Mission Santa María Suamca
Spanish mission in the Sonoran desert
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Santa María Suamca (also Santa María del Pilar, Santa María de los Pimas, Santa María Búgota, Santa Cruz) was a Spanish mission in the Sonoran desert.[1]
History
Jesuit missionary Eusebio Kino founded Suamca in 1706 as a visita of Mission Nuestra Señora de los Dolores. It became an independent mission with the 1732 arrival of Ignacio Xavier Keller[1] At times, Mission San Lázaro and Mission San Luis Bacoancos were administered as visitas of Suamca.[2]
The missionaries abandoned Suamca in favor of Mission Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago de Cocóspera, after an Apache raid on November 19, 1768 destroyed most of the buildings.[1][3] In 1787, Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate was relocated to Suamca, which was subsequently repopulated and called Santa Cruz after the presidio.[1]
Missionaries
Missionaries stationed at Santa María Suamca included:[1]
- Ignacio Xavier Keller (1732–1759)
- José Torres Perea (1741–1743)
- Joaquín Félix Díaz (1733; 1760)
- José Garrucho (1744–1748)
- Miguel de la Vega (1749–1751)
- Juan Nentvig (1753)
- Francisco Hlava (1756)
- Juan Labora (1757)
- Diego Barrera (1760–1767)
- Francisco Roche (1768)