Mission San José de Tumacácori

The great adobe church you see is the third try. Kino's first Tumacácori stood across the river; when the O'odham rose against Spanish rule in 1751, their governor Felipe Huvuacam led the people into the Santa Rita Mountains, and they returned to build anew on this west bank. The tall church standing now was begun around 1800 under the Franciscans and never finished — money ran out, the last priest died in 1828, and Apache raids never let up. Its bare brick and worn plaster are a ruin frozen mid-sentence.

What the plaque says

Beginning and History , In January of 1691, at the request of the O'odham (Pima) Indians of the Santa Cruz River Valley, Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino established the mission of Tumacácori, dedicated to Saint Cajetan (San Cayetano). The Pima rebellion of 1751 briefly caused the abandonment of the mission, as the native governor of Tumacácori, Felipe Huvuacam, gathered his people and fled to the Santa Rita Mountains. They returned a few months later, eventually moving the village from the east side of the river to this site. In 1756, the mission was rededicated to Saint Joseph (San José). , Mission San Jose de Tumacácori was abandoned in 1848.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Tumacácori National Historical Park — 0.4 mi
  Arizona's first mission, on O'odham ground along the Santa Cruz River.

More markers nearby

• Tumacácori Museum — steps away
• Tubac — 2.8 mi
• Baca Float Number 3 — 3.0 mi
• Juan Bautista de Anza — 3.0 mi