| Eusebio Kino |
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Eusebio Francisco Kino S.J. ( August 10 , 1645 – March 15 , 1711 ) was a Catholic priest who became famous in what is now northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States for the methods he used to Christianize the indigenous Native American population. He established over 20 Mission s and Visita s, and was known for his ability to create relationships between indigenous peoples and the religious institutions he represented. Kino was born Eusebio Francesco Chini on August 10, 1645, in Segno , Italy , a small town in the Val di Non in the Province Of Trento . After recuperating from a serious illness, Kino joined the Society Of Jesus in 1665. Although he wanted to go to the Orient, he was ordered to establish a mission on the northern frontier of New Spain (today's northern Sonora and southern Arizona ). Father Kino departed Spain in 1681 with that purpose in mind. He led the Atondo expedition to lower California. After a drought in 1685, Kino was forced back to Mexico City . In addition to his pastoral activies as a missionary, Eusebio Kino also practiced multiple other crafts, and was an expert Astronomer , Mathematician and map-maker, who drew the first accurate maps of Pimería Alta , the Sea Of Cortez and of Baja California . Father Kino enjoyed making model ships out of Wood . His knowledge of maps and ships led him to believe that Mexican Indians could easily access California by Sea , a view that was taken with skepticism by Mexico City missionaries. When Father Kino proposed that a boat be made and pushed across the Sonoran Desert and to the Mexican west coast, a controversy arose, as many of his co-missionares questioned Father Kino's mental abilities. Father Kino arrived in Sonora in 1687 to work with the Pima s, and he quickly established the first Catholic Church in that province. Kino traveled across Northern Mexico and to California and Arizona . Roads were built to connect previously inaccessible areas. His many expeditions on horseback covered over 50,000 square miles (130,000 km&2), during which he mapped an area 200 miles (300 km) long and 250 miles (400 km) wide, and deduced that lower California was a peninsula. Up until Kino's arrival in Sonora, it was believed that Baja California, like Isla De Mujeres , was an Island and not a Peninsula that was actually attached to the North American continent. Father Kino led the first ground expedition to Baja California, proving that the previous assumption about that area was wrong. A fervent believer in the idea that Indians needed better ways of living, Kino was important in the economic growth of Sonora at the time, teaching the Indians the basics of Farm ing and bringing them farm Animal s and Seed s. One fact that is widely known about Kino is that he fought hard for the Sonoran Indians, opposing the Hard Labor in Silver Mines that the Spaniards had imposed on them. This also caused great controversy among his co-missionares, many of whom acted according to the laws imposed by Spain on their new territory. Father Kino was also a Writer , authoring books on Religion , astronomy and maps. He built missions extending from the interior of Sonora 150 miles (240 km) northeast to San Xavier Del Bac , still standing and functioning as a Catholic parish near Tucson . He constructed 19 rancheras, which supplied cattle to new settlements. He was also instrumental in the return of the Jesuits to California in 1697. Father Kino remained among his missions until his death in 1711. He died in the city of Magdalena, Mexico . He has been honored both in Mexico and the United States, with various towns, streets, monuments, and geographic features named after him. ''Portions of this biography are courtesy National Statuary Hall .'' |