 |
| Passed this road side market on the way to the ruins |
set out early Thursday morning to find some breakfast.. which I found a neat little diner that had awesome food… And after breakfast I headed to Tombstone.. and about the time I wound up in Casa Grande, I got off the exit, I saw one of those brown signs that said Casa Grande Ruins 19 miles. after winding down some roads and passing lots of cotton fields.. and a few Dairy farms, that I slowed down to look at.. I was impressed that they could grow crops in the desert.. then we noticed some awesome irrigation system that they had with channels and it looked like they flooded the land.. but, we were sure… so once I found the Casa Grande Ruins I found out this little tid bit “Farmers have grown crops in the Salt and Gila River valleys for over 2000 years. The ancestral Sonoran Desert people grew corn, squash, beans, and cotton by creating a flood irrigation system with over 1000 miles of canals. “
I was like ohhhhhhh cool… so, that’s making use of what you have 🙂 sat through a short movie and looked at all the artifacts they had etc, and had a great time there..
 |
| Casa Grande Ruins |
 |
| Look how big this cactus is.. |
After I looked around there, I headed off to the San Xavier Mission, which was on a reservation in Tucson.
this place was awesome..
The current church dates from the late 1700’s, when Southern Arizona was part of New Spain. In 1783, Franciscan missionary Fr. Juan Bautista Velderrain was able to begin contruction on the present structure usin money borrowed from a Sonoran rancher. He hired an architect, Ignacio Gaona, and a large workforce of O’odham to create the present church.
Following Mexican independence in 1821, San Xavier became part of Mexico. The last resident Franciscan of the 19th Century departed in 1837. With the Gadsden Purchase of 1854, the Mission joined the United States. In 1859 San Xavier became part of the Diocese of Santa Fe. In 1866 Tucson became an incipient diocese and regular services were held at the Mission once again. Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet opened a school at the Mission in 1872. Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity now teach at the school and reside in the convent.
The Franciscans returned to the Mission in 1913.
And after I toured that place… I found the wonders of Indian fry bread… and here in lies the basis of my trip to Arizona… You could have just called me Indian Fry Bread or Chile Relleno while I was there.. that is for sure..
Once I left the Tohono O’odhma reservation.. I was off to Tombstone… YeeHaw baby is about how Tombstone was 🙂
I started off at the Boothill Graveyard..
