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Show 176 BY PATH AND TRAIL. Returning to his mission of Our Lady of Sorrows, he waited for the coming of Father Juan Maria de Salva-tierra, the superior and visitador, or visitor of the Indian missions of Mexico. This was the Father Salvatierra who established the " Pious Fund" for the California Indians, and who afterward opened the mission to the Digger Indians and became known as the Apostle of Lower California. A few days after the arrival of Salvatierra, the two priests set out on a missionary itinerary, visiting and preaching to the tribes of northern Sonora, till they came to Cocaspera, near Nogales, where they separated; Salvatierra returning by Our Lady of Sorrows to Guad alajara. Father Kino tarried for some time at Cocaspera, in structing the Indians, and early in May, 1691, started on his historic desert journey to the Santa Cruz valley, where he preached to the Pimas and founded the pueblo and mission of San Xavier del Bac. To describe the fatigues and hardships of a journey in those days from Nogales to Tucson, to record the varied and very interesting interviews and experiences with the tribes, many of whom had never before seen a white man, to relate the hardships and trials of the great missionary, would put too severe a tax on my read ers, so I hurry on to the Casas Grandes. In 1694 Lieutenant Juan Mateo Mange, nephew of Petriz de Crusate, ex- governor of New Mexico, was com missioned to accompany Father Kino on his visits to the Indian tribes, and on his exploring expeditions, and to report in writing what he saw and learned. Mange joined the great priest at his mission of Our Lady of Sorrows on February 7, 1694; they crossed the Sierra |
