The Lost Santa Catalina Mission

The following is the first full account of the forgotten Spanish Mission of Santa Catalina.

The legend of the lost mission is another one of the mysteries hidden in the backdrop of the lost mine legends. This mission has a lot of history and legend of its own.

While some ruins and early mining activities are found in the Santa Catalina Mountains, proving this mission’s existence is more elusive. But, numerous records from the 1700s document its existence.

A Jesuit mission in the Santa Catalinas is one of the main threads in the legends of the Catalinas.

The Lost Mission of the Santa Catalinas legend is rooted in some truth. Historically, there was a missionary outpost named Santa Catalina (or Santa Catarina). [1] It existed for nearly 70 years and then disappeared.

During his first expedition in 1697 into the northern reaches of Pimería Alta, Father Kino named one Indian village as Santa Catalina del Cuytoabagum. [2]

In the late 1690s, the Jesuits established at least four missions and visitas [3] in the Santa Cruz Valley: [4] [5]       

• 1692-present: San Xavier del Bac - Mission [6]
• 1692- before 1767: San Cosmé de Tucson - Visita
• before 1767-1850s: San Agustin de Tucson – Mission
• 1699- before 1767: Santa Catarina del Cuytoabagum-– Visita [7]

In Father Kino’s 1699 account of an exploration into Pimería Alta he took with the Spanish military, he wrote the name of the nearby missionary outpost as “Santa Catalina”– using an l instead of r. [8] Different authors use with the l or the r in their manuscripts. Their use is preserved in each of their accounts.

The original location of Santa Catalina was at least 30 miles west of the Santa Catalina Mountains, near Picacho Peak and about 45 miles northwest of the San Xavier del Bac Mission.

One translation says “La Mision de Santa Catarina, sobre el Santa Cruz” was a rancheria of Santa Catarina de Cuituabagu and its fields at Akohin. [9] Cuituabagu means the “well where people gather mesquite beans.” [10] The village was also called Cuitoakbagum (Kuitoakbagum), [11] Coytoabagum [12] and Cutcia vaaki, [13] depending on the author and time period. [14]

The San Xavier del Bac, south of Tucson, is the only mission that remains standing and active. The location of San Cosmé and San Agustin [15] are documented near downtown Tucson. But the placement of the Santa Catalina has been reported in several areas. At one time, it may have been also located along the Cañada del Oro, according to early Spanish documents.

Although the Santa Catalina mission faded from history, it may have played a part in the legends of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Whether this was the long, lost mission of the legend, it is not fully authenticated. However, the similarity in name– and proximity– is worth consideration.

There are several preserved early Spanish maps with the location of the Santa Catalina visita. But, there are discrepancies exactly where it was located.

During Father Kino’s lifetime, the mission was originally near Picacho Peak. [16] It may have been moved somewhere near the Cañada del Oro after Kino’s death. [17] [18] [19]

The early map drawn by Kino in 1701, places ‘Santa Catalina’ on the west side of the Santa Cruz River, [20] near Picacho Peak Pass (about 40 miles northwest of Tucson). On Kino’s map, the Sobaipuri nation includes the Santa Catalina Mountains. All maps drawn over the next century were based on Kino’s original map. Copies were duplicated in Europe, usually London or France. The French maps used the name St. Catherine or St. Catharina. Kino wrote in his diary the name of the nearby missionary outpost as “Santa Catalina” using an l. [21]

Maps drawn as late as 1757 [22] also place the “S. Catalina” on the west bank of the Santa Cruz River. An Amsterdam drawn map in 1765 also marks ‘S. Catarina’ on the west bank. [23] The map Herbert E. Bolton used in his book on Kino also placed the site on the west riverbank of the Santa Cruz and called it ‘St. Catherine.’ [24]

On a map that covers the period between 1727-1741 about life after Kino’s time, ‘S. Catharina’ is placed on the east side of the river and closer to the Santa Catalina Mountains. This map legend marks the spot with an image of a church, the same icon used for S. Agustin and San Xavier del Bac. [25]

This conflicts with other maps of the era that just copied the original with no modifications. But, the new location is backed up by a document signed by several prominent Jesuits at the time. In the years after Kino’s death, Santa Catharina was described in a document as being “seven (leagues) to the east (of San Agustin mission).” [26] Seven leagues are about 24 miles. [27]

If it was east of the Santa Cruz River, this location points to the Cañada del Oro at the Santa Catalina Mountains, not north to Picacho Peak.

There are no ruins or indication exactly where this mission and nearby village stood when it was located by Picacho Peak. There are ruins near the Cañada del Oro. Those ruins are still shrouded in mystery.