From Santa
Cruz County, follow I-19 north into Pima County. Look for several
interpretive panels near expedition campsites. Visit the area of
La Canoa at the roadside rest stop. Stop at Mission San Xavier del
Bac. In Tucson, stop near the area of Congress St. and visit Sentinel
Peak and the Santa Cruz River Park. Leaving Tucson, drive northwest
on I-10 to Pinal
County. For an in depth local tour, see Local
Auto Route below.
Take the I-19 frontage road to the entrance to Canoa Ranch,
where the route briefly returns onto I-19. At Continental
Rd., exit and go left to Duval Mine Road. Continue west to
Mission Road. Turn right and travel for several miles to Congress
St. and downtown Tucson. Past Sentinel Peak, turn left on
Congress St. to Silverbell Rd., and left on Lambert Road to
Airline Road. Turn right on Airline Road and left on Avra
Valley Rd. to Sanders Road. Turn right on Sanders Rd. to Silverbell
Road. Continue north on Silverbell Road to Trico-Marana Road.
Turn east to I-10 north of Marana.
The area around
La Canoa
Photo: Bill Singleton
About
Your Visit to Pima County
Over 240 people set out from Tubac on October
23, 1775. The first night out, the settlers suffered their
only death en route when María Ignacia Manuela Piñuelas
Féliz died from complications from childbirth. They
stopped at Mission
San Xavier del Bac on October
25, 1775 to mourn the death of Manuela, and to celebrate
three marriages of the expedition's members. They then followed
the Santa Cruz River northward.
Sites of Interest
A. La Canoa and Expedition Camps #15
and #16 La Canoa (the "watering trough") was the first campsite
after the expedition left its final assembly point at Tubac.
Here on the evening of October
23rd, José Antonio Capistrano Féliz was
born feet first, and his mother, María Ignacia Manuela
Piñuelas Féliz, died the next morning. Father
Font and the colonists said the Rosary and sang the Salve
de la Virgen de los Dolores for the deceased as they reached
Punta de los Llanos (Camp #16). Father Garcés
and four soldiers went ahead to the Mission with Manuela's
body. Near Camp #15, look for an interpretive sign at a roadside
rest area along I-19 near Canoa Ranch.
B.Mission
San Xavier del Bac and Expedition Camp #17
Established by Jesuit Father Kino in 1692 at the site of an
existing Piman (Akimel
O'odham) village, the mission was under Franciscan control
when the expedition stopped here on October
25, 1775. Father Thomás Eixarch of the expedition
baptized baby José. He made it to Mission San Gabriel
in California, but died about nine months later. Construction
of the present mission church was started in 1783. Located
off I-19 along the Santa Cruz River, it is a part of the Tohono
O'odham reservation. The mission church, an active parish,
has a museum.
C. Pueblo de Tuquison and Expedition
Camp #18
The garrison of the presidio of Tubac was moved to Tucson
in 1776 after the expedition left, and was renamed San
Agustín de Tuquison (Tucson). In 1775, Father Font
remarked that it was a visita of San Xavier del
Bac, meaning that it was a place that the missionaries
visited, but was not permanently occupied. Today, the name
is spelled Tucson, and several of its downtown museums highlight
the area's history. These include the Tucson
Museum of Art, the Arizona
State Museum, and the Arizona
Historical Society. To view the route of the expedition
from a higher vantage point, try nearby Sentinel
Peak. The Santa Cruz River Park in Tucson contains a multi-use
trail within the historic corridor. El Paseo de los Árboles,
"The Pathway of the Trees," is located along the west bank
of the Santa
Cruz River Park between Irvington Rd. and Ajo Way, and
a tree there is dedicated to Anza.
D. Saguaro National Park and Expedition
Camps #19 and #20
The name of Camp #19, Puerto
del Azotado, stems from the punishment of two muleteers
who tried to run away, but were captured by Indians at Anza's
request. The name Oitpar (Camp #20) is thought to mean 'Old
Town' in O'odham, and refers to the site of a village destroyed
by Apaches. Along the way today, Saguaro
National Park offers a spectacular view of the desert
as it appeared to the expedition. The cactus and other plants
found there give visitors an idea of the raw materials available
to the local peoples.
Learning On The
Trail in Pima County
Questions on the Trail
Note: Answers will appear in new windows. Please close those
windows when finished.
What did Father Font write in his diary on that day?
To find the answer, go to the Calendar
of Father Font's diary and click on the date of the wedding.
Mission San Xavier del
Bac
Photo: Ron Ory
Anza found it so important to be
able to communicate in their language that he asked
the Viceroy to allow him to hire an O'odham
translator and pay him as much as many of Anza's
Spanish soldiers. It was worth it; on his 1774 expedition,
a native named Luis warned Anza in the O'odham language
that he might be in danger from the natives near
Yuma.
Sound of a newborn baby. At La Canoa, a baby
boy was born on the first night out of Tubac. The only
death on the way from Tubac to San Francisco occurred
here too, the child's mother, María Ignacia Manuela
Piñuelas Féliz.
Virgen de Los Dolores. Father Font says that
on the way, he and the colonists said the Rosary for
Manuela, and that he finished by singing the Salve
of the Virgin of Los Dolores. Although there is
a song of that name, Font may have been referring to
the Salve Regina. In his diary entry for October
23, 1775, he mentions that the colonists often sang
"the Salve," and it's believed that the Salve
Regina was probably the chant he was referring to.
O'odham Language and O'odham Song: "Sunrise".
Two American Indian peoples that Anza had contact with
in what is today's Pima County are the Tohono O'odham
and Akimel O'odham. The language of these tribes was
very similar. Languages change over time, and the O'odham
words one can hear today are not quite the same as in
1775-76. Given on the audio track are some words that
Anza might have heard his interpreter say and how they'd
be pronounced today. Can you pronounce them?
