Tumacácori sits at a cultural crossroads in the Santa Cruz River Valley. Here O'odham, Yaqui, and Apache people met and mingled with European Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries, settlers, and soldiers, sometimes in conflict and sometimes in cooperation. Follow the timeworn paths and discover stories that connect us to enduring relationships, vibrant cultures, and traditions of long ago.

The O'odham

Long before the arrival of European settlers, the Santa Cruz Valley was home to people who called themselves "O'odham." They gathered wild foods, hunted, and irrigated native crops, including corn, beans, squash, and cotton. Their homes were sturdy, dome-shaped structures made of bent saplings covered with brush and mud.

While each village had a leader, government was by consensus. During armed conflicts, a war chief took absolute command. Villages were politically self-contained but neighboring settlements would sometimes unite against a common enemy. They also came together for games, song, dance, and religious observances. Rituals recreated the harmony of nature which was the core of their spiritual life.

Frontier Missions

As Padre Kino and his party approached the O'odham settlement of Tumacácori in January 1691, they rode the wave of a century of expansion northward along New Spain's west coast. Padre Kino founded mission San Cayetano de Tumacácori on the east bank of the Santa Cruz River and next founded Mission San Gabriel at Guevavi, 15 miles upriver. After Guevavi was made cabecera (mission headquarters) in 1701, its resident priest traveled to serve Tumacácori and other visitas (visiting stations).

In 1751 some of the O'odham people in the Altar Valley to the southwest attacked Spanish settlements killing two priests and over 100 Spanish, Yaqui, and O'odham people. Following the revolt, a 50-man presidio (military post) was founded at Tubac, three miles north of Tumacácori. The mission community moved to its current location, possibly to benefit from protection offered by the presidio.

In 1767 King Charles III of Spain abruptly banished the Jesuits from all his realms. The Franciscans, who took over the missionary efforts in the Pimeria Alta, soon moved their cabecera from Guevavi to Tumacácori. The Franciscans inherited difficulties that had frustrated the Jesuits: restless neophytes, Apache raids, disease, encroaching settlers, and lack of government support. By 1787, Guevavi and the newly established mission of Calabazas were both abandoned.

Around 1800, Fray Narciso Gutiérrez began construction of a large church to replace Tumacácori's modest structure, but his mission's poverty and the Mexican wars for independence slowed progress on the building. When a decree by the new nation of Mexico forced all Spanish-born residents to leave the country in 1828, Tumacácori lost its last resident priest. The Indians and a few settlers hung on, but a series of Apache raids and a harsh winter drove the last residents from Tubac and Tumacácori in 1848.

Padre on Horseback

Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino traveled the Pimeria Alta for 24 years, establishing missions and supply routes, and mapping the area for New Spain. His willingness to understand the O'odham ways and his lack of dogmatism won their trust. He mixed practical help—introducing wheat, livestock, and fruit trees—with impressive pageantry and church ritual. Although never a resident priest at Tumacácori, he is forever linked with the missions of the Pimeria Alta.

Exploring Tumacácori

Building a New Church

Although it was never finished, the church in progress must have been a striking landmark with its colorful façade, bell tower, and white dome. The interior was even more colorful, especially the sanctuary and altar. As you entered the nave, the choir loft overhead would have sounded with voices and instruments. Baptisms occurred in a domed room beneath the bell tower. Rich imagery of Catholicism—Mexican baroque statuary, symbolic paintings, depictions of the Stations of the Cross—adorned the walls and was designed to capture the imagination of mission residents.

The original cross-shaped plan called for a barrel-vaulted nave and transepts, with domes covering the crossing and bell tower. Lack of funds forced the Franciscans to scale back twice, first eliminating the transepts, then replacing the barrel vault over the nave with a flat roof. The bell tower dome was never built. Weathering, looting, and vandalism during a 60-year period of abandonment destroyed many of the original finishes.

Corridor of Life

Villages and missions like Tumacácori were established along areas of the Santa Cruz River where water was found year-round. Fish, trees, and large mammals near the river provided food and materials for clothing and housing, sustaining the people who called this their home.

The Santa Cruz River passes through Tumacácori. The rare cottonwood-willow riparian forest provides habitat for a rich community including endangered species, like the Gila topminnow and Yellow-billed cuckoo.

Visting Tumacácori

The Tumacácori mission unit of the park lies 45 miles south of Tucson and 19 miles north of Nogales, at I-19, exit 29. The park is open daily 9 am to 5 pm, closed Thanksgiving and December 25.

For firearms, pet, and safety regulations check the park website.

Tumacácori The remains of the mission church and associated structures can be visited via a guided or self-guiding walking tour, along with a reconstructed O'odham ki (house) and heritage orchard. The adobe visitor center, built in 1937, includes a museum, video, and courtyard garden.

Calabazas and Guevavi are accessible by guided tours only.

Santa Cruz River and Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail can be accessed from inside the mission grounds and at two trailheads on the park boundary. Please note posted safety regulations.

Accessibility
We strive to make our facilities, services, and programs accessible to all. For information go to the visitor center, ask a ranger, call, or check our website.

Source: NPS Brochure (2016)

Establishment Tumacacori National Historical Park — August 6, 1990 Tumacacori National Monument — September 15, 1908

For More Information Please Visit The OFFICIAL NPS WEBSITE

The contents of brochures, site bulletins and trading cards (denoted with a colored caption) can be viewed by clicking on the cover. Most modern-day brochures, however, are cover only (denoted by a white caption) due to photograph copyrights. These items are historical in scope and are intended for educational purposes only; they are not meant as an aid for travel planning. The dates under each brochure do not reflect the complete range of years that a particular brochure was issued.

1940 (HTML)		1950		1955
1956		1959		1964
1969	1973	1983	1987	1985	1990
1992-1997		cover only 2000-2006		cover only 2008-2014
cover only 2016		cover only 2019-2021
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail Date Unknown		Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail 2007		Calabazas and Guevavi Mission Tours 2013 09/07/2012
Calendar of Events 2013 12/12/2012		Calendar of Events 2019-2010 07/05/2019		Calendar of Events 2022-2023 8/4/2022
Accommodations and Camping 11/19/2010		Attractions Around Tumacácori Date Unknown		About Your Visit Date Unknown
Birds of Tumacácori 2006		Bird Checklist 2013
Trading Cards
			(©Jefferson National Parks Association)

2016 International Workshop on the Conservation and Restoration of Earthen Architecture Workshop Report (Adam Spring and Alex B. Lim, March 14-18, 2016)

Acoustical Monitoring 2010, Tumacácori National Historical Park NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/NRTR—2014/877 (Noah Schulz, Cynthia Lee and John MacDonald, November 2014)

An Investigation of the Painted Finishes of Mission San José de Tumacácori's Façade: At the Interface of Materials Analysis, Conservation, and Cultural Confluence (©Jocelyn Chan, Master's Thesis University of Pennsylvania, 2015)

Archeological Assessment and Resource Management Guide, Tumacacori National Monument (Lee Fratt, June 10, 1981)

Arizona Explorer Junior Ranger (Date Unknown)

Chihuahua's Colonial Missions: An Invaluable Patrimony (Karla Muñoz Alcocer, Smithsonian Institution, Date Unknown)

Chronology for Tumacacori National Monument, with bibliography (HTML edition) Field Division of Education (H.E. Rensch, 1934)

Early Spanish and Mexican Settlements in Arizona (Ray H. Mattison, extract from New Mexico Historical Review, Vol. XXI No. 4, October 1946)

Excavations at Tumacacori 1979/1980: Historic Archeology at Tumacacori National Monument, Arizona Western Archeological and Conservation Center Publications in Anthropology No. 17 (C. Michael Barton, Kay C. Simpson and Lee Fratt, 1981)

Excavations at Tumacacori, 1934 Southwestern Monuments Special Report No. 15 (Paul Beaubien, March 1937)

Foundation Document, Tumacácori National Historic Park, Arizona (September 2014)

Foundation Document Overview, Tumacacori National Historic Park, Arizona (September 2014)

Friars, Soldiers, and Reformers: Hispanic Arizona and the Sonora Mission Frontier, 1767-1856 (John L. Kessell, ©The Arizona Board of Regents, 1976)

General Management Plan & Environmental Impact Statement, Tumacácori National Historical Park, Arizona (September 1996)

General Management Plan/Environmental Assessment, Tumacácori National Historical Park, Arizona (December 2012)

Geologic Resources Inventory Report, Tumacácori National Historical Park NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR-2011/439 (J. Graham, August 2011)

Historic Resource Study: Tumacacori National Historical Park (Thomas E. Sheridan, 2004)

Historic Structure Report: A History of the Anglo Period, Tumacacori National Monument, Arizona (A. Berle Clemensen, September 1977)

Historic Structure Report, Tumacacori National Monument, Arizona (Anthony Crosby, September 1985)

Invasive Non-native Plant Inventory for Tumacácori National Historical Park NPS Natural Resource Technical Report NPS/SODN/NRTR—2009/219 (Sarah Studd and Mark Zepp, May 2009)

Junior Arizona Archeologist (2016)

Kino Mission Records: Research & Translation Southwestern Monuments Special Report No. 11 (Robert H. Rose, November 1936)

Kino Mission Records: Research & Translation Southwestern Monuments Special Report No. 12 (Robert H. Rose, December 1936)

Mission Guevavi: Excavations in the Convento (William J. Robinson and Mark R. Barnes, extract from The Kiva, Vol. 42, No. 2, 1976; digital edition by permission of ©Arizona Archeological and Historical Society, 1976 - all rights reserved)

Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori: Tumacacori National Monument (HTML edition) (Frank Pinkley, 1938)

Mission San Jose de Tumacacori Choir Loft Problem Southwestern Monuments Special Report No. 4 (Frank Pinkley and J.H. Tovrea, May 1936)

Mission San Jose de Tumacacori Pictorical Restoration Southwestern Monuments Special Report No. 1 (J.H. Tovrea, January 1936)

National Register of Historic Places Nomination Forms

Mission Los Santos Angeles de Guevavi Site (Mark R. Barnes, June 27, 1989)

Mission San José de Tumacácori (Ross R. Hopkins and Gordon Chappell, September 9, 1983, 1985)

San Cayetano de Calabazas (Mark R. Barnes, March 8, 1990)

Tumacacori Museum (Laura Soullière Harrison, 1986)

Natural and Cultural Resources Management Plan and Environmental Assessment, Tumacacori National Monument, Arizona (November 1976)

Natural Resource Condition Assessment, Tumacácori National Historical Park NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/SODN/NRR-2019/1965 (Lisa Baril, Kimberly Struthers, Andy Hubbard, Anna Mateljak, Deborah Angell and Mark Brunson, August 2019)

Of Adobe, Lime, and Cement: The Preservation History of the San José de Tumacácori Mission Church (Part I - The Fabric) (Jeremy Moss, 2008)

Of Adobe, Lime, and Cement: The Preservation History of the San José de Tumacácori Mission Church (Part II - Structures) (Jeremy Moss, 2008)

Of Adobe, Lime, and Cement: The Preservation History of the San José de Tumacácori Mission Church (Part III - Garden and Orchard) (Jeremy Moss, 2008)

Plants of Tumacácori National Historical Park NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/SODN/NRR-2012/535 (Steve Buckley, ed., June 2012)

Precipitation impacts on earthen architecture for better implementation of cultural resource management in the US Southwest (Sharlot Hart, Kara Raymond, C. Jason Williams, Justin Johnson, Jacob DeGayner and Matthew C. Guebard, extract from Heritage Science, Vol. 9, 2021)

Remnants of Adobe and Stone: The Surface Archeology of the Guevavi and Calabazas Units, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Arizona Western Archeological and Conservation Center Publications in Anthropology No. 59 (Jeffery F. Burton, 1992)

Repair and Restoration of Tumacacori, 1921 Southwestern Monuments Special Report No. 10 (Frank Pinkley, October 1936)

Report on Sullys Hill Park, Casa Grande Ruin; the Muir Woods, Petrified Forest, and Other National Monuments, Including List of Bird Reserves: 1915 (HTML edition) (Secretary of the Interior, 1914)

Report on Wind Cave National Park, Sullys Hill Park, Casa Grande Ruin, Muir Woods, Petrified Forest, and Other National Monuments, Including List of Bird Reserves: 1913 (HTML edition) (Secretary of the Interior, 1914)

San Miguel de Guevavi: The Archeology of an Eighteenth Century Jesuit Mission on the Rim of Christendom Western Archeological and Conservation Center Publications in Anthropology No. 57 (Jeffery F. Burton, 1992)

Spanish Exploration and Settlement National Historic Landmark Theme Studies, National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings (1959)

Status of Climate and Water Resources at Tumacácori National Historical Park: Water Year 2016 NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/SODN/NRR-2017/1552 (Evan Gwilliam and Laura Palacios, November 2017)

Status of Climate and Water Resources at Tumacácori National Historical Park: Water Year 2017 NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/SODN/NRR-2018/1671 (Colleen Filippone, Evan Gwilliam and Laura Palacios, July 2018)

Streams Monitoring at Tumacácori National Historical Park: 2011 Summary Report NPS Natural Resource Data Series NPS/SODN/NRDS—2014/743 (Evan Gwilliam, Kara Raymond and Laura Palacios, December 2014)

The Tumacácori Mission Garden and Orchard: Past, Present and Future (Jeremy M. Moss, extract from SMRC Revista, Vol. 40 No. 146, Spring 2006, courtesy ©Southwestern Mission Research Center)

Tumacacori Alcoves or Transepts Southwestern Monuments Special Report No. 9 (J.H. Tovrea and Frank Pinkley, 1936)

Tumacácori National Historical Park: An Administrative History (Steven Christopher Baker and Joan M. Zenzen, December 2014)

Tumacacori Plaza Excavation 1979: Historical Archeology at Tumacacori National Monument, Arizona Western Archeological and Conservation Center Publications in Anthropology No. 16 (Lee Fratt, 1981)

Tumacacori's Yesterdays Popular Series No. 6 (Earl Jackson, ©Southwestern Monuments Association, 1951)

Vegetation Classification, Distribution, and Mapping Report, Tumacácori National Historical Park NPS Natural Resource Report NPS/SODN/NRR—2009/148 (Sam Drake, Steve Buckley, Miguel Villarreal, Sarah Studd and J. Andrew Hubbard, September 2009)

Tumacácori: A Cultural Crossroads Duration: 17:18 (2020)

Tumacácori: Una Encrucijada Cultural Duration: 17:18 (2020)

Tumacacori National Historical Park

The following visual bibliography is just a sampling of the handbooks and books which have been published for this park. NPSHistory.com does not endorse these, but are merely presenting them for informational purposes only. As most are copyrighted, we are only able to provide the covers, and not contents, of these publications.

Mission of San Jose de Tumacacori: Tumacacori National Monument Frank Pinkley 1938	Your Guide to the Mission Church and Grounds 1953	Your Guide to the Mission Church and Grounds 1954	Your Guide to the Mission Church and Grounds 1956
Your Guide to the Mission Church and Grounds 1958	cover only Tubac Richard Wormser 1975	Patio Garden Guide/Guía Para el Jardín del Patio 1972	Patio Garden Guide/Guia Del Jardin Del Patio 1976
cover only Tumacacori from Ranchería to National Monument Nicholas J. Bleser 1990	cover only 1993	cover only The Primería Alta: Missions & More James E. Officer, Mardith Schuetz-Miller and Bernard L. Fontana, eds. 1996	cover only In the Footprints of the Past 1998
cover only San Cayetano de Calabazas 2000	cover only Los Santos Ángeles de Guevaví 2000	cover only The "New Deal" at Tumacácori National Monument 08/08/2012	cover only In the Footprints of the Past 2013
cover only Tumacácori from Ranchería to National Park Nicholas J. Bleser 2017