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Show 11 Catholic Fathers o:£ the Sonora and Santa Fe regions to make overland contact with the newly-extablished missions of San Gabriel and Monterey on the coast of Upper California. The Franciscan friars serving as missionaries to the Indians were the first known members of any civilized race to penetrate the Great Basin. Father Francisco Garces took charge of the Pimerfa Alta, or Upper Frontier, in the spring of I768, setting up headquarters at San Xavior del Bac, nine miles south of Tucson. Typical of many of the early explorers of the Southwest, he was a man of extraordinary character and endurance, and his labors were rewarded by the conversion of thousands of Pima and Yuma Indians. Most significant to this study, however, were bis exploring activities which gave him the distinction of being the first white man to cross over the threshold of the Great Basin. A massive colonization attempt was envisioned by King Charles of Spain on the coast of Upper California as a hedge against Russian encroachment on Spanish-claimed territory in I769. The upshot of this venture was the founding of a mission at San Diego in that year followed by the establishment of Monterey (the real prize) in 1770, and the San Antonio and San Gabriel missions in the following year. Survival of these infant missions depended largely on the ability of the government to supply them with the necessities of colonization until such time as they could attain economic independence. The colonies of Lower California (the Baja Peninsula) were barely holding their own, and the system of shipping supplies from San Bias and other mainland ports proved too hazardous and expensive. It was believed the only reasonable alternative to save the missions from economic despair was an overland supply route from Sonora. In 1771 the indefatigaole padre Francisco Garces singlehandedly attempted |
