I am finally getting around to writing a follow-up to my Blue Haven blog. The '1950s-60s me' called it "Blue Haven". Eight seventy-three acres of it are now known as The Nature Conservancy's Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve. I've always been curious about the history of the place before there was a Patagonia before there were roads and settlers. I wanted to rewind to the time when the non-indigenous came and claimed it as their own, back then.
This is not an in-depth history of the Native Americans who lived here, nor the settlers that followed. It is more of a 'Part II' exercise in outlining a very brief chronology beginning with who was here first and adding a bit of context regarding everyone else who followed.
The Before Time
Hohokam is a Pima word meaning 'all used up' or 'exhausted' -- the people that first inhabited portions of southern Arizona and northern Mexico from early 2000 BCE until the 1400s. It was also home to the Apache, Yaqui, Pima (Akimel O’odham), and Papago (Tohono O’odham) peoples as well as sub-cultures like the Sobaipuri. They intermingled, coexisted, traded, or fought at various times throughout their early history.
God, Gold and Glory
Spain's Catholic Monarchs were all about making Spain a powerful Catholic nation. After expelling the Moors and Jews from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492, the religious fervor tea kettle began to boil over, sweetened by the prospect of more.
Beginning with Pope Alexander VI, spreading the Catholic faith to new lands seemed like a good idea. Apparently the Pope, under his supposed authority as God's man on earth, gave Spain any new world territory that was not already claimed by a Christian ruler. This new land offered a chance to convert many 'heathens' to Christianity. So Spain and, let's not forget Portugal, were off to the races, beginning with Christopher Columbus in 1492.
After that, everything changed. Spanish and Portuguese explorers, conquistadores, missionaries, and settlers showed up bringing white man’s religion, domesticated animals, disease, and a colonialist sense of entitlement--theirs for the taking.
The after-Columbus-explorer club included:
Vasco Núñez de Balboa: 1513 - Who crossed the Isthmus of Panama and reached the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first European to do so. Hernán Cortés: 1519-1521 - Who conquered the Aztec Empire and established Spanish rule in Mexico. Juan Ponce de León: 1513 - Who explored Florida and Puerto Rico. Francisco Pizarro: 1531-1533 - Who conquered the Inca Empire and established Spanish rule in Peru. Hernando de Soto: 1539-1542 - Who explored the southeastern United States, including the Mississippi River. Francisco Vásquez de Coronado: 1540-1542 - Who explored the southwestern United States in search of the Seven Cities of Gold.
God, gold, and glory exacted a price on the indigenous peoples who had the misfortune of encountering the white man. In 1552, Spanish Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas' Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias chronicles the mistreatment and atrocities committed against the indigenous peoples of the Americas in colonial times. A gruesome example of man's inhumanity to man.
Despite all the inflicted suffering, conquest seemed to fuel the colonialists' appetite for more. Tales spread describing a land of great wealth somewhere 'up there'--exact whereabouts unknown; maybe rumors spread by native pranksters, happy to see their oppressors run off on a wild goose chase.
One Spaniard, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, apparently thought there might be something to the rumors and he started manufacturing his own tall tales about the Seven Cities of Gold (a.k.a Seven Cities of Cíbola). So, in 1539 New Spain's viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza sent Franciscan monk, Fray Marcos de Niza, Estéban, Cabeza de Vaca's black slave, and about 30 interpreters/guides/porters to see what they could find.
A monument in what is now Lochiel, Arizona, marks the site of Fray Marcos de Niza's arrival on April 12, 1539. The Fray claimed to have seen the fabled city of Cibola, describing it as "bigger than the city of Mexico", in northern New Mexico. So, everyone got excited and Viceroy de Mendoza authorized the governor of Nueva Galicia, Vazquez de Coronado, to giddyup and find Cibola. So, Coronado assembled a party of more than 300 Spaniards, 1,000 Indian "allies", 1,500 horses, and pack animals and headed North, entering what is now the southern end of the Sierra Vista Ranger District, through the San Rafael Valley and eventually ending up in what is now Kansas. Having failed to find the riches described by de Niza, Coronado, and his party returned to Mexico empty-handed in 1542.
That did not deter the Spanish Crown and the Catholic Church from expanding their foothold in New Spain. The search for riches and the conversion of souls continued. Presidios and Catholic missions were established from Mexico to California.
Pimeria Alta, Encomienda and Reducción
On March 13, 1687, Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino arrived in Cucurpe, Sonora, Mexico, and established his first mission, Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Cósari. During the next 24 years, he built or helped initiate/guide the building of 24 missions and 'visitas', or smaller mission outposts in an area that was known by the Spanish as the Pimería Alta or Upper Pima Country, named after the natives of the area whom the Spanish called Pima. Within this area was a place that the Spanish called Arisona, Arissona or Arizona. Read more.
1700: San Xavier del Bac Mission is founded.
During this time the Spanish Crown introduced the policy of encomienda and reducción These policies gave colonists the right to force the indigenous to live in congregated settlements and demand tribute and labor from them, policies that led to:
1751: The Pima Revolt against the Spanish
1751-1886 The Apache Wars against the US Army, and the white man in general
1752: Presidio San Ignacio de Tubac was founded and eventually relocated to Tucson in 1776 due to Apache hostilities in the valleys of the Santa Cruz and San Pedro Rivers.
In 1767, the Spanish Crown issued a decree mandating the expulsion of the Jesuits from its dominions. Figures like Father Kino were viewed as a potential threat to the Crown due to their perceived independence and significant influence among indigenous populations. In Paraguay, the Jesuits faced allegations of inciting indigenous uprisings against their colonial oppressors. There were also external pressures from the royal courts of France, Portugal, and Spain that influenced Pope Clement XIV's decision to suppress the Society of Jesus. This was tantamount to religious exile. Soooo many fascinating topics for future blog posts!
1775: Juan Bautista de Anza leads a group of settlers from Tubac to San Francisco, CA
1821: Mexico gains its independence from Spain 1869" Yaqui Uprising against the Mexican government
San Jose de Sonoita Land Grant
Land grants were a way for Spain, and Mexico, following its independence from Spain in 1821, to claim 'dibs' over vast areas of land. Grants were awarded for military service, contributions to the colony, and political connections. Based on my limited research, Spain established the San Jose de Sonoita land grant sometime in the 1780s. I haven't been able to pin down an exact date.
Mexico “re-granted” the SJS land grant and established new ones. Neither Spain nor Mexico ever acknowledged that what they were “claiming and granting” was in essence land that was the traditional territory of the Tohono O'odham people which the Tohono O'odham have never ceded to any country. This is but one of many examples of governments appropriating land and ignoring or dismissing the rightful claim of indigenous peoples to their land--not a practice unique to the US.
In 1821 Leon Herreras, rancher and resident of Tubac, petitioned the Mexican government for land to pasture his cattle. Title was issued in 1825 for 7,598 acres by the commissary-general of the new Mexican state of Occidente. The grant was passed down to Herrera’s heirs upon his death.
1857 the Herrera heirs sold the grant to Manuel Tuvera.
1872 Tuvera's heirs sold to Hilario Gabilando.
1874: Denton Sanford homesteads on Sonoita Creek which he eventually lost
1879, Gabilando sold the grant to Frederick Maish and Thomas Driscoll.
1879 – 1899 The Court of Private Land Claims confirmed 5,733.41 acres of the grant, with the remainder being in Mexico. Maish and Driscoll sold the land grant in parcels to several different buyers, including the Arizona Cattle Company and the Sonoita Land and Cattle Company.
The Circle Z Ranch, Denton Sanford, Lee Zinsmeister, and the Nash family are all part of this history. Research is ongoing. If anyone reading this blog has more information regarding the above list, please contact me.
More to follow in 2024. Stay tuned...
David I appreciate your research and writing. You are quite the scholar! Hugs
Richard🍉
I really like this month's photo of the rock!