Father Kino - Exploring Mexico's Missions 4 DAYS / 3 NIGHTS - ALL INCLUSIVE MEXICO MISSION TOUR VACATION Tour Begins in Phoenix / Tucson

The invasion and conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards was quickly followed by the invasion and conquest of the natives by the Jesuits and the Franciscans. Recognizing the might of religious zeal, the Spanish Crown allowed religious explorers to establish missions throughout the land, with the intent of secularizing and taxing the outposts as soon as it was convenient.

Jesuit missionary Father Eusebio Francisco Kino - Italian by birth - was one of the early explorers who set out to conquer New Spain for the Church, establishing a string of missions from the American Southwest down to the Baja Peninsula. A very learned man with a deep knowledge of mathematics, cartography and astronomy, he began his missionary work in 1678, arriving in Mexico City in 1681. His first task in the Baja was short-lived, and he soon turned to the home of the Pima Indians in an area once called Pimeria Alta, today known as southern Arizona and the northern portion of Sonora. His base of exploration became Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in Sonora. From there, he founded a series of other missions including San Xavier del Bac (near Tucson) in 1700, as well as Guevavi (1691) and Tumacacori (1691). During his stay in Pimeria Alta he founded some 24 missions in eight mission districts.

In addition to his work as an explorer and mapmaker (in fact, it was he who proved that Lower California was a peninsula and not an island, as previously believed), Padre Kino introduced cattle, horses and mules to his parishioners, and helped them learn the finer points of agriculture and building. A skilled rancher, he is responsible for Sonora's modern reputation as a major cattle center. He was a man of the cloth and a man of the people, blessed with an innate ability to forge relationships between the indigenous tribes of the area and the religious institutions he represented. The talented Padre Kino died young at the age of 66 at his mission in Santa María Magdalena de Buquivaba, now called Magdalena de Kino. His remains are interred in a crypt that stands near the mission.

Most of Padre Kino's mission churches were built by Indians out of adobe bricks and wood from local mesquite and pine trees. Very little remains of these original churches; the buildings seen today at the missions are mostly the work of the Franciscans who followed in his footsteps. Beautiful in their simplicity and handiwork, they sometimes contain ornate altars and gorgeous paintings.