Saguaros, Petroglyphs, and a Mission

We spent yesterday in Tucson.  We drove through Saguaro National Park with stops to see petroglyphs at the Redemptorist Center and at Signal Hill.

Our next stop was at San Xavier del Bac Mission, founded by Father Kino in 1692.  Father Kino was born in Austria to a family of nobility.  He joined a Jesuit order and was sent to New Spain, today known as Mexico.  He explored and established 24 missions in the area that is modern day Sonora and Baja, Mexico, Arizona, and California.  He spent significant time with Native people.  The original San Xavier del Bac Mission was burned by Apaches in 1770, and the current Mission was built between 1783 and 1797.  We ate fry bread made by the local Tohono O’odham before going inside the Mission.