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So You Thought You Knew Something About Tucson, Arizona? (1 of 10: Origins)

Saguaro cacti in the snow. Photo courtesy Wikipedia The presidio (fort) established in 1775 by the Spanish It's the county seat of Pima County in Southern Arizona. Second largest city in Arizona. Great golf. An hour from Mexico.

That's what most people know about Tucson, AZ. There's a whole lot more, and I'd like to introduce you to the city that captivated my Darlin' and me [no, it's not "I"] more than a decade ago.

The Spaniards established a fort (presidio) at Tucson in 1775. Father Eusebio Kino had visited the Santa Cruz valley in 1692, with the purpose of establishing a mission. He accomplished that task in 1700 with the founding of Mission San Xavier del Bac just south (but upstream) of the Tucson Presidio.

San Xavier del Bac, Tucson, AZ courtesy of Wikipedia San Xavier is known locally as "the white dove of the desert." Destroyed in 1770 by the Apache Indians, the original building was rebuilt (with a loan of 7,000 pesos) beginning in 1783. Money went farther in those days. It was completed in 1797.

With Mexican independence in 1821, Tucson became part of Mexico, and stayed that way until 1853. That year, Tucson was purchased from Mexico, along with land west of the Rio Grande and south of Arizona's Gila River. The deal is known as the Gadsen Purchase (for the ambassador to Mexico who put it together.) It was intended to provide a southern route for an east-west railroad connecting the pacific coast with the American south.

Arizona Territory (CSA) Flag The Civil War came along, and Tucson came (willingly) under the secessionist jurisdiction of the Arizona Territory (Confederate States of America.)

As a native South Carolinian, I refer to that war as the "War of Northern Agression." LOL (Oh, you're still reading? Just checking...)

Stay tuned for nine more chapters in the story of today's jewel of the Southwest, Tucson, Arizona. I promise to keep you entertained.

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.

Think of me as your Tucson mortgage expert.

Call me if I can help you with a mortgage to buy your next house:
(520) 349-9090

Presidio photo copyright Mike in Tucson (all rights reserved)
All others courtesy Wikipedia

Posted by Mike Jones on 01/25/2009 10:30 PM

Comments (26)

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tucson, arizona, mike in tucson, san xavier del bac, mexican independence, gadsen purchase, arizona territory csa

Originally posted at: Tucson By Choice!: So You Thought You Knew Something About Tucson, Arizona? (1 of 10: Origins)

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26 Comments on So You Thought You Knew Something About Tucson, Arizona? (1 of 10: Origins)

JAN

Mike - great blog with some wonderful history, thanks for the info and love the pics!

Love it! Anything to do with history and architecture!

Mike, this is great... I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I also had to laugh at the "War of Northern Aggression" line. haha. As a son of the south, I loved it!

Morning Mike, Interesting post! Yes, we have all sorts of battle signs marking signs of the battle of northern aggression here in my area... Many decisive battles were fought in this area...

Your building consultant in Brentwood, TN ~~ Michael

Mike,

Love the photos!

"War of Northern Aggression."

What your people believed in the 10th Amendment?

Or maybe cheep labor?

A lot of good came out that necessary horror!

It was made necessary when we first compromised with evil.

To bad the Bush family never learned that lesson.

Bill

Bill,

I agree that a lot of good came out of the Civil war. I think history will be much kinder to George W than the country is today. Thanks for stopping by.

Michael

Thanks for commenting. I see you read the whole thing.

Jesse,

I thought that line would get a chuckle from some in the crowd; so you're a displaced southerner?!

Liz,

Thanks, kiddo!

Robert,

Thanks for being the first to comment!

Mike in Tucson

Mike, nice post on Tucson! I actually found out I didn't know anything about Tucson. Well, that's not totally true. I knew how to pronounce it in spite of the tricky spelling =) and I knew it's in AZ. But that was all. LOL

Mike a very nice history lesson and some very cool photos to go along with it.

Mike,

I can hardly wait for the other 9 chapters in this study. Thank you sir for the lessons.

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Hope you don't mind if I share a photo here, too. For the folks who are not familiar with San Xavier... the interior of the church is absolutely, utterly amazing....

This is a photo I took a couple years ago.

CJ,

THANK YOU! The restoration is completed, but I haven't been inside for awhile.

Don,

Thanks for the feature!

Bill,

I hope you came back to see Cheryl Johnson's photo.

Maggie,

You'll just have to come visit!

Mike in Tucson

Hi Mike:

Nice post about Tucson. Great Golf....hmmm, I should get them someday!

Or maybe sooner...afterall, it's 27 degrees right now in NJ.

Toula Rosebrock

Mike, that photo was taken in September of 2006, the scaffolding was gone (I think, my memory isn't clear), but I don't know if more work has been done since ... ? I'm afraid that was the last time I was in Tucson. Yikes!

I had a golf trip to Tucson several year back and had a great time. I remember they said it was too cold in early April for rattle snakes we found out they were out just a bit slow.

JAN

Well, Mike, you definitely kept me entertained, but I'm an old softie anyway when it comes to history.

Just for fun, I'll throw this in for you because I think I know that it will make you cringe: "Me and Zoey the Cool Cat enjoyed reading it." LOL

The "War of Northern Aggression"? That's funny, coming from a citizen of the Great Nation of Texas -- LOL.

Mike - Those are amazing photos. Especially San Xavier Mission. I had no idea that Tucson had anything like that!

JAN

Myrl,

Tucson is a unique city.

Russel,

I think I've met Zoey the cool cat on your blog.

Terry,

We have some big rattlesnakes. They've never bothered me.

Cheryl,

It's time for another trip to the Old Pueblo.

Toula,

We moved here from NJ, and except for the grandkids back there, we don't miss it.

Mike in Tucson

Great history trip on Tuscon, I loved the snowy cactus photo.

I personally find it very offensive that you would throw in your own views on "The War of Northern Aggression" -- as you refer to it. The Civil War was and is the most divisive issue our nation ever faced. As a professional in the real estate industry, I personally would like to see this blog site maintained as a professional site, not an opinionated one. Get over your personal issues on your own time.

Mike - Thanks for the history lesson on Tuscon, I love the desert, especially when we have snow and ice here in Tennessee. And since I'm in tennessee, i would like to say that I agree with you on the Northern aggression, it could have been handled diplomatically, but it wasn't. I'll leave it at that.

Larry,

Thanks for commenting! Life's too short to take everything so seriously... :)

Chris,

I've been around for six decades, and I'm sort of set in my ways. Oh, and this is my blog. I don't mind you being very offended, though. You go right ahead. I was raised in the rainforest as a teenager with american indians who settled significant personal differences with machetes, arrows and spears. They didn't talk much about what words offended them. They were too busy living.

What's amazing is that you took my comment seriously. LOL = Laughing Out Loud

Mike in Tucson

JAN

So now you're trying to start a war or what? LOL!! I guess if someone doesn't know you very well they don't understand your sense of humor.

I once read or heard how to remember when to use me or I...

Do you know why only one of the bell towers is completed and the other never will be? No fair looking it up!

Oh, I was wondering how you got a peopleless photo of the mission, until I read the end.

JAN

Doreen,

I don't know about the incomplete bell tower. Now I'll have to look it up... or you can tell us... :)

Mike in Tucson

JAN

The story I read or heard, was that they did not finish the one tower because as long as the building wasn't complete it would not be taxed. I guess they used to tax church buildings at some point in the past. I thought I had actually read that at the mission and that it was supposed to be true of other missions. I see on their site now they say they don't know why it wasn't completed. Now I'm wondering???