BussELL] CONTACT WITH SPANIARDS 27 



neijjhboring Pima villages. For a century and a half after that inva- 

 sion no white man is known to have reached the territory of the 

 Pimas Giienos. 



The earliest as well as the most imj)ortant explorer in the history 

 of Pimeria Alta was Father Eusebio Francisco Kino, who, between 

 the years 1687 and 1710, journej-eel many a dusty, thirsty league in 

 the eager search for souls. In 1694 he reached the Casa Grande in 

 company with native guides who had informed him of the existence 

 of the ruin. Absolutely nothing is known about this expedition 

 except that a mass was said within the walls of Casa Grande. How- 

 ever, it may be safely inferred that Kino visited the near-by Pima vil- 

 lages. As the Pajmgos were at that time also called Pimas it is some- 

 times difficult to determine what part the true Pimas played in the 

 events chronicled by the padres. Yet it is probable that they are 

 referred to in the account of the religious festival which was observed 

 in 1698 at Remedies, in Pimeria Baja. Among the visitors were 

 ' 'native chieftains from as far north as the Gila valley." Then as now 

 the Pimas and Papagos were on a friendly footing, and the character 

 and movements of the Spaniards must have been made known to the 

 Pimas before the latter saw Kino or any other white man. 



Kino diligently strove to establish missions among the many tribes 

 that he visited, but was much hampered by lack of fimds. He suc- 

 ceeded in interesting the authorities sufTiciently to induce them to 

 send a military expedition to the Gila in 1697 for the ])urpose of ascer- 

 taining the disposition of the Pimas. The party included 20 soldiers, 

 with .3 officers. Juan ^lateo JIange was sent with Kino to write the 

 official reports of the expedition. On the upper San Pedro river 

 30 Sabaipuris joined the party, which followed that stream to the 

 Gila. They reached the Pima villages on the 21st of November, vis- 

 iting and for the first time describing the Gasa Grande. The return 

 was by the more direct route of the Santa Cruz valley. It was by 

 this route also that Kino in Sejitember, 169S, again descended to the 

 Pimas with a small partj' of native guides. lie returned by way of 

 Quijotoa (0 and the Gulf. 



Early in 1699 Kino, in company with Mange, made his fourth jour- 

 ney to the Pimas by way of Sonoita and the lower Gila. The return 

 was by way of the Santa Cruz. 



A year later Kino again reached the Gila by a new route. From a 

 point above the I5entl, and hence doubtless among the Pimas, he 

 descended to the mouth and returned to Sonora by waj^ of Sonoita. 



In 1702 he made his sixth and last journey to the Pimas, going bv 

 way of Sonoita and the lower Gila. Among the "40,000 gentiles" 

 whom he is said to have baptized there were quite a number of Pimas, 

 but as his sojourn among them was never of more than a few days' 

 duration his influence could not have been very great. Nevertheless, 



