Hysterical Journey To Historic Places

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FATHER KINO



Eusebio Kino awoke to his first notice of the cosmos on August 10, 1645 in Segno, Italy. It started him off on a life-long journey of learning and sharing and teaching. Eusebio learned to grow things on his dad’s little mountain farm, but his dad passed away in 1660. It had become apparent during his youth that Eusebio’s quest for knowledge was boundless and he was provided with a tutor. When the tutor wore himself out Eusebio continued his schooling down in Trent. His mother and sisters, although they were beloved, were just no damn good at tilling the soil and while Eusebio was in school the farm went into failure and had to be sold. Proceeds from the sale financed higher education at Hall in Austria. While there he came down with some God-awful illness that nearly killed him. His guiding light had been St Francis Xavier and he had to promise his patron that if he survived the illness he would enter the Society of Jesus. He entered the novitiate in 1665 and continued learning and teaching, and then more learning and teaching, and applied for assignment to the foreign missions. He was ordained a priest in 1677 and continued teaching and hoping for assignment. He had mastered letters, mathematics, philosophy, theology, geography, and cartography. The expertise in mathematics evolved into the study of astronomy and that led him into building telescopes and an observatory at the university in Ingolstadt, Germany. Finally in 1678 his assignment came through to a mission in the Spanish Empire. Cadiz was the disembarkation port for all travel to the Americas and the Orient but Father Kino did not arrive there due to heavy weather, fog, and pirates until the outbound fleet had already set sail. He would be stranded in Cadiz for two more years until arrangements could be made for passage with another fleet. That passage turned out to be aboard ships bound for Angola to pick up a cargo of slaves and the good Jesuits refused to take it. A third attempt stalled out when the ship ran aground and nearly sank. The interlude of waiting stretched to into a third year, but it provided Father Kino and his German province companions ample opportunity to learn the Spanish and Portuguese languages. In the meantime he continued teaching astronomy in Seville. Towards the end of January in 1682 Father Kino set forth for Mexico arriving at Veracruz during the first week of May. Baja California would become Father Kino’s first missionary assignment. It was thought to be an island and hoped that safe anchorage could be found where the Manila Galleons could be re-supplied. If scattered tribes could be found and converted to Christianity, then crown and cross would both be served. The first colonization attempt at La Paz was a dismal failure. The second attempt at San Bruno fared better but it also failed after about a year and a half. Further effort on Baja was suspended by the crown for economic reasons. Father Kino had become a rector without a mission and had learned a language not spoken on the mainland. His future was not in doubt for long though. Native inhabitants in the Pimeria Alta were about to join in support of the Pueblo Uprising and resist encroachment by New Spain. Such a thing could not be allowed to happen because of the rich silver mines found in those lands. The Pima were unsettled by conditions of involuntary servitude in the mines imposed upon them by the Government of New Spain. When Kino arrived in the Pimeria he carried orders that suspended the stipulation for slavery in the mines among the newly converted. It endeared Father Kino to the native inhabitants and his missions flourished clear up into Arizona. The mission system that he helped to build generated so much wealth for the cross that the crown withdrew the Jesuits from New Spain in 1721. They were replaced with Franciscans who were dedicated to service among the poor. It was hoped that the Franciscans would be more frugal and that the wealth generated would support the crown rather than the cross. The Franciscan missions were much larger and far more opulent than the Jesuit missions were. Father Kino died in 1711. His skeletal remains can be seen in a crypt in Magdalena.

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Photos

San Xavier
From the I-10/I-19 interchange in Tucson go south about 5.5 miles to Exit 92. Turn right onto San Xavier Rd and proceed about a mile west to the mission entrance. Father Kino sited a visita here and the Franciscans eventually built the mission. It is one of the first permanent structures ever built in Arizona. Services are still held here.

TUMACACORI
From San Xavier Mission continue south on I-19 to Tubac. Spend some time there, it has some good eating places and is full of artsy-fartsy tourist stores. Be sure to visit the Presidio Musem. Tumacacori Mission is about 3 miles south of Tubac on the old highway. The mission grounds are run by the National Park Service and carry a small entrance fee. Father Kino located a visita here too, and the Jesuits built a small mission here, The big mission is a Franciscan effort. Ask the rangers to share a quince with you.

KINO
Tucsonans are quite fond of Father Kino. We have erected two statues in his honor. This one is on the northwest corner of Kino Parkway and East Winsett Street. From the I-10/I-19 interchange go east on I-10 to exit 263-B. Go north about 2.75 miles on Kino Parkway to Winsett Street and turn left. Be careful of traffic.

EUSEBIO KINO
This statue is at the Arizona Historical Society Museum. From the horse statue go north on Kino Parkway about 0.66 miles to to 6th Street and turn left. Go east about 0.75 miles to Park Ave and turn right.
Go north on Park Ave about 0.36 miles to 2nd Street. Museum is on the NW corner. Free parking for the museum is available at the parking garage on the corner of 2nd Street and Euclid. Spend time in the museum.