October is National Hispanic Heritage Month and The National Park Service has included 13 Arizona sites on its list of landmarks that reflect American Latino and Hispanic heritage. Read on to learn more about each site and the cultural and historical significance they hold in Arizona.
Awatovi Ruins
The Awatovi pueblo was the first of the Hopi settlements that the Spanish came across in Arizona in 1540. After the Spanish returned years later to establish a mission, neighboring Hopi who were upset about the pueblo’s acceptance of Christianity destroyed Awatovi in 1701. Today, visitors can view the Awatovi Ruins located in Keams Canyon on the HopiReservation in northeastern Arizona.
Canyon de Chelly National Monument
Located on Navajo Trust Land in Chinle, Ariz., Canyon de Chelly National Monument is one of the longest continuously inhabited landscapes in North America where people have been dwelling for nearly 5,000 years. The National Monument preserves the remains and cultural resources of various Native American groups who lived within the canyon’s rocky sandstone walls, including cliff dwellings and images engraved on the walls, where visitors can learn about the interaction between the Navajo people and the Spanish, as well as the site’s impact on the region’s people and culture.
Coronado National Memorial
Located at 4101 E. Montezuma Canyon Road in Hereford, Ariz., Coronado National Memorial honors Spanish explorer Francisco Vazquez de Coronado’s expedition to find “seven golden cities,” which instead led him to small villages inhabited by Pueblo Indians in Arizona’s Montezuma Canyon. Here, visitors can learn about the influence Coronado and his men had on the development of the unique Hispanic and Native American culture present today, as well as enjoy a visitor center with a picnic area and guided maps to the Nature Trail, Cave Trail and Montezuma Pass.
Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site
The Hubbell Trading Post on the Navajo Reservation in Ganado, Ariz. is one of the oldest operating trading posts in the American Southwest, which opened its doors in the late 1800s. The trading post was owned by the Hubbel family for nearly 90 years as a place for Native Americans, Spanish and Anglo-Americans to trade for mutual benefit. It is still operated today under the Western Parks Association as a trading post and offers many educational opportunities, as well as Native American crafts and art available for purchase.
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail follows the path of Spanish commander Juan Bautista de Anza ll who led a colonizing mission from Mexico to Upper California in 1775–1776. The trail begins in Nogales, Arizona where the Anza Trailhead Room showcases an exhibit on the expedition on the second floor of the 1904 Nogales Courthouse. The trail passes through different Arizona landmarks, including the Saguaro National Park, where visitors can experience the wild nature of the desert similar to how it was at the time of the expedition.
Mission los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi
Located in the Tumacácori National Historical Park in southern Arizona, the Mission los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi is the site of the only known extant Jesuit-built Spanish colonial church in the U. S. and the only standing mission church that can provide information about Jesuit missionary life. Visitors can make reservations to visit Mission los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi during winter months.
Old Spanish National Historic Trail
The Old Spanish National Historic Trail formed as trade began to flourish between the eastern and western U. S. and traders, explorers and settlers tried to find ways to connect Santa Fe, New Mexico with Los Angeles, Calif. The path had many routes that crossed through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Southern California.
San Bernardino Ranch
The San Bernardino Ranch complex is the site of two historic cattle ranches located in Douglas, Ariz. Founded by American rancher and sheriff John H. Slaughter in the 1880s, the successful cattle ranches saw the end of the Apache era, the New Mexico statehood in 1912 and the Mexican Revolution. Today, the ranch compound includes a museum where visitors can look inside the Slaughter family’s adobe ranch house, which is decorated and furnished to look similar to when they lived in it.
San Cayetano de Calabazas
San Cayetano de Calabazas is a National Historical Landmark within Tumacácori National Historical Park and a significant site of adobe ruins from when Spanish settlers near the Santa Cruz River introduced their culture to the Pima. The site was later occupied by acculturated Pima, Mexicans, Americans and Mexican-Americans. Today, the landmark features two remaining adobe buildings, including the original Spanish visita chapel and a long rowhouse.
San Xavier del Bac Mission
The San Xavier del Bac Mission was founded in 1700 by Father Eusebio Kino, a Jesuit explorer who worked to spread Christianity in New Spain. The mission was completed by the Franciscans in 1797 and still stands today in the San Xavier Reservation of the Tohono O’odham nation in Pima County, Ariz. The church still holds regular masses for the San Xavier community and is open to visitors daily, except during special services.
Sierra Bonita Ranch
Founded by New England native Colonel Henry Clay Hooker in 1872, Sierra Bonita Ranch was the first permanent cattle ranch in Arizona territory after the state became a U.S. possession following the Mexican-American War in 1848. Today, the Sierra Bonita Ranch remains a working cattle ranch and Hooker’s descendants still live in the family adobe house.
Tumacácori National Historical Park
Located in Southern Arizona, Tumacácori National Historical Park is home to the ruins of three missions built during the Spanish colonial era. The first two, Los Santos Ángeles de Guevavi and San José de Tumacácori, are among the 24 missions founded by Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino in the Spanish region “Pimería Álta,” while the third, San Cayetano de Calabazas, was founded later by Jesuit father Francisco Paue. Visitors can learn more about the missions at the visitor center, which offers a museum, bookstore and guided tours.
Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area
Yuma Crossing was an important transportation and communication gateway between New Spain and upper California during the Spanish colonial period and between the American Southwest and California. This National Heritage Area offers insight into the three major cultural groups—Native American, Hispanic and Anglo-American—that passed by here.
