San Xavier Mission 5-2024

This mission is on the San Xavier Indian Reservation about 10 miles south of Tucson...I arrived late afternoon to get a sunset look...this time of day the mission is closed and there were few visitors...it seems to be a popular place for people to walk their dog and climb a small mountain nearby before sunset...when I arrived there were a couple of landscape painters trying to finish before it got dark and several vehicles with out of state plates stopped for a quick photo...A series of missions were built along a trade route in southern Arizona dating back to the late 1600's as the Spanish pushed into the territory looking for treasure and converts...the buildings were constructed from mud bricks(adobe), rocks and wood...erosion, fire and time are the enemies of these old buildings...Wikipedia is a good source to learn the complicated history of this area.