Presidio San Ignacio de Tubac
Encyclopedia
The Presidio of San Ignacio de Túbac or Fort Tubac was a Spanish
built fortress. The fortification was established by the Spanish Army
in 1753 at the site of present-day Tubac, Arizona
.
housed a garrison
of about fifty cavalry
and or infantry
soldier
s and was intended to protect Spanish settlements and missions in the valley of the Santa Cruz River. In 1766, the garrison had 51 officers and men, and a settlement of forty families had grown up around the post. In 1774, Tubac's commander, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza
, explored a land route from the Santa Cruz Valley to the Presidio of San Diego, California
.
A reorganization of frontier defenses in 1775 resulted in the transfer of the garrison. The force under Lieutenant
Juan Fernandez Carmona was enlarged to fifty-six officers and men and received orders to proceed forty miles north to a site within present-day downtown Tucson, Arizona
. There they constructed the Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
in 1775 under the orders of Captain Hugh O'Conor
. Eventually a new garrison formed in the Tubac presidio, which campaigned against the Apaches for decades until the Mexican War of Independence
.
In 1775 and 1776, de Anza escorted 240 colonists from Horcasitas
, Sonora
, to Monterey, California, and then to San Francisco Bay
, where he selected sites for the mission, presidio and settlement. By the early years of the 19th century, Tubac's garrison continued to protect the area from raids by Apache Indians. In 1804, the post had two officers, two sergeants and eighty-four men. There were also eight families of Spanish settlers and 20 Indian families living within the presidio land allotment of five square miles. The garrison community had 1,000 head of cattle, 5,000 sheep, 600 horses, 200 mules, and 15 burros and 300 goats, and had an annual harvest of 1,000 bushels of wheat and 600 bushels of corn.
captured
it. After the war Tubac was abandoned until Americans traveling for the California Gold Rush
decided to settle there instead.
. At this time Tubac was home to several dozen people and was a company town
for the mining company of Charles D. Poston. The post was manned by a small team of militia and was attacked repeatedly by Apache
s in the eighteenth century. The last attack was the Siege of Tubac
in 1861. American militia and civilians were besieged in the fort until rescued by the Confederate States militia under Captain Granville H. Oury of Fort Tucson. Tubac was abandoned again after the siege but reoccupied by the United States Army during and after the American Civil War
for several years.
The main two original presidio buildings remained intact after the turn to the 20th century and are now tourist attraction
s. The presidio of Tubac was resettled in the 1880s and by the 1886 surrender of Geronimo
, the Apache were no longer a threat to settlers in that part of Arizona. The fort was from that point not of military value in terms of strategic location.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
built fortress. The fortification was established by the Spanish Army
Spanish Army
The Spanish Army is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies - dating back to the 15th century.-Introduction:...
in 1753 at the site of present-day Tubac, Arizona
Tubac, Arizona
Tubac is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 949 at the 2000 census. The place name Tubac is an English borrowing from a Hispanicized form of the O'odham name, which translates into English as "rotten". The original O'odham name is written...
.
Spanish Period
The presidioPresidio
A presidio is a fortified base established by the Spanish in North America between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The fortresses were built to protect against pirates, hostile native Americans and enemy colonists. Other presidios were held by Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth...
housed a garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....
of about fifty cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
and or infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
s and was intended to protect Spanish settlements and missions in the valley of the Santa Cruz River. In 1766, the garrison had 51 officers and men, and a settlement of forty families had grown up around the post. In 1774, Tubac's commander, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza
Juan Bautista de Anza Bezerra Nieto was a Novo-Spanish explorer and Governor of New Mexico for the Spanish Empire.-Early life:...
, explored a land route from the Santa Cruz Valley to the Presidio of San Diego, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
A reorganization of frontier defenses in 1775 resulted in the transfer of the garrison. The force under Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Juan Fernandez Carmona was enlarged to fifty-six officers and men and received orders to proceed forty miles north to a site within present-day downtown Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. There they constructed the Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón or Fort Tucson was a presidio located within Tucson, Arizona. The original fortress was built by Spanish conquistadors during the 18th century and was the founding structure of what became the city of Tucson...
in 1775 under the orders of Captain Hugh O'Conor
Hugo Oconór
-External links:*...
. Eventually a new garrison formed in the Tubac presidio, which campaigned against the Apaches for decades until the Mexican War of Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
.
Horcasitas
Horcasitas is a surname, and may refer to:* Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas, 1st Count of Revillagigedo , Spanish general, governor of Havana, captain general of Cuba, and viceroy of New Spain...
, Sonora
Sonora
Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....
, to Monterey, California, and then to San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
, where he selected sites for the mission, presidio and settlement. By the early years of the 19th century, Tubac's garrison continued to protect the area from raids by Apache Indians. In 1804, the post had two officers, two sergeants and eighty-four men. There were also eight families of Spanish settlers and 20 Indian families living within the presidio land allotment of five square miles. The garrison community had 1,000 head of cattle, 5,000 sheep, 600 horses, 200 mules, and 15 burros and 300 goats, and had an annual harvest of 1,000 bushels of wheat and 600 bushels of corn.
Mexican Period
Following the independence of Mexico from Spain in 1821, the presidio was abandoned and the settlement was in ruins when settlers from the United States reached the Santa Cruz Valley in the late 1840s, no official garrison manned the fortress and it remained abandoned along with the settlement for most of the Mexican period. For a short while in 1846 during the Mexican-American War, Tubac was home to a large company of Mexican troops, over 200 men. The Mexicans had retreated from Fort Tucson just before the American Mormon BattalionMormon Battalion
The Mormon Battalion was the only religiously based unit in United States military history, and it served from July 1846 to July 1847 during the Mexican-American War. The battalion was a volunteer unit of between 534 and 559 Latter-day Saints men led by Mormon company officers, commanded by regular...
captured
Capture of Tucson (1846)
The Capture of Tucson was a United States attack on the Mexican city of Tucson, Sonora, now the present day Tucson, Arizona. The would be combatants were provisional Mexican Army troops and the American Mormon Battalion. Tucson fell in December of 1846 without resistance.-Capture:The...
it. After the war Tubac was abandoned until Americans traveling for the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
decided to settle there instead.
American Period
Tubac officially became an American settlement in 1853 after the Gadsden PurchaseGadsden Purchase
The Gadsden Purchase is a region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time, on December 30, 1853. It was then ratified, with changes, by the U.S...
. At this time Tubac was home to several dozen people and was a company town
Company town
A company town is a town or city in which much or all real estate, buildings , utilities, hospitals, small businesses such as grocery stores and gas stations, and other necessities or luxuries of life within its borders are owned by a single company...
for the mining company of Charles D. Poston. The post was manned by a small team of militia and was attacked repeatedly by Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
s in the eighteenth century. The last attack was the Siege of Tubac
Siege of Tubac
The Siege of Tubac was a siege of the Apache Wars, between settlers and militia of Confederate Arizona and Chiricahua Apaches. The battle took place at Tubac in the present day southern Arizona...
in 1861. American militia and civilians were besieged in the fort until rescued by the Confederate States militia under Captain Granville H. Oury of Fort Tucson. Tubac was abandoned again after the siege but reoccupied by the United States Army during and after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
for several years.
The main two original presidio buildings remained intact after the turn to the 20th century and are now tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
s. The presidio of Tubac was resettled in the 1880s and by the 1886 surrender of Geronimo
Geronimo
Geronimo was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache who fought against Mexico and the United States for their expansion into Apache tribal lands for several decades during the Apache Wars. Allegedly, "Geronimo" was the name given to him during a Mexican incident...
, the Apache were no longer a threat to settlers in that part of Arizona. The fort was from that point not of military value in terms of strategic location.