Spanish Arrival
Arizona Geography
GCU 221
Game Plan
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Columbus arrives in 1492
1528 Cabeza De Vaca survivors
Coronado goes looking for gold
Kino pushes Spanish control over most of
southern Arizona (Pimería Alta) with Missions
supported by surrounding ranches
• Presidios established to support large ranches
and silver mines: Tubac and Tucson
• Revolts and Apache raiding weaken Spanish,
and ousted with Mexican Independence
Columbus arrives in 1492…
why from Spain?
Columbus arrives in 1492…
why from Spain?
Columbus arrives in 1492…
why from Spain?
Cabeza de Vaca and Gold Cities
1 of 3 survivors out of 600; expedition from 1528 to 1537.
Talked of Cibola, the seven cities of gold.
Followed by Hernando De Soto
1539 to 1542
Coronado goes looking for gold…
1540-1542
Coronado Expedition
1540-1542 (In the Cortez tradition)
Kino Arrives in Arizona
1687 (a long way from 1492)
• Extensive travels
• Set up missions to convert
native people to Christianity
• Built nearby ranches to run
cattle and horses, support
missions
• Raids by Apaches leads to
the construction of presidios
Kino Travels
Explored 50,000
square miles of the
southwest
Kino Missions
Mission San Xavier del Bac (1 of 20), built in 1700 near
Tucson current version oldest Spanish building in
Arizona that was rebuilt in 1797.
Kino Ranches
Spanish bring cattle and horses to Arizona, very
successful. Resources support missions and
keep native people from dispersing, supposed to
prevent revolts.
Tubac Presidio
Apache raids and native unrest lead to the
construction of Spanish military forts in Arizona, to
protect the missions and surrounding ranches.
Spanish Arizona
Frontier country, where most people live a basic
subsistence living. Native people periodically
revolt the yolk of the Spanish, and everybody
terrified of the constant Apache raids.
Spanish Silver Mining
Spanish mined silver in southern Arizona in the
1770s in Quijotoa, Aribac, and Arivaca.
Pulled 300 tons of silver a year out of the new world,
doubling or tripling the world’s precious metals.
Biggest silver mine in the world
Potisi at 13,000 feet in the Andes
25% to 50% of
silver out of the
new world was
shipped to China.
Used to trade for
silk, spices, ivory,
jade, and jewels.
China needed a
currency they could
control.
Biggest cities in the south begin to
move to the north.
Tenochtitlan, Aztec Empire
Cuzco, Incan Empire
Things to know:
• Cabeza de Vaca stumble across Arizona, talk of
gold
• Cornado goes looking for gold, doesn’t find
anything
• Kino arrives in southern Arizona, sets up
missions, ranches, and eventually presidios
• Silver mining adds to Arizona’s worth
• Spanish struggle with Apache and civil unrest
Help: Ask Dr. Douglass