The Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate is a former Spanish military presidio, or fortress, located roughly west of the town of Tombstone, Arizona, in the United States of America.

History

The Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate was established on a bluff overlooking the San Pedro River by an Irish-born Spanish Army Colonel, Hugo Oconór (Hugh O'Conor), in 1775, for the

King of Spain , coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg , coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain , image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg , incumbent = Felipe VI , incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...

Charles III. This is one of the best preserved sites from among the chain of similar presidios that extended from Los Adaes, Louisiana, in the east to

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

in the west. Like all frontier presidios in the Viceroyalty of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

, Santa Cruz de Terrenate was garrisoned by soldados de cuera. The presidio was never completed to specifications due to the attacks of the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

, administrative greed, corruption and poor morale. The failure of the presidio was due to numerous problems like the lack of crops, raids on the horse herds, surprise attacks on the mule trains carrying supplies, and the continuous attacks by Apache directly on the fortress. These contributed to the abandonment of the garrison in 1780. In 1878, the presidio was briefly occupied by the United States Army but abandoned later that same year. In 1951, Charles DiPeso excavated the site and reported that he believed that the evidence found on site indicated that O'Conor had located the presidio over the abandoned

Sobaipuri The Sobaipuri were one of many indigenous groups occupying Sonora and what is now Arizona at the time Europeans first entered the American Southwest. They were a Piman or O'odham group who occupied southern Arizona and northern Sonora (the Pimer� ...

Indian village of Quiburi. Other historians and archaeologists support a counter theory that the structures found at the site correspond to the quarters of the soldiers and families of the presidio (Gerald 1968; Seymour 1989). One reason for this later opinion is that the Sobaipuri Indians did not occupy adobe walled structures as their residences. Secondly, the historic record does not place Quiburi in this location. In fact, Santa Cruz is the name of the Sobaipuri settlement located here prior to presidio construction and provided the basis for the name of the presidio (SANTA CRUZ de Terrenate) and ultimately for the Santa Cruz River (Seymour 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014). More recently, in 2007 through 2010, archaeologist Deni Seymour excavated portions of the site not initially investigated by DiPeso. She also reexamined some of the features and artifacts excavated by DiPeso and obtained chronometric dates on features to settle some of the feature-dating issues. Evidence showed that there was a Sobaipuri site present that predated the presidio but historical documents indicate it was not Quiburi (Seymour 1989, 2011, 2013, 2014). Additionally, Hohokam and Archaic occupations were also in evidence preceding the occupation of the presidio. Evidence of the prehistoric

Hohokam Hohokam () was a culture in the North American Southwest in what is now part of Arizona, United States, and Sonora, Mexico. It existed between 300 and 1500 AD, with cultural precursors possibly as early as 300 BC. Archaeologists disagree about ...

occupation consists of sherds scattered on the surface, and eroding out of the adobe walls of the later Spanish presidio. Archaic points and tools are present on the surface, in adobe walls, and in house fills, having eroded from the citadel walls.

References

Sources

* Di Peso, Charles 1953 "The Sobaipuri Indians of the Upper San Pedro River Valley, Southwestern Arizona". Dragoon, AZ: Amerind Foundation Publication No. 6. * Gerald, Rex E. 1968 "Spanish Presidios of the Late Eighteenth Century in Northern New Spain". ''Museum of New Mexico Research Records'', Number 7. Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe. * Seymour, Deni J. 1989 "The Dynamics of Sobaipuri Settlement in the Eastern Pimeria Alta". ''Journal of the Southwest'' 31(2):205–22. * Seymour, Deni J. 2011 "Where the Earth and Sky are Sewn Together: Sobaípuri-O’odham Contexts of Contact and Colonialism". University of Utah Press, SLC. * Seymour, Deni J. 2012 "Santa Cruz River: The Origin of a Place Name". ''Journal of Arizona History'' 53(1):81–88. * Seymour, Deni J. 2013 "San Pablo de Quiburi: The Sobaípuri-O'odham Ranchería of Kino's Conception". ''New Mexico Historical Review''. * Seymour, Deni J. 2014 "Evaluating Di Peso's 1767 Jesuit Mission at Santa Cruz de Terrenate Presidio". ''Journal of the Southwest''. * Seymour, Deni J. 2014 "A Fateful Day in 1698: The Remarkable Sobaípuri O’odham Victory over the Enemies of the Sonoran Province". University of Utah Press, SLC.

External links

*
Santa Cruz de Terrenate Presidio Revisited, 2007–2008 Field Season

{{DEFAULTSORT:Presidio Santa Cruz De Terrenate Archaeological sites in Arizona Buildings and structures in Cochise County, Arizona History of Cochise County, Arizona Santa Cruz San Pedro Valley (Arizona) 1776 establishments in New Spain