Eusebio Kino Establishes Missions in Pimería Alta

In the second half of the 17th century, the Spanish Empire began widespread exploration of present-day Arizona, with Eusebio Kino establishing over twenty missions in the Pimería Alta to introduce Christianity to local O'odham populations.

People involved

• Eusebio Kino

When this happened

Eusebio Kino Establishes Missions in Pimería Alta occurred in second half of the 17th century, during the colonial period period of American history. The event spanned from 1650 to 1700.

Where this happened

Eusebio Kino Establishes Missions in Pimería Alta took place in Arizona. Explore the full history of Arizona and primary source records from this era.

European colonization of North America accelerated after 1600, with England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands establishing competing settlements along the Atlantic coast, the St. Lawrence River, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Mississippi Valley. The first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia (1607) struggled with starvation and conflict; the Plymouth colony (1620) and the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630) followed. By the mid-1700s, thirteen English colonies stretched along the Atlantic seaboard, governed through a mix of royal charters, proprietary grants, and elected assemblies. The colonial economy depended on tobacco in Virginia and Maryland, rice and indigo in the Carolinas, and maritime trade in New England — all increasingly reliant on enslaved African labor after 1619. Conflict with Indigenous peoples over land was continuous, punctuated by major wars including King Philip's War (1675–1676) in New England and the Yamasee War (1715–1717) in the South. The French and Indian War (1754–1763), part of the global Seven Years' War, ended French power in North America and left Britain deeply in debt — triggering the taxation disputes that would lead to revolution.

Content adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Source: Wikipedia: Spanish and Mexican colonization.