Places

This map is interactive! Click on the mission or presidio icon to learn more about that location.

NPS / Harper's Ferry Center

 

Cabeceras and Visitas

A single missionary would be in charge of a small cluster of communities.

• The "cabecera" is the priest's headquarters and residence.
• The "visitas" are the outlying mission sites that receive "visits" on occasion. 

 

What is the Pimería Alta?

When the Spanish first arrived in this area, they called the O'odham people the "Pima." This area of present-day southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico, became known by the Jesuit order of Catholic missionaries as the Pimería Alta, which means "place of the upper Pimas" in English.

The lush river valleys of the Pimería Alta, already well-established with a string of successful O'odham communities, presented an appealing locale for expanding the Spanish empire.

It was built on three main pillars:

• Missions

• Presidios

• Settlements

 

How Arizona Got Its Name

It all has to do with silver, acorns, and the Basque language. Learn more about Arizona and the "planchas de plata"!