Los Santos Reyes de Cucurpe

Cucurpe began as an Ópata settlement and was located on the upper Río San Miguel. "Father Salvador de la Peña, who was at Cucurpe between about 1750 and 1763, replaced his deteriorating house with one of cut stone with the help of some Indians and 'a poor Spaniard who was nothing more than a bungler of the art of masonry.' Lacking the ability to construct arches, the house was finished with a flat 'Mexican style' roof of fired bricks laid over the vigas and sealed with a three or four-inch layer of mortar. The mortar was leveled and burnished to the point that 'such a roof is incomparable for protecting the buildings even from continuous rains,' cause enough to question the indictment of the local builder as a 'bungler.'" (The Pimería Alta. The Southwestern Mission Research Society)

Following the Jesuit expulsion, Father Antonio de los Reyes was assigned to Cucurpe by the Franciscans. He left in 1771 and was replaced by Baltazar Carrillo. Carrillo left Cucurpe when the mission was transferred to the Province of Jalisco on 10 October 1777.

 

Los Santos Reyes de Cucurpe

Photo by Mike Hopkins