God's Country Redux

Our daughter Sarah and her husband, Matt, spent the Christmas holidays with us this past year. Sarah is working on a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in German literature. One of her authors is a German by the name of Karl May. 15-20 years ago we went to Tombstone with one of our German exchange students and our girls and discovered a Karl May exhibit in the Tombstone Courthouse. We knew nothing about him abut the Germans did. Since then the exhibit had been moved to a small shop on a side street. Sarah thought it was probably closed but wanted to check it out. Anyway, we planned an expedition for a week ago yesterday.

The map above shows Gods Country, also know as Southern Arizona. We left Mesa , not shown on the map but about 100 miles north of Tucson, about 0830. Our first sight-seeing stop was San Xavier del Bac, an old Spanish mission just slightly south of Tucson on interstate 19. While visible from the Interstate, one should take the exit and visit the mission. There are three photos of the mission shown below, one an overall view, one of the door handle to the main door, and the third shows the courtyard, located behind the long white wall to the right(east) side of the mission.

From San Xavier we got back on I-19 and drove south to Tubac. Tubac is now an art colony located at the site of the original Spanish garrison or presidio in Arizona, established in 1752. There is one store there that we really like, La Paloma. They have a fine selection of pottery from Mexico, Central and South America as well as clothing and some other arts and crafts. The first photo is an overall view of La Paloma and the second of a parrot that clearly belongs at our house. I just need to figure out a place to put him. We did get a few small pieces of pottery and Sarah got a scarf.

After saying good-bye to my bird we got back on the highway and drove a few miles south to Tumacacori Natioinal Monument. Like San Xavier Tumacacori was started as a mission by Father Kino in the late 17th century. Apache depradations were so bad that it was abandoned in the mid 19th century. The photo below is taken just outside the mission office/museum.

Outside the photo to the right under a ramada a woman was demonstrating tortilla making. She cooked the tortillas on a flat metal grate over an open fire and then put beans on the tortilla and rolled it up. Umm, good! That was lunch.

We then continued south to Nogales, got on highway 82 and headed north-east through Patagonia and Sonoita to Tombstone.

The first photo below is what purports to be the OK Coral, where the gunfight took place. When I worked in Tombstone in the 1950's there was a sign stuck on a post in a vacant lot saying it was the site of the famous gunfight. Now that general area is all fenced with a high solid fence and you can see bleachers above the fence where for a fee you can watch a re-enactment of the gunfight.

The next photo shows Sarah standing outside the Karl May museum, now closed and with nothing inside. Karl May was a German writer, born in 1842 and died in 1912. He was a very prolific writer and wrote a number of novels about the American West, despite the fact that he had never been there. His best known western characters were an American Indian named Winnetou and a white man called "Old Shatterhand". He was a very popular writer. He also wrote other stories about places he had never been such as the orient. Six movies featuring Old Shatterhand and Winnetou were filmed in Yugoslavia between 1963 and 1968. These movies starred Lex Barker, Pierre Brice, Elke Sommer, Herbert Lom as well as others. Karl May finally visited the East coast of the United States in 1908, but never got near the West.

The photo below shows may favorite marker from the Boot Hill Cemetery in Tombstone.

We left Tombstone and drove through St. David and Benson before picking up I-10 and driving to Tucson. In Tucson we stopped at Molina's Midway, the best Mexican restaurant ever. Molina's is located on Belvedere, just north of Speedway. It opened in a small house in 1953, about a year after I moved to Tucson. In the photo below we are eating carne seca gorditas, carne seca chalupas, a carne seca burro and green corn tamales. Wowzer!!!

From Molina's we drove home, arriving about 10 pm. 13 and 1/2 hours and 500 miles from when we left. Nevertheless, a great trip.

Other Southern Arizona blog entries by the Old Cowboy include:

Cutting Horses I have Known 4/27/14
A Little Bit of God's Country 1/13/14
Florence...Arizona, That Is 7/18/13
San Xavier Redux 4/14/12
A Perfect Day 1/7/12
Tumacacori 4/16/11
San Xavier del Bac-"The White Dove of the Desert" 1/22/10

San Xavier Redux

The San Xavier Mission,just south of Tucson, continues to be one of my favorite places to visit and photograph(see blog entries of 1/22/10 San Xavier del Bac--”The White Dove of the Desert” and 1/7/12, A Perfect Day). A couple of days ago the Old White Haired Guy and I drove to San Xavier for a photo shoot. I had wanted to photograph mostly interior details, and had not wanted crowds. The wind was awful, probably about 40 miles per hour, but that didn't matter since we were going to do interior shots anyway. It was after Easter so I figured all the snow birds and other tourists would have headed back to Iowa, Wisconsin, Canada, etc. Wrong! They all went to San Xavier for one last look on their way to wherever. Including tours. We did get a few shots inside and a few detail shots outside before we gave up. Anyway, here are some more of San Xavier.

The shots below were taken from the same point, a hill to the east of the mission where they hold Easter sunrise services. The camera was on a tripod and not moved. They were taken between about 0700 and 0750. The top left is the first one and the bottom right the last. Time wise they go left to right first row, then left to right second row and finally left to right last row.



I managed to get a few interior shots before the hordes arrived but nowhere near what I wanted. Below is a shot from the front of the church looking towards the altar with the side door open. The front door is behind me, closed and locked because of the wind.



This little angel is on a pillar near the front door.



That ended the inside shots. The milling herd came in and made tripod photography impossible. We went outside only to be greeted by 40 mph wind, limiting what we could shoot. It was virtually impossible to mount a telephoto lens and keep it steady, even on a good tripod. We did get a few nice shots, though, by playing with the sun.

The photo below is of where the crossing is and the dome above the altar seen from the west side near the side door.



The next two photos are of the west bell tower, taken from the west side.





The photo below is of the front door. This door is made of mesquite, and as far as I know, is the original. The next photo is of the door handle; the part of the handle that you grasp is a rattlesnake.





We packed up and guess what? Right! Just in time for lunch at Molina's Midway. Carne seca gorditas and green corn tamales! Mahvelous, simply mahvelous!

A Perfect Day

One of our daughters and her husband have been visiting us for Christmas. She expressed an interest in visiting some of her and our favorite haunts in Southern Arizona, also known as God's Country. So a couple of days ago my wife and I, our daughter, The Old White Haired guy and his wife packed up and took a trip. It was a beautiful day, 70's, bright blue sky. Unfortunately our son in law was not feeling well and didn't go with us. We left about 0830 and drove east on US 60 to Florence Junction where we turned south on a state highway to Florence. We continued south from Florence to Oracle Junction and then to Tucson. This road is a nice two lane paved highway, with a lot of desert scenery—mountains, saguaros, ironwood, palo verde and mesquite trees. On I-10 all you see is trucks and road construction. The Florence highway is much pleasanter, but slightly longer in time. Florence is the home of the State prison; Oracle Junction had a restaurant that reputedly sold horse meat back in the day. Anyway, at Tucson we got on I-19 and drove to Nogales.

There is a restaurant in Nogales, Arizona called Zula's. Zula's was founded in 1950 by a Greek family. I remember going there with my Dad in the early 50's. We got there just in time for lunch—clever planning, eh? They serve American, Greek and Mexican food—all good. But their claim to fame is home made apple pie served with a hot cinnamon sauce and, if you desire, a la mode. Which of course we did. After lunch we waddled out to the car and drove to Tumacacori, which is about 18 miles north of Nogales( see blog entry of April 16, 2011).

There is an arched window, no glass, in the museum just before you walk to the mission. I have used that arch as a frame before and wanted another shot through it, this time with blue sky. Imagine my horror when we opened the door to that room and saw a blue scissors lift and a green golf cart in front of the main door of the mission. Plus two workmen.



We milled around the museum for awhile, me casting aspersions on the workmen's ancestry for many generations, until—miracle of miracles—they packed up and left. I got my photo and we walked in and around the mission and the mission garden.



The photo below was taken with a cloudy sky. Which one do you like best?



Our next stop was Tubac, a few miles north of Tumacacori. Tubac was a Spanish/Mexican presidio at one time and has a state park there at the site of the presidio. In recent years it has become an art colony. There is an import store, La Paloma de Tubac, with wonderful pots, etc. from Mexico and other parts of Central and South America. The OWH bought a couple of nice pots for his newly tiled patio; we bought a small sort of jar and a few other things. Great fun.The photo below is of the jar we bought. It is about six inches high.



We then continued north to San Xavier del Bac, a still working mission just south of Tucson( see blog entry of January 22, 2010). The inside was still decorated for Christmas, the day being 5 January and Epiphany being 6 January. I hadn't brought my tripod with me because I was concerned about room in the car re pots, etc and I expected the church to be too crowded. Oh, well. I cranked up the ISO to 2500 and hand held as best I could. I think my Sony a900 responded pretty well. What do you think?
Below are two photos of the main altar area.





This Nativity was in a side chapel.



Side door.



Nave.



I also took a few exterior shots as the sun was sinking towards the horizon.



We headed for Tucson about 445 PM and found our way to the best Mexican restaurant anywhere. Well, at least in Arizona—Molina's Midway, on Belvedere just north of Speedway. I hate to think how long I've been going there but I used to know some of the family that own it. The ones I knew are all gone now, I think. We had carne seca gorditas, chalupas and green corn tamales. For the uninitiated a gordita is a large thick corn meal tortilla. A carne seca gordita has carne seca, lettuce and cheese piled on top. Chalupas are gorditas folded up taco style with whatever as a filling. Absolutely marvelous! Molina's also make green corn tamales, but only when they can get fresh tender white corn. Usually they put a sign up when they have green corns. This day no sign, but I asked anyway. They had green corns! Another miracle! Molina's are the best green corn tamales ever! I don't even bother with them at any other restaurant. We made them ourselves a couple of times—time consuming, mixed results. Molina's—carne seca gordita and green corn tamales—I thought I'd died and passed on to a far better place than I deserved. When we finished eating we came back to earth and drove back to Mesa. Good food, good weather, good sights, shared with great people. A perfect day!

San Xavier del Bac--"The White Dove of the Desert"

San Xavier is an old Spanish mission located a few miles south of Tucson, just off the Nogales highway, on the Tono o'Odham reservation. I'm sure the highway has a number but having grown up in Tucson it's just the Nogales highway. I have been visiting San Xavier ever since I was a wee lad. For me this remains one of the favorite places that I have ever seen.

San Xavier was established in 1699 by Father Eusebio Kino, a Jesuit who established a string of missions in northern Mexico and southern Arizona. The original mission was about two miles north of the current building, and was destroyed by the Apaches in 1770. In 1775 a Presidio was established at Tucson which provided military protection. The current building was constructed by Franciscans with Tono o'Odham labor between 1783 and 1797. It came under the Mexican government in 1822. In 1828 the Mexicans ordered the expulsion of all Spanish born priests, which included the priest at San Xavier. The Tono o'Odham people attempted to keep the building in repair until it came under US jurisdiction in 1853 with the Gadsden Purchase. In 1859 the Archbishop of Santa Fe assumed ecclesiastical jurisdiction, sent a priest and diocesan money for restoration. It has had priests ever since.

Bac means "place where the water flows". Water from the Santa Cruz river bubbles to the surface near here, hence the name. The photo at the top of this blog looks to me like what it may have looked to a weary traveler approaching through the desert from the south, perhaps coming from Nogales or the mission at Tumacacori. This would have been a very dangerous trip. The Apaches forced abandonment of the mission at Tumacacori. The trail was called "From Tucson to Tumacacori to Hell" for good reason.
The mission appeared on the horizon like a white dove to give safety and comfort.



The photo above was taken from a small hill just east of the mission.This was taken about sunrise, before the sun had touched the building. The mission has been undergoing restoration/maintenance. Sometime in the past the white exterior plaster had been replaced with concrete based stucco, which turned out to be bad for the building because it trapped moisture. It is being replaced by mud plaster using the traditional Tono o'Odham recipe which includes cactus pulp. Most of the exterior is now finished except the east bell tower, as you can see by its dirty appearance, and the facade. This tower was never finished off with a cupola. The photo below is taken from the same vantage point about 20 minutes later.



The architect is unknown. The style is Moorish, Byzantine and late Mexican renaissance. The photo below is taken about 45 minutes after sunrise from a more southerly vantage point.



The photos below show restored and unrestored windows, on the west and east bell towers, respectively.





When I first visited San Xavier the interior was very dark and dingy. Two centuries of candles, probably torches for light, heat and time had a major effect on the decorations, statues, paintings etc. In the mid 1990's a major interior restoration effort was undertaken. Artisans were brought from Italy, who had worked on restorations of the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, etc. The restoration is now complete, but about two months of every year they do maintenance/restoration where needed. Below are some photos of the interior.

This photo is just inside the door looking toward the apse and main altar.



This angel is on a pillar at the crossing.




The pastoral painting below is above the arch near the altar.



The choir loft is shown in the photo below.



This angel, painted on the corner of an arch, has the look of a Mexican peasant woman or possibly a Native American. A favorite image of mine.



Main entrance door, made of mesquite wood.