Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson, AZ 2016

White Dove of the Desert 

One of the oldest missions in Arizona,
Mission San Xavier del Bac, dates from the late 1700's,
when Southern Arizona was part of New Spain.

A National Historic Landmark, San Xavier Mission
was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino
in 1692. Construction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797.

Its is filled with original art including statuary and murals.
We found it to be a pleasant stop but
don't plan on spending an entire day here.

The Tohono O'odham of today is a nation
with a population of more than 24,000 people.
For years, many have known the people as Papago,
but during the 1980s, Papago was officially
changed to the Tohono O'odham,
meaning Desert People in the O'odham language.