Missions

For twelve years they then lived, free from all Spanish control, proud in their freedom, yet, doubtless, constantly in dread, even as they were in Zuni and the other pueblos, of the coming of the Spaniards to wreak vengeance. In 1692 came Don Diego de Vargas, re-conqueror the second, and he and his two hundred soldiers gained the speedy submission of Acoma. But as before, it was merely a submission of words, for four years later the sturdy patriots revolted again, and when de Vargas came in anger to storm the rock, they jeered at him from above and defied …

Twelve Years free from Spanish Control Read More »

In 1617 there were eleven churches in New Mexico the ruins of one of which, that of Pecos, can still be seen a few miles above Glorieta on the Santa Fe main line. This pueblo was once the largest in New Mexico but it was deserted in 1840, and now it’s great house, supposed to have been much larger than the many storied houses of Zuni, is entirely in ruins. The pueblo and church rested upon a natural fortress like elevation a few acres in extent, walled on three sides with the adobe wall of the church protecting the fourth …

Churches of New Mexico Read More »

Every Sunday Holy Mass is said at Gibson, N. M., about three miles distant from Gallup. The school-house where Mass is said, is a small building about 50 feet long, divided into two rooms. One is used for the Kindergarten, and the other for divine services. A small but neat little altar, with statues of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Conception, an organ, about a dozen school benches and a home-made confessional comprise the entire church furnishing. As may be imagined, the “church” cannot hold more than about 80 people and then it is taxed to its utmost. Considering …

Missions at the Coal Mines near Gallup Read More »

Written in emblazoned letters on the pages of history of the Catholic Church is the great work done by the early Franciscans in America, particularly in the southwestern part of the present United States. Arriving on the first ships, even with Columbus himself, these humble followers of the Seraphic Saint at once entered upon the difficult task before them with great energy and devotion. Neither lure of adventure nor lust for gold was their incentive, but the one desire to win souls for God, pursuant to Christ’s command: “Going, therefore, teach all nations. In 1539 a Spanish Franciscan, Fray Marcos …

Franciscans in New Mexico and Arizona, 1539 Read More »

Cortez had conquered Mexico; Pizarro was conquered in Peru; Balboa had discovered the South Sea (the Pacific Ocean) and all Spain was aflame with gold lust. Narvaez in great pomp and ceremony, with six hindered soldiers of fortune many of them of good families and high social station, in his five specially built vessels sailed to gain fame, fortune and the fountain of perpetual youth in what we now call Florida. Disaster, destruction, death, I had almost said entire annihilation, followed him and scarce allowed his expedition to land, ere it swallowed him up, so that had it not been …

Order of Friars Minor Explore New Mexico Read More »

In an article written for the Indian Sentinel of 1908, I have dealt at some length with the Navajo Indians in general, and with the condition of the Mission and School for these Indians here at Saint Michael’s, Arizona. This sketch and others which have appeared in various publications no doubt have made a number of the readers of the Franciscan Missions of the Southwest familiar with the work now in progress. When in 1897 the Franciscan Province of Saint John the Baptist of Cincinnati, Ohio, accepted the Mission for the Navajo Indians it undoubtedly realized the extent and difficulty …

Mission for the Navajo Indians Read More »

The new Kingdom of St. Francis in our Southwest comprises at present 56,000 square miles, a territory as large as the State of Illinois. Our 8 parishes number 1200 Americans, living in 13 different towns and settlements; 800 Croatians in 4 mining camps; 11,000 Mexicans, in 64 towns, villages and ranchitos; 3 tribes of Pueblo Indians, living on 9 reservations, in 20 different villages and numbering 6,670 souls; the Jicarilla Apache Indians, numbering 878; and the Navajo Indians, numbering 23,000; a total of 8 parishes, 101 towns and villages and mines and settlements and two large reservations of nomadic Indian …

The New Kingdom of St. Francis Read More »

Beauty and utility crowd each other closely in the Pecos Valley of New Mexico, and Roswell, as the central feature of this remarkable section, is a splendid illustration of the development of the great American desert. It should be remembered that in a state which has a history running back for hundreds of years, the Pecos Valley is comparatively a newly settled section. Fenced off by a range of mountains, it did not attract the attention of the conquistadores, and the cross of the early Fathers was not raised over its peaceful slopes, simply because it was un-peopled save by …

Pecos Valley of New Mexico Read More »