The Missions Were Eight Miles Apart; One Was Named La Purisima
Concepcion; The Other, San Pedro Y San Pablo De Bicuner.
Garces and
Barraneche took charge of the upper mission, and Diaz and Moreno of the
lower.
Garces Is Killed. The missions were a failure from the start. The few
Spanish soldiers sent to guard the padres were obliged to utilize some of
the best lands which were tilled for their own benefit. The appropriations
from the treasury were too small to permit of anything but the rudest and
simplest of structures, and Palma and his friends soon became disgusted
with the whole affair. On July 17 the Indians, many of whom had been
hostile from the first, arose and massacred both colonies of white men, as
well as a small force of soldiers under former Governor Rivera, of
California, who was encamped temporarily on the western side of the river.
At first, Garces' life was spared, but before the day was over he and his
co-laborer were beaten to death, and his unselfish mission on earth ended.
In my book "In and Out of the Old Missions of California", I give this
interesting and tragic history in fuller detail. This, then, is the man
whose name is given to the railway building at Needles, in order that his
heroic labors for the Indians of the Colorado River region may not be
forgotten.
CHAPTER XXVI. Powell's And Other Explorations Of The Grand Canyon
In the chapters on Tovar and Cardenas, Fray Marcos and Garces, I have given
some idea of the history of the Spanish explorations of the Grand Canyon
region.
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