San Xavier Del Wa:k’s Late-Eighteenth-Century Fortified Village Revealed in Early Imagery and Texts

Abstract

Some of the earliest historical drawings and photographs provide a fragmentary look at a long-gone defensive village occupied by San Xavier del Bac’s O’odham residents. Together these images reveal the character of a village that had been lost to history. Having moved the village south sometime between 1772 and 1780, during the Franciscan period, the new Wa:k O’odham village took on a form that differed substantially from the traditional Sobaipuri O’odham layout and house style that characterized the earlier village to the north. Structures were for the first time constructed of sun-dried adobes and formed rows of rectangular houses positioned in a square in what is now the church plaza. Passersby casually commented on this village, verifying the character and life span of this fortified O’odham village.

Algunos de los primeros dibujos y fotografías históricas proporcionan una vista fragmentaria de un desaparecido pueblo defensivo ocupado por los O'odham de San Xavier del Bac. En conjunto, estas imágenes revelan el carácter de un pueblo que se había perdido a la historia. Habiéndose trasladado el pueblo hacía el sur en algún momento entre 1772 y 1780, durante el período Franciscano, el nuevo pueblo Wa:k O'odham tomó una forma que varió sustancialmente de la disposición tradicional Sobaipuri O'odham y del estilo de la casa que caracterizó el antigüo pueblo al norte. Por primera vez, las estructuras fueron construidas con adobes secados al sol y formaron hileras de casas rectangulares colocadas en un rectángulo en lo que ahora es la plaza de la iglesia. Gente que llegó ha pasar por ahí comentó casualmente sobre este pueblo, verificando el carácter y duración de este fuerte de los O'odham.

KEYWORDS:

• San Xavier del Bac mission
• Wa:k O'odham
• Defensive architecture
• Photographic analysis
• Spanish Colonial

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge the assistance and input provided by a number of people including Greg Adolf, Tony Burrell, David Carter, Klint Ericson, Phillip Halpenny, Mark O’Hare, David Tenario, and Emily Umberger. Thanks to Father Stephen Barnufsky, O.F.M. for allowing us to map the outlines of the fortified village on the ground. Sara A. Guzman of the Arizona State Archives and Public Records, and to others who provided input on references and photographs. Without the support of the Wa:k community and their encouragement of this research, these conclusions would not have been possible.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.