"Few if any missionary episodes are better illuminated by contemporary records than this one whose scenes were La Paz and San Bruno.  … The diaries, maps, linguistic notes and letters of Kino, Copart, Atondo, Guzmán and others connected with the [Atondo-Kino California] enterprise constitute a definite contribution to North American exploration, cartography, ethnology, and history, comparable, we might say, with the famous reports of Frémont, or of Lewis and Clark."

Herbert E.  Bolton
"Rim of Christendom 
A Biography of Eusebio Francisco Kino: Pacific Coast Pioneer"  1935

"His manuscripts now brought to light constitute by far the best contemporary historical record of the regions where he labored."

Hubert Howe Bancroft

"Kino, Historian's Historian"
Ernest J. Burrus, S.J.
Second Annual Arizona Historical Conference

Some months ago, when I suggested in letters to several friends in Tucson that the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the death of Eusebio Francisco Kino - March 15, 1961 - not be allowed to go by unobserved or uncommemorated, I quickly realized from the enthusiastic and heartwarming response that Tucson is very much "Kino country" and that in this city there are many true aficionados of the great frontiersman and Christian pioneer. Father Kino's work as explorer and missionary, as a maker of borderlands history, is well known here. On his occasion, therefore, it may be appropriate to emphasize a lesser known aspect of Kino's remarkable career: his work as a recorder of the history which he did so much to make.  ....

This strenuous doer of deeds was also a scrupulous recorder of them. Kino's writings were numerous and deal with a considerable variety of subjects: astronomy, cartography, ethnology, geography, linguistics, and political, social and ecclesiastical history. He furnishes indispensable biographical data on himself and numerous key figures civil, military, and religious. To appreciate the wealth of information his writings furnish, the modern historian has only to try to prescind from them in discussing such personalities as Admiral Atondo, Governor Jironza, Captains Manje and Bernal, or Fathers Juan Ugarte,Salvatierra, Francisco Maria Piccolo and Saeta. Without his reports, the Indian chiefs whom Kino immortalized for their loyalty and braverywould be completely unknown to us. How unwaveringly he defends the Pimas against false accusations in a statement that he copied over and signed many times! On each of the numerous tribes of Baja California and Pimeria what a wealth of detail he gives, how he penetrates and reveals their character and distinctive traits! How, then, to write on the history of Lower California without Kino's contribution? How to deal adequately with the late seventeenth or early eighteenth centuries in Pimeria Alta without studying his works? .....

But it is exclusively with Kino's work as a writer of history that this paper will deal, and here four questions arise spontaneously. They are these: (I) What writings in particular merit for Kino the title of historian? (2) Was he accurate, did he possess and exercise a critical spirit, and what were the sources on which he drew? (3) Did certain factors - such as the missionary's need for effective propaganda and the composition of all his key writings in a language not natively his own - detract from his historical impartiality or from his ability to express his thoughts so that subsequent historians could understand unmistakably and unequivocally what he was trying to say? And (4) Are there important manuscripts still to be discovered which may confirm my opinion that Kino deserves to be called "historian's historian?

 For Entire Article, click on Kino, Historian's Historian

The paper "Kino: Historian's Historian" was presented by Fr. Ernest J. Burrus, S.J.  at the Second Annual Arizona Historical Conference that was jointly sponsored by the University of Arizona and the Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society in March 1961. Also in commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of the death of Father Kino that March, two publications were released in Kino's honor and the paintings of Ted DeGrazia depicting Kino's life were displayed at the historical conference.
Editor Note

Kino's Historical Writings
W. Michael Mathes

|41|
The chronicles of northwestern New Spain are among the most detailed and extensive produced during the Spanish colonial presence in the Western Hemisphere. At times seemingly anachronistic in their piety and judgmental considerations of Indian groups, these works are, nevertheless, of inestimable value as sources for geographical, zoological, botanical, ethnological, and historical information. They have served as the basis of modern classics by Jesuit historians … as well as secular writers … |58|

Interesting, two of the most important Jesuit chronicles of Sinaloa and Sonora remained in manuscript for many decades following termination. ….. |59| The second modern publication was the fundamental historical work of Pimería Alta authored by its apostle, Eusebio Francisco Kino. Titled "Favores Celestiales de Jesús y de María Santísima y del Gloriosíssimo Apóstol de la Yndias, Francisco Xavier experimentados en las nuevas conquistas y nuevas conversiones del Nuevo Reino de la Nueva Navarra desta América Septentrional incógnita", the manuscript was first published as "Las Misiones de Sonora y Arizona." Edited by Francisco Fernández del Castillo and Emilio Bose. (Mexico: Archivo General de la Nacion, 1913-1922), and has undergone numerous editions." 

A generally unemotional and informative account, the work is divided into five parts. Part I treats the Pimería missions from arrival of Kino at Nuestra Señora de los Dolores in 1687 to 1699 and includes books on the entry to Pimería Alta, visit of Juan María de Salvatierra in 1690-1693, martyrdom of Francisco Xavier Saeta in 1695, exploration northward to the |60| Gila and Colorado rivers, and expeditions to California and its geography, from 1695 to 1699. Part II covers expeditions to the Colorado River and Gulf of California with Captain Juan Mateo Manje (1670-1727?) and Salvatierra in 1699 and 1701, search for a land route to California, and arguments for the peninsularity of the region, concluding with a survey of the status of missions in 1702. Apache raids, the status of missions, problems and needs, and new establishments during 1703 and 1704 are included in Part III, and the provincial administration of Salvatierra, interest in supply for California missions, mission development in 1705-1706, and an expedition to the Colorado River in 1706 are treated in Part IV. Part V explains motives of the author and expresses need for continuance of support for missions, with a description of the land and its resources. Finished on 21 November 1708 and dedicated to King Philip V, the work was clearly intended for publication.

Although the ministry and martyrdom of Saeta was later treated in "Favores Celestiales", a separate biography prepared for publication and designed to edify and stimulate assistance for missions, "Inocente, Apostólica y Gloriosa Muerte del Venerable Padre Francisco Xavier Saeta, de la Compañía de Jesus, Missionero en la Nueva Conversión de la Concepción de Nuestra Señora del Caborca de la Pimería, en la Provincia de Sonora," was finished by Kino on 20 September 1695. Francisco Xavier Saeta (Francesco Saverio Saeta) was born in Piazza Armerina, Sicily, on 22 September 1664 and entered the order at Palermo on 25 September 1679. In 1684-1685 he taught grammar at Messina, studied in 1686-1687, taught at Piazza Amerina from 1687 to 1692, and in the latter year journeyed to Veracruz. After ordination in Mexico, he taught at Espiritu Santo, Puebla, in 1693-1694, and was assigned to Pimería Alta missions. Travelling with Kino from Dolores, Saeta was installed as missionary to the Pima Alto at Caborca on Río Altar. Brutally murdered by Pimas on 2 April 1695, his death shocked Kino and became a cause for persistence in the missions. In addition to edifying value, the biography of Saeta, "Vida del P. Francisco J. Saeta, S.J. Sangre Misionera en Sonora," edited by Ernest J. Burrus (Mexico: Editorial Jus, 1961), also provides information on other missionaries, the state of missions, a description of the Rectorate of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, <61> and plans and needs for advancement of missions. <50>

Eusebio Francisco Kino, Apostle to the Pimas and one of the most famous Jesuits in North America, was born in Segno, Trento, Italy, on 15 August 1645, and, following study in Jesuit colleges of Trent and Halle (Austria), entered the Society at Landsberg, Bavaria, on 20 November 1665. Between 1673 and 1677 he studied astronomy, geography, and cartography under famed Jesuit scholars Adam Aigenler (1638-1673) and Heinrich Scherer (1628-1704) at Ingolstadt, and in March 1678, travelled to Genoa and Seville, preparatory to leaving for New Spain in 1680. In Mexico, he was assigned to the opening of missions in California in 1681, and in 1682 travelled to Rio Sinaloa, his point of departure. Kino was professed in California in 1684, and following attempts at maintaining the mission of San Bruno between 1683 and 1685, he reluctantly returned to Mexico in 1686. In 1687, he was assigned to Nuestra Senora de los Dolores in Sonora and charged with expansion to Pimería Alta. In 1691, he visited missions with Juan Maria de Salvatierra, in 1694 explored Río Magdalena, and in 1697, the Gila River. From 1698 to 1702, he extensively explored the Colorado River basin and northwestern Sonora, and in 1708 was named rector of Pimería Alta, a post held at the time of his death at Santa María Magdalena on 15 March 1711. <51>  |61|

W. Michael Mathes
"Chroniclers And Chronicles Of Northwestern New Spain"
In "Jesuit Encounters in the New World: Jesuit Chroniclers, Geographers, Educators and Missionaries in the Americas 1549-1767"  1997

Footnotes:

<49> The original manuscript is found in: Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico. Ramo Misiones, Torno 27. "Kino's Historical Memoir of Pimería Alta," trans. and ed. Herbert E. Bolton (Cleveland: A. H. Clark, 1919; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1948; New York: AMS Press, 1976); "Crónica de la Pimería Alta Favores Celestiales" (Hermosillo: Gobierno del Estado de Sonora, 1985); "Las Misiones de Sonora y Arizona" (Mexico: Editorial Porrúa, 1989).

<50> The manuscript is found in: Biblioteca Nacional, México. An English version is: "Kino's Biography of Francisco Javier Saeta, S.J.," trans. Charles W. Polzer (Rome: Jesuit Historical Institute, 1971). 

<51> "Kino Escribe a La Duquesa," ed. Ernest J. Burrus (Madrid: Ediciones José Porrúa Turanzas, 1962), 1-20; Herbert E. Bolton, "Kino's Historical Memoir," passim.

Favores Celestiales and The Vision
Herbert E. Bolton 

Even more impressive than Kino's maps were his writings. He kept diaries of his travels, wrote letters to friends in Europe, America, and Asia, discussed geographical problems, defended his Pima friends |571| against slander and oppression, bombarded his superiors with accounts of the successes and the needs of his missions, pleaded constantly for more workers, and painted glowing pictures of lands and peoples yet outside the Christian fold. Besides these multitudinous and miscellaneous writings, three major items have come down to us intact. The first of these is the "Exposición Astronómica de el Cometa," which so disturbed Sigüenza. The second is the history of the martyrdom of Father Saeta whose long title begins, "Inocente, Apostólica, y Gloriosa Muerte." This rare manuscript has never yet been published. The third and by far the most important for the historian is the "Favores Celestiales."[1] This great book amounts to an autobiography of Kino and a chronicle of the border from the time when he began his missionary work in Pimería Alta down to 1706. He was not only the apostle but also the historian of Pima Land.

The "Favores Celestiales" is not a unified production, nor was it written primarily as a history. Neither is it a monument to great literary skill. It was compiled in the heat of battle for practical purposes, a fact which gives it all the greater value as a human document. It was prepared in the form of separate reports written from time to time as a means of making known the needs of the missions and the opportunities for greater triumphs of the Faith.

In the writing of the "Favores" Kino was stimulated by Father Thirso González, his friend of Sevilla days, when Father Eusebio had exercised his mechanical skill by making a sundial for Father Thirso. |572| When González became General this early friendship worked to the advantage of the Pima missions. Fired by Kino's glowing reports from the distant American frontier, González encouraged, indeed he requested, him to write an account of what had been accomplished. He even suggested a name for the work, which Kino adopted. Stimulation nearer home was contributed by Fathers Leal and Campos.

So Kino set about the task. When it reached its final form the manuscript consisted of five divisions. Part I was written late in 1699 and brought the story down to that date. [2]  Thus Kino's "Favores Celestiales" and Manje's "Luz de Tierra Incógnita were begun about the same time." Three years passed. González in Rome acknowledged the receipt of Part I of the manuscript and urged Kino to carry the account forward. It was a fresh breath from the missionary frontier and gave a vivid glimpse of the Rim of Christendom. "I read it all, without omitting a word, and I affectionately charge your Reverence that as soon as possible you write the second part." Such praise from the head of the Order thrilled the humble missionary in the wilds of America. Just at this time Provincial Arteaga asked Kino for a report to use in an appeal for missionaries. Impetuous Campos urged him to write it and make it vigorous. "Say as much as you wish . . . petition, petition again; clamor, clamor again!" All these things, says Kino "impel me with great force to write this second part, as my continued and multitudinous occupations permit." So he took up his pen again and wrote two more sections. Part II reached to the end of 1702 and Part III to the end of 1704 [4]

Meanwhile, in May, 1704, Kino finished a short report on the Pima missions in the form of a dedication of the "Favores Celestiales" to King Philip V. [5] That is, it was regarded as a dedication of Parts I, II, and III. In it, with obvious flattery, Kino proposed a new name for Pima Land. Why not call it NEW PHILIPPINES? Surely the fifth Philip was as deserving as the third. In view of the royal cedula issued by Philip V in 1701 favoring the California and Sonora missions, he says, "one cannot refrain from giving them the renowned name of the |573| New Philippines of the Western Indies of the very extensive North America, with the same and even more propriety than that with which, on account of the Catholic zeal of Philip III [6] the conquered islands of the Eastern Indies in Asia were called the Philippines." The reigning monarch doubtless would agree.

There was another hiatus. Then, with new encouragement from various persons, Kino continued the narrative as Part IV, carrying the story to the end of 1706. [7] On November 21, 1708, he signed a new dedication of the work to Philip V. [8] It closely follows that of 1704, but there are innovations. For one thing, he proposes still another name for the new spiritual conquests. This for the Bourbon eye! Now, he says, the new conversions might appropriately be called the New Philippines, - "unless your Royal Majesty prefers, ... that these new conquests . . . should be decorated with the name of the NEW KINGDOM OF NEW NAVARRE. . . . For this new kingdom of the American New Navarre might unite still other neighboring kingdoms which are being conquered with those already conquered, just as the kingdom of Navarre in Europe lies between and unites the crowns and realms of France and Spain." Was Father Eusebio suggesting that New France and New Spain might thus be joined? The conquerors of the "other neighboring kingdoms" to which Kino alluded were of course the Black Robes of New France.

Kino did not continue the chronological narrative of his work beyond the end of 1706, where he had left it in Part IV. This means that for the last five years of his career we lack a detailed account of his doings such as we have for the preceding twenty. But he did add to his chronicle a fifth part. It was not originally written as a division of the "Favores Celestiales", but was incorporated as a suitable conclusion. It is a report to the king, dedicated in 1710, and consists of an extended plea for the promotion of conquests in the northwest and the establishment there of the kingdom to be called New Navarre. [9]

The Master of Dolores attributed all his successes, and indeed, all his tribulations, to the heavenly favors which had been so liberally |574| bestowed upon him. So he called his book Fat/ores Celestiales, as González had suggested. These heavenly favors are extolled with gratitude throughout the work, but are especially set forth in the Prologue. In this preface Kino's writing reached a plane which may well be called inspired, for its beauty of thought and its exaltation of spirit.[10]

Just as Kino considered all blessings as celestial favors, he regarded past achievements merely as preludes to future triumphs of the Faith. This view of his work he maintained to the end of his days. In spite of the weight of years, arduous toils, frontier privations, and ceaseless opposition, he continued down to the very last with spirit unbroken, able to dream and plan and work and promote, as he had dreamed and planned and worked and promoted for a third of a century. In the last chapters of the "Favores Celestiales" he paints a picture of the glories, spiritual and temporal, yet to be achieved in Pima Land and, particularly, in the vast regions "más allá." This part V of his history, written mainly in 1708 but signed only a year before his death, illustrates the dauntless optimism of the astounding man. It may be taken as representing the vision of the near future which he nursed in his last days and carried with him when he departed. It also reflects his geographical outlook on North America and Asia. [11]

These new lands, with their numerous and gentle tribes, he said, |575| offered so grand an opportunity to spread the Faith and the power of Spain that seven Christian kingdoms might be formed to replace the ancient heathen Seven Cities. These new kingdoms might be called Nueva Vizcaya, Nuevo Mexico, California Baja, Nueva Navarra, California Alta, Gran Quivira, "and Gran Teguayo or Nueva Borboñia, which is to the north of us, beyond Moqui, and extends to the Sea of the North [12] which Hudson discovered." He means Hudson Bay. His vision was expansive. Nueva Borboñia, or New Bourbon, was intended as a name for New France -- or was it meant for a new jurisdiction in the heart of the continent, embracing the vast prairie regions, of the Mississippi Valley and Canada?

And so, as a conclusion for his book, he sets forth "the very great advantages to both Majesties which can be obtained by the promotion of these new conquests and conversions." It is an enticing vision which he portrays - and is so intended. In part it is the same picture which he drew in 1702 after his return from the mouth of the Colorado River. He appears at his best as a writer of promotion literature.

Kino saw in the missions both temporal and spiritual benefits. At the same time that they spread the Faith they promoted Christian civilization. They would serve, as they had always done, to protect Sonora from the inroads of Apaches and their fellow bandits, who were now penetrating more and more deeply into the heart of the provinces. The Sobaípuris of the San Pedro Valley were still the surest reliance. Chief Coro was still the Spaniards' ablest ally. He should be encouraged. A mission at his village of Quíburi, with a fortification for its defense, would enable Coro to chastise the enemy, "as he is accustomed to do, winning very good victories as always, and even much greater, for the total relief of the province in general, and of Bazeraca in particular."

But it was "más allá" that opportunity lay. Beyond! There was glory for God and the king. Yes, for the old dreamer there was romance! New missions would be the means not only of preserving present provinces, but of adding new ones to the realm. "For there are prudent and weighty persons, zealous for the service of their Majesties, who are of the opinion that in these more than two hundred leagues |576| of rich new lands, inhabited by Indians industrious, recently conquered and reduced, a new kingdom with ease can be founded." And it might be called New Navarre, "as others are called New Biscay, New Galicia, New León.

Kino even dreamed of converting the indomitable Apaches, a hope which required supreme optimism. But he had it. "By promoting the new conversions of this extensive Pimería, with the favor of Heaven we shall be able shortly to enter upon the reduction and conversion of the neighboring Apachería, which lies northeast and north of us. and extends northwest to the very large Colorado River, or Río del Norte, ... for, we having sent messages to those natives up the Colorado River, already they have invited us to enter and see them, and already they give us certain reports that soon, in imitation of the rest, over here, they will be won to our friendship and to the desire of receiving our holy Catholic Faith."

With Apache Land subdued and in the fold the gate would be wide open. "By way of the same Apachería ... we shall be able, with the divine grace, to enter and trade with New Mexico, and with its nearest provinces, Moqui and Zuñi ... for we have also certain reports that before the revolt of New Mexico the Spaniards of those provinces used to come by way of the Apachería to these . . . Sobaíporis to barter maize for hatchets, cloth, sackcloth, blankets, chomites, knives, etc." From New Mexico it would be just a step to the limitless beyond: "northward to Gran Teguayo; northwest to Gran Quibira; and west to California Alta . . . and the South Sea, and to its great Bay of the Eleven Thousand Virgins; [13] to the famous port of Monte Rey; ... and to the very renowned Cape Mendozino." With the aid of Kino's zeal and imagination new kingdoms now were rising fast.

Still beyond. From New Mexico communication would follow with New France-this again for the Bourbon eye - and with the Jesuits there, "and with the new conquests, conversions, and missions which at present they are making with their glorious and apostolic journeys from east to west." A road to Canada would offer a short cut from Sonora to Spain and France, "only half as long as the road which we are accustomed to travel by way of the City of Mexico and ... Vera |577| Cruz; for if the one road is much more than two thousand leagues, the other will be little more than one thousand."

Kino's vision was not limited by the Pacific Ocean. Alluring prospects beckoned still further northwest  - "a convenient land route to Asia, and to Great Tartary, and to Great China, since to the westward of Cape Mendosino and connected therewith follow the land of Jesso; ... the Tierra de la Compañia ... and the lands nearest Japan; and afterward the narrow Strait of Anian, which is no more than ten or twelve leagues across, and has the convenience of an island in the middle by which to pass to Great Tartary and from there to Great China: . . . And it is patent that there is no other Strait of Anian than this one which I mention here. For although Drake, in order to carry his point that California was an island, would feign another Strait of Anian, with another much talked of Sea of the North over here above California, ... it is all a lie." Drake was done for.

Closer home there could be a port of call for the Manila Galleon and direct trade with it overland from Sonora by the land passage now discovered. "These new conversions and this new province of Sonora and all the Kingdom of Nueva Biscaia ... by the land route to California, will be able to provide a port of call for the China Ship and trade with her, and succor with fresh food persons whom she is accustomed to bring ill with the very painful disease of scurvy, originating from their salt, dry, and stale food; all with very great advantages and gains for everybody," and obviating the very long and costly overland transportation from Acapulco. "And this port of call, with all due deference to the navigators of the China ships, ... might be at the Bay of Todos Santos [now Ensenada], or at the famous neighboring port of San Diego."

Then, too, the age-old dream of one fold with one shepherd could now be realized, said Kino. "By the Catholic promotion of these new conquests and conversions ... of this New Navarre, the Catholic empire of the Catholic royal crown and of our Holy Mother, the Roman Catholic Church, will be happily extended, so that all the world may be one fold with one shepherd- "ut fiat unum ovile et unus pastor" [14] - and this, by the divine grace, without great expenditure from the royal chests, and with only the accustomed alms for the missionary fathers."

Finally, with the advance of the mission frontier, the geographical data acquired would make it possible to correct the maps, as Kino already had done in so many particulars, and to dispel the myths which flitted about and cast a deceptive glow across the horizon. "If we continue with the promotion and advancement of these new conversions we shall be able to continue to make accurate maps of North America, the greater part of which has been unknown, or practically unknown. For some ancients blot the map with so many and such errors and with such fictitious grandeurs and feigned riches as a crowned king whom they carry in chairs of gold, with walled cities, and with lakes of quicksilver and gold or amber, and of corals. With reason Father Mariana rebukes them for deceiving us with these riches which do not exist. [15] But they do not say a word about the principal riches that exist there, namely the innumerable souls ransomed by the most precious blood of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ."

This was the vision. And there were means in sight for making it a reality. The celestial favors would be supplied, of course, by divine benevolence. The temporal means at hand Kino now proceeded to enumerate. The list of them constituted a description of the Pima missions and their resources. It was a summary of Kino's own achievement. He trusted in God, but assumed the immediate responsibility himself.

Among the assets at hand for realizing these spiritual and temporal glories, the old promoter listed even the humble cabbage and the lowly garlic. "There are already very rich and abundant fields, plantings and crops of wheat, maize, frijoles, chick peas, beans, lentils, bastard chick peas, etc. There are good gardens, . . . vineyards for wine for masses, and cane-fields of sweet cane for syrup and panocha, [16] and with the favor of heaven, before long for sugar," There are many Castilian fruit trees, such as fig trees, quinces, oranges, pomegranates, peaches, apricots, pears, apples, mulberries, pecans, tunas, etc.; all sorts of garden stuff, such as cabbages, melons, watermelons, white cabbage, lettuce, onions, |579| leeks, garlic, anise, pepper, mustard, mint, Castilian roses, white lilies, etc., and very good timber for all kinds of building, such as pine, ash, cypress, walnut, China-trees, mesquite, alders, poplar, willow, and tamarind."

Quite apart from its relation to Kino's vision, the enumeration is eloquent testimony to the part which he and his associates had played in the transit of European culture to the deserts of Pima Land.

Dr. Herbert E.  Bolton
"Rim of Christendom   -  A Biography of Eusebio Francisco Kino: Pacific Coast Pioneer"
Chapter 148 "Favores Celestiales"
Chapter 149 "The Vision"
Pages 570 - 579

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Bolton's Favores Celestiales and The Vision Chapters
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Bolton's Historian Kino

Kino's Biography of Francisco Javier Saeta
Ernest J. Burrus

Introduction
"Kino's Biography of Francisco J. Saeta, S.J."
Ernest J. Burrus
Summary and Synopsis

The reader finds in Kino's monograph on Saeta both less than the term "life" or "biography" indicates and also very much more than the word implies. It is less than the traditional biography inasmuch as it omits those details of Saeta's life that would usually find a prominent place in such a literary genre. This is even more true of the manuscript as left us by Kino. In presenting chronologically sixteen vignettes of as many Jesuit missionaries who met with violent death at the hands of the natives of northern Mexico, Kino logically reserves the last and most prominent place for Saeta. But he never came around to filling in the blank page ­ other duties and other interests claimed his time and attention.

In the present edition, appearing on the 276th anniversary of Saeta's death and of the composition of the biography, we have endeavored to supply as far as possible the details omitted by the author. This we strive to do both in this Introduction and more briefly in the series of vignettes just alluded to.

But Kino's biography of Saeta, despite its brevity, is also very much more than just another life of another missionary. It is the detailed and fully documented history of one of the most significant religious expansions in the Americas, with the consequent enlargement politically and culturally of the same vast territory. When Kino reached Pimería Alta (present northern Sonora and the State of Arizona), the northernmost rim of Christendom (the chain of established missions as also Spanish military and civil control) ran from Batepito through Chuchuta (just south of the site of the historic presidio of Fronteras to be erected a few years later), Bacoache and [5] Bacanuche, and then southward to Cucurpe on the route to Tuape and Opodepe.

In the years that Kino evangelized and explored Pimería Alta, he added an extensive region to New Spain: westward to the Gulf of California, northwestward to and beyond the junction of the Gila and Colorado Rivers, northward to Casa Grande and even beyond as far as the Río Azul, eastward along the Río San Jose de Terrenate (later called the San Pedro River). As Saeta was assassinated in 1695 and Kino composed the bulk of the biography in the course of the same year, the span of time dealt with is necessarily a brief one - 1687 to 1695, with an exceptional wealth of details for the years 1694 and 1695.

The life of Saeta is Kino's only serious attempt at biography, and after the "Favores Celestiales" his longest composition. It shows greater unity and degree of completion than the latter work. The biography taught Kino a decisive lesson in historical composition, namely the preservation und use of primary sources. A considerable portion of the book is the reproduction of correspondence of Saeta, and of religious and military leaders with Kino. The preservation of such documentation became with Kino a life-long habit; and later, when he came to prepare the "Favores Celestiales" for the press, he had at hand his own archive of precious source material.

In the Saeta biography, turbulent and confused events are disengaged and presented clearly, with sufficient background, evident cause and affect. The few guilty are clearly distinguished from the numerous innocent, an important distinction that had its practical consequences in the treatment meted out by military officials and in the ultimate pacification of the region, as well as in the decision of the highest ecclesiastical authorities to step up rather than abandon the evangelization of the area.

To help the reader follow his narrative more closely, Kino drew two very accurate maps of the entire region which in themselves are important landmarks in the cartography of Mexico: 1) the "Teatro de los Trabajos Apostólicos" (the superb original in colors is preserved in the Jesuit Central Archives in Rome and is reproduced in black and white in Bolton, [7 ] "Rim of Christendom," 272; and, in the original colors, by Burrus, KC, Plate VIII); and 2) the "Muerte del Venerable Padre Francisco Xavier Saeta" (the original, likewise in colors. is preserved in the same Jesuit Archives, and has also been reproduced in black and white in Bolton, "Rim", 290; and, in the original colors, by Burrus, KC, Plate IX. We have chosen from this map the death scene of Saeta for the Frontispiece of the present volume).

The biography deals with the following topics, listed according to the seven extant books:

1) The coming of Saeta to Caborca.
2) The second period of his work in the same mission.
3) His assassination.
4) An important series of original documents reproduced verbatim, on the optimistic outlook for the future of the region despite the violent death of Saeta, and 15 biographical sketches of earlier missionaries who met a like fate at the hands of the natives without necessitating abandoning the missions. The 16th biographical sketch is that of Saeta.
5) The military efforts to pacify the rebellious natives and the effective cooperation of the friendly natives, but also a tragic mistake with disastrous consequences.
6) The present prosperous state of the missions in Pimería Alta; the historical background; Kino's arrival in the area, his work and success. Special emphasis is given to the objections urged by many against continuance of the missions in the area.
7) The last book is unique in the history of Mexico. It is a presentation of the missionary methods employed by Saeta and still more by Kino and a penetrating analysis of the mental and emotional world of the Pima Indians and their reactions to the teachings and demands of Christianity.

A brief word about each of these topics.

In the First Book Kino develops the narrative by an exact historical account of events, specifying dates, places, distances, and actors in the moving drama of which he himself is the most important. We are given an accurate and detailed explanation of the economic status; the number of cattle donated to the mission of Caborca, even what grains and vegetables were planted and thrived there; what buildings were [9] erected; what expeditions had been undertaken. So specific and circumstantial are the data furnished that one can only conclude that Kino kept an exact diary on which he later drew to compose his biography of Saeta.

In the Second Book Kino relies on a series of letters from Saeta to furnish him with a detailed and reliable account of the events in the second period of the missionary's work at Caborca. In this book we are already given some of the missionary methods employed by Saeta that will be developed at length in the last book.

Book Three is more than a mere recital of the assassination of Saeta; it is a penetrating analysis of the causes that brought it about, with practical suggestions for remedying the situation and preventing its repetition in the future. Kino rejects the false accusation that all the Indians are involved. He proves from numerous sources that the main motive was the injustice and cruelty inflicted on the Indians of San Pedro de Tubutama, particularly the treatment meted out by the Opata overseers; the Pimas were unjustly accused of theft - Kino will often return to the theme - with consequent vexations, cruelty, and deaths caused among them by the invading Spanish troops; further, the Indians of San Antonio de Oquitoa joined in the raid on Caborca because they felt deceived and insulted by the numerous false promises made to them and never kept, particularly that missionaries would be sent to them. Saeta's own charges - children (hijos) Kino calls them - were not guilty of his death, nor were they involved in the rebellion, but rather victims of it.

Book Four, despite its unfinished stage of composition, is one of the most carefully worked out of all Kino's writings. He not only cites countless letters from military and religious officials to prove that he is correct in holding that only a few of the Indians participated in the raid on Caborca - and then only after they were induced by the injustice and cruelty committed against them - but he shows that all these officials were optimistic about the future. To give solid historical basis to his contention, Kino dips deep into Mexican history, drawing vignettes of 15 other missionaries who gave their lives [11] for the same cause and yet their missions were not abandonded but were flourishing today. Why, then, he asks, should anyone want to follow a different policy in regard to Saeta and his missions?

Book Five is a clear account of the campaigns to pacify the rebellious natives and to punish the guilty. He devotes a chapter to the cooperation of the friendly Indians. Kino manfully relates the tragic mistakes of some of the Spanish soldiers and their Indian allies resulting in the massacre of innocent natives and consequent raids on other missions. This frankness may account for the fact that the Saeta biography did not find its way into print during Kino's lifetime.

Book Six is a minute account of the state of the missions and of the area in general. He devotes most of this part of the volume to facing squarely the objections raised against the continuance and extension of the missions in the north. Kino realized that the future of the entire region was at stake. Let us remember that he wrote on this topic on the very eve of his departure for Mexico City, where, as he knew, everyone there from the Viceroy and the Provincial of the Jesuits down would urge these objections against him when he came to beg for funds and more manpower.

To come to the objections. It was claimed that Pimería Alta had no native population or at best a few scattered Indians. Kino answers that the region had more than 10,000; and then goes into specific figures for various localities.

But, insisted the opponents, if there are a few wretched natives, the whole region is one interminable desert. To answer this objection, Kino has the written testimony of Spanish officials; he has exact statistics on the amount and kind of produce; and concludes with the triumphant boast: "This Pimería of ours is in the category of the most fertile and productive lands in all of New Spain - Esta Pimería es de las más fértiles y pingues tierras que tiene toda la Nueva España".

Enemies and opponents of the Pimería enterprise had spread the claim that the natives were incurably lazy and could never be taught to work. For those who insisted on certified and notarized documents, Kino has a supply of them; for those who clamored for visible proof of the natives' ability to work, he pointed to what they had already accomplished at Dolores [13] and other mission centers in constructing houses and churches and in planting fields and harvesting the abundant crops.

But, surely, insisted the opponents, the Indians of the province are born thieves, and work is at best only an occasion al necessity with them. This calumny Kino must thoroughly refute; and in order to do so, he uses a three-fold argument: first, despite all the surprise forays of the Spanish military forces into Pima territory, not the least indication of theft was ever found; secondly, the Generals Juan Fernandez de la Fuente and Domingo Teran de los Ríos during the month of June 1695 did uncover stolen property in possession of the Hojomes at Cerro de Chiricahui, but these Indians are the enemies not the allies of the Pimas; thirdly, the Pimas cultivate their fields and live off the produce, whereas the Hojomes, the Janos and the Sumas are nomadic tribes unaccustomed to work, who find it more agreeable to loot and steal horses, mules, and cattle.

The last objection is an economic one: namely, that the missions and the settling of the North were a heavy strain on the royal treasury. This is an objection, answered Kino, that could be used against any region; what are we to do, stop colonizing and evangelizing in order to save a few pesos? I'll cite in full, says Kino, the royal decree that states that the advantages of establishing missions far outweigh the expenses involved. Who would dare doubt the King's word?

Kino now comes to the last [Book 8] and by far most valuable book for the student of the history of Mexico and the American Southwest for it furnishes him with the key to Kino's methods of winning over the natives, of his being able to travel among them even unescorted when he so chose, of securing their cooperation in evangelizing the area far beyond the limits its of his own mission, of securing their confidence, allegiance, loyalty, trust, and devotion to a degree unparalleled in the mission annals of Mexico.

As I think is evident, the biography of Saeta by Kino is more than the life story of one man. It is the detailed and documented history of the entire region with the political, economic, ethnological, military, geographical, and ecclesiastical phases minutely presented and analyzed. 

"Kino Biography's of Father Saeta, S.J." 1971

by Eusebio Francisco Kino, S.J. 1696
Original Spanish text editied by Dr. Ernest J. Burrus, S.J. with introduction and notes
Epilogue by Charles W. Polzer, S.J 

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Kino Saeta Biography - pdf format
Kino Saeta Biography - text format

Kino Saeta Biography Footnotes - English
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Kino Saeta Bio Footnotes - pdf format

"Vida del P. Francisco J. Saeta, S.J. - Sangre Misionera En Sonora".

by Eusebio Francisco Kino, S.J 1696
Spanish text by Dr. Ernest J. Burrus, S.J with introduction in Spanish and English.  

For 1961 Book in Spanish with Introduction in Spanish and English:
Digitzed by Princeton Theological Seminary Library 

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https://archive.org/details/vidadelpfrancisc00kino

Kino's 1695 Teatros Map Illustrating His Saeta Biography
With Kino's History of Previous Attempts To Settle The Californias

Kino believed that history had important lessons to teach and he used history as a key part of his advocacy. One example was his use of a chronology that he wrote of the first 150 years of California history of the Spanish attempts to settle the California.  It is set out in the lower left corner of his famous 1696 Map of New Spain in Kino's handwriting. His map with his chronology was an important part of his successful 10 year advocacy to have his fellow Jesuits led the permanent Spanish settlement of The Californias.

This map accompanied the "Biography of Padre Saeta" and was personally presented to the highest officials in Mexico City by Kino after he rode 1,500 miles in 53 days. Kino began his ride for peace and justice on November 16, 1695 from his Mission Dolores headquarters in order to protect the O'odham people from reprisals and to advocate for a renewed Jesuit effort in the Californias.
Editor Note

Various sea expeditions and entrances made into the Californias
Eusebio Francisco Kino

Teatros de los Trabajos Apostólicos de la Compana de Jesús en la America Septentrional  1695

Various sea expeditions and entrances
made into the Californias. |39|

Don Fernando Cortéz set out in 1533 as the first to discover California, landing at the port of Nuestra Señora de la Paz. General Francisco de Alarcón went in other high-decked ships; all of which, however, were lost. |40|

General Sebastián Biscaíno went there in 1596, at his own expense with five Friars of Saint
Francis; and in 1602, at the expense of Philip III, with three Carmelite Friars he explored the west coast of California. In 1606 he received a royal decree ordering him to found a settlement in the port of Monterey. In 1615 Captain Juan Iturbi made two expeditions to California.

Captain Francisco Ortega crossed over to California the first time in 1632; this he did at his own expense. The second time (in 1633) he took two clerics with him. His third expedition was in 1634. |41|

Captain Carboneli undertook his expedition a few years after Captain Ortega. The Governor of Sinaloa, Luis Cestín de Canas crossed over in 1642, taking with him Father Jacinto Cortés of the Society of Jesus.

Admiral Don Pedro Porter Casanate disembarked in 1644 in the bay of San Bernabé; and in 1648 and 1649, taking with him two Fathers of the Society of Jesus, he made a landing further north. In 1664 Admiral Don Bernardo Bernal de Piñadero made an expedition in two ships at the expense of his Majesty, and in 1672 he received orders to make a second expedition, which he did.

In 1668 Captain Francisco Lucenilla made an expedition in two ships at his own expense, taking with him two Friars of Saint Francis. |42| Admiral Don Isidro de Atondo y Antillón in 1681, 1682, 1683, 1684 and 1685, at the cost of more than a half million pesos furnished by Don Carlos II (whom God protect), built three ships, and crossed over to the Californias and even to the opposite shore. |43|

He took with him three Fathers of the Society of Jesus. He took possession of these New Carolinas for Don Carlos II. Some of the inhabitants were instructed in the principal doctrines of the faith and are pleading for holy baptism; last year (1694), when Captain Francisco Itamarra (Yramara) went to the Californias, the natives asked most insistently for the Fathers of the Society of Jesus. On December 19, 1693, we beheld from this land of the Pimas and coast of New Spain the nearby region of California: and again on November 27, 1694, at the thirty-fourth parallel, we discovered the pleasant and productive Río Grande del Coral which pours its vast volume of water into the arm of the Sea of California. I have compiled a report for his Excellency in order to reactivate the conquest and conversion of the said Californias or Carolinas. 1695."

History of California Exploration by Eusebio Franciso Kino.
Translation by Ernest J. Burrus

Kino's Historical Writings
Selected Bibliography of Translations

Historical Memoir of the Pimeria Alta. Herbert Bolton, translated, Cleveland: Arthur Clark Co., 1919. 2 vols, Reprint: Berkeley: University of California, 1948. 2 vols, in one.

Kino's Biography of Francisco Javier Saeta. Translated and with an Epilogue by Charles W. Polzer, S. J.; original Spanish transcription edited by Ernest J. Burrus, S. J. Rome and St. Louis: Jesuit Historical Institute, 1971.

Kino's Plan for Development of the Pimeria Alta. Ernest J. Burrus, S. J., translated. Tucson: Arizona Pioneer's Historical Society, 1961.

Kino Reports to Headquarters. Ernest Burrus, S. J., translated. Rome: Institutum Historicum Societatis Jesu, 1954.

Kino Writes to the Duchess. Ernest Burrus, S. J. translated. Rome: Institutum Historicum Societatis Jesu, 1965.