The Place Was Fired, And Remained A Neglected Ruin, Until
The Scholarship And Labors Of Recent Ethnologists Dug Up Both The Town And
Its Tragic History.
Indians Are Hostile.
Poor Garces! The hostility of the Oraibis was
apparent. They refused to allow him to enter a house, and he was compelled
to camp outside, in a corner formed by a jutting wall, while his guide
sheltered his mule in a sheep corral. He built his little camp fire, cooked
his frugal meal, and slept there during the night, doubtless committing
himself and the people who refused to receive him to the protecting
mercies of God. The next day the chiefs of the town came to him, clothed in
their ceremonial costumes and feathery head-dresses, and bade him leave the
place. He held up his crucifix as an index of his mission, and endeavored
to tell them that he came solely to do them good. But they would have none
of him, and on the following day, the memorable Fourth of July, they
expelled him peaceably but forcibly from their town. He returned to the
Colorado River again on July 25, and soon to San Xavier, his mission, a
failure.
Establishes Missions among the Yumas. Now he threw his whole heart into the
two missions which the authorities had decided to place among the Yumas.
Captain Palma, a Yuma chief, who had been very friendly, had urged it
repeatedly, and now the desires of both were to be fulfilled. In 1779,
Garces went to prepare the way, and the following year the establishment
took place.
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