The community used this small church under the guidance of Jesuit priests for ten years, until the Jesuits were expelled in July 1767. Father Custodio Ximeno was the last Jesuit to serve at Guevavi and Tumacácori. He performed his last service here on June 14, 1767, just six weeks before his arrest at Guevavi and his subsequent exile.
Guevavi is a name derived from the O'odham word for big spring, ge'e vavi, or big well, gu waihe. This settlement of O'odham people was first visited in January 1691 by Catholic Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino. It became a pivotal location in the Pima Revolt of 1751.
The O'odham word for house is "ki" (kee). Melhok (pronounced moo' ro) is the word for the plant known in Spanish and English as "ocotillo." The particular structure that you see here is a modern construction of a traditional O'odham dwelling, made of mesquite timbers, ocotillo sticks, and mud.
The mission had a communal system of growing, collecting, and distributing food. The stairs led to a second story where additional food and animal fodder were stored. The food was kept in baskets and clay pots for later distribution.
A right turn immediately upon entering the church will lead you into the room where the ceremony of baptism was performed. From birth and baptism through life and death, the imported Catholic religion became a part of the lives of community members. Here adobe walls, nine feet thick with an inner rock core, support the massive bell tower above you.
The courtyard garden at Tumacácori was built in 1939 as part of the visitor center's New Deal era construction. Its design aesthetic, like many of the adjacent visitor center architectural details, mirrors that of the missions in New Spain.
The mission community included housing for the mission residents and the priest, workshops, class rooms, a cemetery, a mortuary chapel, an irrigation system, gardens, orchards, and grazing lands. In fact, a mission did not always have a church. Tumacácori was established as a mission in 1691, but it did not have a dedicated church building until 1756, over sixty years later.
Standing here, perhaps you can visualize life at Mission San José de Tumacácori. To the left of the trail is a mound that runs from the visitor center museum to the front of the church. Beneath this mound are the foundations of the residents' adobe houses.
The Santa Cruz River has long been a highway of trade and travel. Prehistoric people followed the river to trade with neighbors. The O’odham farmed along the river, using the floodplain and low banks to grow crops. Later, missionaries and explorers would rely on these existing networks to colonize the area.
Probably the single most important commodity in the desert was, and is, water. Water for drinking, washing, bathing, and irrigating crops was taken out of the Santa Cruz River nearly a mile upstream to the south of where you are standing. It came to this point via an acequia, or irrigation ditch.
This rich woodland plant community supports a tremendous biodiversity of insects, birds, and mammals. Today, the mesquite bosque of Tumacácori protects the threatened yellow-billed cuckoo and other rare species. It provided the O’odham, and later the Spanish, with wood, medicine, and food.
Lime plaster was used to protect adobe buildings from moisture. Tons of raw material had to be brought to the mission for processing so that a coat of plaster, often more than two inches thick, could be applied to the walls.
The bell tower was built in three stories: on the ground floor lies the baptistry, on the second level the preparation room for the choir, and on the third level the arches and bells. The scallop shell niches harken to Saint James, Santiago de Compostela, the patron saint of Spain, and indicate a baptistry below.
Two features come into view as you enter the cemetery. The first is the mortuary chapel, circular in design and about sixteen feet in diameter. The roof, possibly intended to be a dome, was never completed. Its walls have heard the echoes of many funeral Masses and rosaries. The Soto marker identifies several graves belonging to members of a family who lived at Tumacácori after the turn of the twentieth century.
The community used this small church under the guidance of Jesuit priests for ten years, until the Jesuits were expelled in July 1767. Father Custodio Ximeno was the last Jesuit to serve at Guevavi and Tumacácori. He performed his last service here on June 14, 1767, just six weeks before his arrest at Guevavi and his subsequent exile.
The convento was the operational part of the mission. It functioned as a shared, community workspace and governmental center. It would have been alive with the sounds of people talking, working, and moving about. The rooms aligned in a U-shape around a central courtyard.
Music played an important role in mission life. Tumacácori likely supported anywhere from eight to ten choir members, both men and women, at a given time. There were also musicians who played instruments such as oboe, flute, and zither (guitar), adding flourish to the sound of the Masses and other religious ceremonies held here.
The façade of the church was painted with bright colors. Today, in the doorway and under the cornice below the window, some of the original color is still visible. The half circle of the espadaña, or pediment, is a reconstruction dating to 1921.
The standing ruin of a fragment of the convento includes the rooms in which the priest is likely to have lived. These rooms have seen much use, both during the mission era and afterward. After the mission residents left, it was used as a house by various people and was even used as a school in the 1930's during the administration of the first resident superintendent at Tumacácori National Monument.
The mission complex included a walled garden and orchard. The treelines in front of you and to your right grow along the stone foundations of two of the adobe walls which originally surrounded and protected this area. Within this 4.6 acre enclosure, the community grew vegetables and fruit trees. The orchard would have contained favorite trees brought to the mission from Europe such as peach, pomegranate, quince, and fig.
The O'odham word for house is "ki" (kee). Melhok (pronounced moo' ro) is the word for the plant known in Spanish and English as "ocotillo." The particular structure that you see here is a modern construction of a traditional O'odham dwelling, made of mesquite timbers, ocotillo sticks, and mud.
Step through the arched entryway and into the remains of an impressive nave, the central hall of the church. In this room, indigenous people and Spanish settlers prayed and celebrated the Mass each day. There were no pews. People knelt or stood during services. Along the walls are four side altars where devotional candles might be placed. In the walls above are niches where ornate statues of saints once stood.
After hundreds of years of mixing, marrying, creating new families, and blending traditions, a new people emerged: the mestizaje of Mexico. Flavors like chiles, carne asada, and tortillas reflect this mixing of origins. Sharing traditional foods—made fresh in kitchens such as this one—connects us to each other and to our shared heritage.
The Santa Cruz River is an international waterway. It begins in the San Rafael Valley, flows southward into Mexico, then makes a U-turn back into the United States. Here, it flows from south to north, eventually joining the Gila River. The river creates essential habitat and a wildlife corridor for threatened and endangered species.
Priests kept the clothing and articles used in the performance of their duties here. In the sacristy they documented and stored the records of important events, signing their names as witness to marriages, births, and deaths.
Ascending the steps leading up out of the nave, one enters the sanctuary, still adorned with remnants of its original paints, picture frames, and extensive stenciling. Here the priest, dressed in his bright-colored vestments, celebrated the Mass.
Each year, the Tumacácori Fiesta brings together people from all the cultures of the Santa Cruz Valley for two days of celebration. Each culture traditional to Tumacácori is represented in music and dance.
Directly in front of the most important, most symbolic, and most decorated structure of the mission are three features whose purpose remains a mystery.
Only accessible during guided tours, the Calabazas mission site offers an excellent perspective on the adaptive re-use of mission-era buildings through the Civil War period and beyond.
The Santa Cruz River is an international waterway. It begins in the San Rafael Valley, flows southward into Mexico, then makes a U-turn back into the United States. Here, it flows from south to north, eventually joining the Gila River. The river creates essential habitat and a wildlife corridor for threatened and endangered species.
Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area celebrates the region’s natural resources, rich history, and heritage shaped by generations of Native American, Spanish, and Mexican cultures.
Probably the single most important commodity in the desert was, and is, water. Water for drinking, washing, bathing, and irrigating crops was taken out of the Santa Cruz River nearly a mile upstream to the south of where you are standing. It came to this point via an acequia, or irrigation ditch.
The Santa Cruz River has long been a highway of trade and travel. Prehistoric people followed the river to trade with neighbors. The O’odham farmed along the river, using the floodplain and low banks to grow crops. Later, missionaries and explorers would rely on these existing networks to colonize the area.
A right turn immediately upon entering the church will lead you into the room where the ceremony of baptism was performed. From birth and baptism through life and death, the imported Catholic religion became a part of the lives of community members. Here adobe walls, nine feet thick with an inner rock core, support the massive bell tower above you.
The bell tower was built in three stories: on the ground floor lies the baptistry, on the second level the preparation room for the choir, and on the third level the arches and bells. The scallop shell niches harken to Saint James, Santiago de Compostela, the patron saint of Spain, and indicate a baptistry below.
Two features come into view as you enter the cemetery. The first is the mortuary chapel, circular in design and about sixteen feet in diameter. The roof, possibly intended to be a dome, was never completed. Its walls have heard the echoes of many funeral Masses and rosaries. The Soto marker identifies several graves belonging to members of a family who lived at Tumacácori after the turn of the twentieth century.
Music played an important role in mission life. Tumacácori likely supported anywhere from eight to ten choir members, both men and women, at a given time. There were also musicians who played instruments such as oboe, flute, and zither (guitar), adding flourish to the sound of the Masses and other religious ceremonies held here.
Standing here, perhaps you can visualize life at Mission San José de Tumacácori. To the left of the trail is a mound that runs from the visitor center museum to the front of the church. Beneath this mound are the foundations of the residents' adobe houses.
The convento was the operational part of the mission. It functioned as a shared, community workspace and governmental center. It would have been alive with the sounds of people talking, working, and moving about. The rooms aligned in a U-shape around a central courtyard.
The standing ruin of a fragment of the convento includes the rooms in which the priest is likely to have lived. These rooms have seen much use, both during the mission era and afterward. After the mission residents left, it was used as a house by various people and was even used as a school in the 1930's during the administration of the first resident superintendent at Tumacácori National Monument.
After hundreds of years of mixing, marrying, creating new families, and blending traditions, a new people emerged: the mestizaje of Mexico. Flavors like chiles, carne asada, and tortillas reflect this mixing of origins. Sharing traditional foods—made fresh in kitchens such as this one—connects us to each other and to our shared heritage.
The courtyard garden at Tumacácori was built in 1939 as part of the visitor center's New Deal era construction. Its design aesthetic, like many of the adjacent visitor center architectural details, mirrors that of the missions in New Spain.
The façade of the church was painted with bright colors. Today, in the doorway and under the cornice below the window, some of the original color is still visible. The half circle of the espadaña, or pediment, is a reconstruction dating to 1921.
Each year, the Tumacácori Fiesta brings together people from all the cultures of the Santa Cruz Valley for two days of celebration. Each culture traditional to Tumacácori is represented in music and dance.
The community used this small church under the guidance of Jesuit priests for ten years, until the Jesuits were expelled in July 1767. Father Custodio Ximeno was the last Jesuit to serve at Guevavi and Tumacácori. He performed his last service here on June 14, 1767, just six weeks before his arrest at Guevavi and his subsequent exile.
Lime plaster was used to protect adobe buildings from moisture. Tons of raw material had to be brought to the mission for processing so that a coat of plaster, often more than two inches thick, could be applied to the walls.
The O'odham word for house is "ki" (kee). Melhok (pronounced moo' ro) is the word for the plant known in Spanish and English as "ocotillo." The particular structure that you see here is a modern construction of a traditional O'odham dwelling, made of mesquite timbers, ocotillo sticks, and mud.
This rich woodland plant community supports a tremendous biodiversity of insects, birds, and mammals. Today, the mesquite bosque of Tumacácori protects the threatened yellow-billed cuckoo and other rare species. It provided the O’odham, and later the Spanish, with wood, medicine, and food.
The mission community included housing for the mission residents and the priest, workshops, class rooms, a cemetery, a mortuary chapel, an irrigation system, gardens, orchards, and grazing lands. In fact, a mission did not always have a church. Tumacácori was established as a mission in 1691, but it did not have a dedicated church building until 1756, over sixty years later.
Step through the arched entryway and into the remains of an impressive nave, the central hall of the church. In this room, indigenous people and Spanish settlers prayed and celebrated the Mass each day. There were no pews. People knelt or stood during services. Along the walls are four side altars where devotional candles might be placed. In the walls above are niches where ornate statues of saints once stood.
