limiting Spanish influence in the region. Subsequent attempts to reestablish the missions in Hopi villages were met with repeated failures. The former mission is still visible today as a ruin.
Jesuit missions In the spring of 1687, the
Jesuit missionary
Eusebio Francisco Kino lived and worked with the Native Americans in the area called the
Pimería Alta, or "Upper Pima Country," which presently includes the Mexican state of
Sonora and the southern portion of
Arizona. During Father Eusebio Kino's stay in the
Pimería Alta, he founded over twenty missions in eight mission districts. In Arizona, unlike Mexico, missionization proceeded slowly. Father Kino founded missions
San Xavier and
San Gabriel at the Piman communities of Bac and Guevavi along the
Santa Cruz River.
Late Franciscan missions Following the
expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, the
Franciscans from the college of Santa Cruz in
Querétaro took over responsibility in the Pimería Alta missions. Meanwhile, other Franciscans from the college of San Fernando in Mexico City under the leadership of
Junípero Serra, were assigned to replace the Jesuits in the
Baja California missions of the lower
Las Californias Province. Under the administration of Franciscan
friar and
explorer Francisco Garcés, three additional missions were established with the goal of establishing a permanent connection between the missions of Las Californias and Pimería Alta. However, following a
Quechan raid in 1781 that destroyed two mission near present-day
Yuma, the two regions remained isolated. This greatly limited the expansion of Spanish influence throughout the lower
Colorado River. Following the
Mexican War of Independence and the expulsion of all Spanish-born priests from the region in 1828, the remaining missions were gradually abandoned.
Mission San Xavier del Bac was the last mission to be abandoned, with the last priest leaving for Spain in 1837. ==Missions==