Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate

Last updated
Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate
Cochise County, Arizona
Presidio.jpg
Type Army fortification
Site information
Controlled byFlag of Arizona.svg  Arizona
Site history
Built1776
Built byFlag of Cross of Burgundy.svg  Spain
In use1776–1780, 1878
Garrison information
Past
commanders
Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg Francisco Tovar
Occupants Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg Spanish Army
Flag of the United States (1877-1890).svg United States Army

The Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate is a former Spanish military presidio, or fortress, located roughly west of the town of Tombstone, Arizona, in the United States of America.

Contents

History

The Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate was established on a bluff overlooking the San Pedro River by an Irish-born Spanish Army Colonel, Hugo Oconór (Hugh O'Conor), in 1775, for the King of Spain Charles III. This is one of the best preserved sites from among the chain of similar presidios that extended from Los Adaes, Louisiana, in the east to Alta California in the west. Like all frontier presidios in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, Santa Cruz de Terrenate was garrisoned by soldados de cuera. The presidio was never completed to specifications due to the attacks of the Apache, administrative greed, corruption and poor morale. The failure of the presidio was due to numerous problems like the lack of crops, raids on the horse herds, surprise attacks on the mule trains carrying supplies, and the continuous attacks by Apache directly on the fortress. These contributed to the abandonment of the garrison in 1780. In 1878, the presidio was briefly occupied by the United States Army but abandoned later that same year.

In 1951, Charles DiPeso excavated the site and reported that he believed that the evidence found on site indicated that O'Conor had located the presidio over the abandoned Sobaipuri Indian village of Quiburi. Other historians and archaeologists support a counter theory that the structures found at the site correspond to the quarters of the soldiers and families of the presidio (Gerald 1968; Seymour 1989). One reason for this later opinion is that the Sobaipuri Indians did not occupy adobe walled structures as their residences. Secondly, the historic record does not place Quiburi in this location. In fact, Santa Cruz is the name of the Sobaipuri settlement located here prior to presidio construction and provided the basis for the name of the presidio (SANTA CRUZ de Terrenate) and ultimately for the Santa Cruz River (Seymour 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014).

More recently, in 2007 through 2010, archaeologist Deni Seymour excavated portions of the site not initially investigated by DiPeso. She also reexamined some of the features and artifacts excavated by DiPeso and obtained chronometric dates on features to settle some of the feature-dating issues. [1] Evidence showed that there was a Sobaipuri site present that predated the presidio but historical documents indicate it was not Quiburi (Seymour 1989, 2011, 2013, 2014). Additionally, Hohokam and Archaic occupations were also in evidence preceding the occupation of the presidio. Evidence of the prehistoric Hohokam occupation consists of sherds scattered on the surface, and eroding out of the adobe walls of the later Spanish presidio. Archaic points and tools are present on the surface, in adobe walls, and in house fills, having eroded from the citadel walls.

Related Research Articles

Tohono Oʼodham Native American people of the Sonoran Desert

The Tohono O'odham are a Native American people of the Sonoran Desert, residing primarily in the U.S. state of Arizona and the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Tohono O'odham means "Desert People". The federally recognized tribe is known as the Tohono O'odham Nation in the United States.

Mission San Xavier del Bac Spanish mission in Arizona

Mission San Xavier del Bac is a historic Spanish Catholic mission located about 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O'odham Nation San Xavier Indian Reservation. The mission was founded in 1692 by Padre Eusebio Kino in the center of a centuries-old settlement of the Sobaipuri O'odham, a branch of the Akimel or River O'odham located along the banks of the Santa Cruz River. The mission was named for Francis Xavier, a Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus in Europe. The original church was built to the north of the present Franciscan church. This northern church or churches served the mission until it was razed during an Apache raid in 1770.

Cochise County, Arizona County in Arizona, United States

Cochise County is located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. The population was 131,346 at the 2010 census. The county seat is Bisbee, while the most populous city is Sierra Vista.

Tubac, Arizona Community in Santa Cruz County, Arizona

Tubac is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 1,191 at the 2010 census. The place name "Tubac" is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name Cuwak, which translates into English as "place of dark water". When first taken into Spanish speech, it was spelled Tubaca. Finally, over time, the latter "a" was dropped. Tubac is situated on the Santa Cruz River.

Tumacacori, Arizona Historic community in Santa Cruz County, Arizona

Tumacacori is an unincorporated community in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States, which abuts the community of Carmen. Together, the communities constitute the Tumacacori-Carmen census-designated place (CDP). The population of the CDP was 393 at the 2010 census.

Hohokam Prehistoric culture in the North American Southwest

Hohokam was a society in the North American Southwest in what is now part of Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. Archeologists recognize Hohokam as a distinct culture, with constituents nominated as Hohokam people.

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument, in Coolidge, Arizona, just northeast of the city of Casa Grande, preserves a group of Hohokam structures dating to the Classic Period.

Eusebio Kino Italian Jesuit missionary

Eusebio Francisco Kino, often referred to as Father Kino, was a Tyrolean Jesuit, missionary, geographer, explorer, cartographer and astronomer born in the Territory of the Bishopric of Trent, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. For the last 24 years of his life he worked in the region then known as the Pimería Alta, modern-day Sonora in Mexico and southern Arizona in the United States. He explored the region and worked with the indigenous Native American population, including primarily the Tohono O'Odham, Sobaipuri and other Upper Piman groups. He proved that the Baja California Peninsula is not an island by leading an overland expedition there. By the time of his death he had established 24 missions and visitas.

Tumacácori National Historical Park United States historic place

Tumacácori National Historical Park is located in the upper Santa Cruz River Valley in Santa Cruz County, southern Arizona. The park consists of 360 acres (1.5 km2) in three separate units. The park protects the ruins of three Spanish mission communities, two of which are National Historic Landmark sites. It also contains the landmark 1937 Tumacácori Museum building, also a National Historic Landmark.

Hohokam Pima National Monument

The Hohokam Pima National Monument is an ancient Hohokam village within the Gila River Indian Community, near present-day Sacaton, Arizona. The monument features the archaeological site Snaketown 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Phoenix, Arizona, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964. The area was further protected by declaring it a national monument in 1972, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert

The Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert are a series of Jesuit Catholic religious outposts established by the Spanish Catholic Jesuits and other orders for religious conversions of the Pima and Tohono O'odham indigenous peoples residing in the Sonoran Desert. An added goal was giving Spain a colonial presence in their frontier territory of the Sonora y Sinaloa Province in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and relocating by Indian Reductions settlements and encomiendas for agricultural, ranching, and mining labor.

Mission San José de Tumacácori

Mission San José de Tumacácori is a historic Spanish mission preserved in its present form by Franciscans in 1828.

Tubac Presidio State Historic Park

Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, located in Tubac, Arizona, USA, preserves the ruins of the Presidio San Ignacio de Tubac and various other buildings, thereby presenting a timeline of human settlement in this Southern Arizona town. The park contains a museum, a number of historic sites, an underground archeology exhibit displaying the excavated foundations of the Tubac Presidio, and a picnic area. Various cultural events are held on-site throughout the year, including Anza Days (October), Los Tubaqueños living history presentations, archeological tours, and nature walks. Until recently, the park was administered by Arizona State Parks and was the first park in the Arizona state park system. As a result of budget cutbacks, the Tubac Presidio was scheduled to be closed in 2010, but was rescued by local residents and the Tubac Historical Society. It is now operated by The Friends of the Presidio and staffed with dedicated volunteers.For even more information about Tubac Presidio State Historic Park, visit their official website or join the discussion on Facebook!

Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi

Mission Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi was founded by Jesuit missionary Fathers Kino and Salvatierra in 1691 as La Misión de San Gabriel de Guevavi, a district headquarters in what is now Arizona, near Tumacácori. Subsequent missionaries called it San Rafael and San Miguel, resulting in the common historical name of Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi.

Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas

Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas, also known as Calabasas, is a Spanish Mission in the Sonoran Desert, located near present-day Tumacacori, Arizona, United States. The Mission was named for the Italian Saint Cajetan.

The Sobaipuri were one of many indigenous groups occupying Sonora and what is now Arizona at the time Europeans first entered the American Southwest. They were a Piman or O'odham group who occupied southern Arizona and northern Sonora in the 15th-19th centuries. They were a subgroup of the O'odham or Pima, surviving members of which include the residents of San Xavier del Bac which is now part of the Tohono O'odham Nation and the Akimel O'odham.

First Battle of Terrenate Spanish-era battle in Southern Arizona

The First Battle of Terrenate on July 7, 1776 was a military engagement during the Spanish period of Arizona. It was fought between Spanish soldiers and Apache warriors, near the Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate in the present day southern Arizona.

Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón Remains of an 18th-century Spanish fort in Tucson, Arizona, United States

Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón was a presidio located within Tucson, Arizona, United States. The original fortress was built by Spanish soldiers during the 18th century and was the founding structure of what became the city of Tucson. After the American arrival in 1846, the original walls were dismantled, with the last section torn down in 1918. A reconstruction of the northeast corner of the fort was completed in 2007 following an archaeological excavation that located the fort's northeast tower.

Mission San Cosme y Damián de Tucsón

Mission San Cosme y Damián de Tucsón, originally known as Mission de San Agustin del Tucson. It was located on the west side of the Santa Cruz River, at the base of Sentinel Peak or "A" Mountain in present-day Tucson, Pima County, Arizona.

Calabasas, Arizona

Calabasas is a former populated place or ghost town, within the Census-designated place of Rio Rico, a suburb of Nogales in Santa Cruz County, Arizona.

References

  1. "Black Canyon Rock Shelter".

Sources

Coordinates: 31°45′03″N110°12′07″W / 31.75083°N 110.20194°W / 31.75083; -110.20194