July, 1905 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



43 



weather killed 4,500 horses and 700 mules, but this deter- 

 mined officer was never discouraged. The life was strenuous 

 beyond expression, yet he appears to have been equal to all de- 

 mands upon him. He now built a strong adobe fort at San 

 Antonio and founded a fine mission — San Francisco Javier de 

 Najera. It was this officer who fortified the Bay of Espiritu 

 Santo, erecting a new presidio there, and a new mission was 

 founded with much ceremony, and called Espiritu Santo de 

 Zuniga, later removed to San Antonio. It was at this mission 

 that Captain Ramon was killed by the Indians, who 

 abandoned it on the ground of ill-treatment, but the fathers 

 established others fifty miles inland. It was about this time 

 that Spain introduced many settlers from the Canary Islands 

 into Texas at San Antonio, and the King gave $12,000 

 toward erecting a mission church. 



Herewith are given illustrations of the San Antonio mis- 

 sions, now famous as the only ruins in Texas, which give an 

 excellent idea of the architecture of the time. The second 

 mission was perhaps the most artistic of all. The front was 

 ornate, and originally bore much ornamentation. The arches 

 of this venerable pile appear more like the sections of some 



image of St. Joseph. In the mission was a well-equipped 

 armory, provided with weapons necessary to repel any inva- 

 sion. The mission of San Juan Capistrano resembles Con- 

 cepcion. Espiritu Santo was also a combination of fortress 

 and mission, and was, with the home of the padres, com- 

 munity buildings, etc., surrounded by a high wall. 



Of the Arizona missions most notable is that of San 

 Xavier del Bac, named by Fray Eusebius Kino in 1700. 

 San Xavier stands on the desert about nine miles from Tucson 

 on the site of the old rancheria of the Sobairuri Indians. 

 Kino visited the place in 1692, and in 1700, May 5, he 

 founded the mission, giving it the name it now bears. This 

 building fell to decay, but was replaced by the present edifice 

 in 1783, its completion being celebrated in 1797. The origi- 

 nal building was a small affair resembling in no sense the 

 present imposing structure, which, while beautiful in itself, 

 gains by its isolation and environment, which is a typical 

 desert. At Tucson the traveler first meets the Papago In- 

 dians, who support the mission and who are earnest Catholics. 



The old mission stands up against the mountains, and con- 

 sists of not merely the church with its tower and dome, but a 



The Mission of San Xavier, Arizona 



great reservoir, or some of the buildings still seen about 

 Rome, and were of the most ponderous nature. Even the 

 granary of the second mission is a massive structure, re- 

 sembling a fort more than a mere storehouse, and, doubtless, 

 it was intended as a fortress where the Friars could make a 

 stand if necessary against the Indians. The third mission of 

 San Antonio is of a simple type — a long building, with three 

 bells, built in a most primitive fashion. Singularly enough, 

 the fourth mission is the least attractive, and presents the 

 most appearance of a ruin. There were five missions on the 

 San Antonio River within fifteen miles. Morfi refers to 

 Purisima Concepcion as being " very beautiful," and San 

 Jose, he states, " was the finest building in New Spain at that 

 time." The latter was a fortified temple and had a large 

 plaza 600 feet square, surrounded by tall walls, each face 

 having a gateway over which was a bastion, while the walls 

 were pierced with loopholes for the musketeers. Morfi de- 

 scribes this building as having three vaulted aisles topped 

 with a fine cupola. The ornamentation was rich and beau- 

 tiful; the house of the Friars commodious, and contained a 

 fine polished stairway of stone, at the head of which was an 



collection of buildings for various purposes, among which 

 is an Indian school under the care of the Sisters of St. Joseph. 

 Out on the plain is the Papago village with its huts, where 

 are the descendants of the people who have lived here and 

 owned the land for untold years. In its decoration the mis- 

 sion is extremely rich and ornate, its ornamentation being 

 peculiarly Franciscan. Over the door is an artistic scroll 

 and on either side images of the saints, about three feet in 

 height, standing in niches, beneath a stucco scroll. Over the 

 door is a portico from which a door leads to the interior, and 

 over this a conventional shell of the tridacna class giving a 

 fine effect. On either side of this portico are niches contain- 

 ing images of saints, the decoration above to that below 

 being similar. Over this rises the mass of scrolling shown in 

 the accompanying photograph. The observer regrets to 

 notice evidences of decay and despoliation here and there. 

 On the left of the roof rises a fine tower, pierced for the 

 belfry, while another is incomplete. Back of this is the 

 dome. 



If the visitor is charmed with the exterior of this desert 

 expression of Franciscan architecture, what can be said of 



