Activate Javascript or update your browser for the full Digital Library experience.
Previous Page
–
Next Page
OCR
398 ALIERICAN CATHOLIC HIS'l‘ORICAL SOCIETY.
in 1864,“ Remarkable as the statement may seem the church
:of San Xavier with its elaborate facades, its domes and spires
would to-day be an ornament to the architecture of the great
metropolis” (New York). Samuel Woodworth Cozzens wrote of
-it in 1874," It would be an ornament to any city in the United
States. It is the most beautiful as well as remarkable speci-
men of Saracenic style of architecture to be found in the
country; nor have I. ever seen a building in such perfect har-
-mony with its proportions as is this. The moment the eye rests
upon it, it experiences a feeling of entire satisfaction, so per-
fect is it in every detail’’. Richard J. Hinton speaks of it as
“a remarkable ornament to find in such a wilderness”. These
words of praise are not extravagant, for even at the present day,
after the gnawing tooth of time has greatly decayed it, and the
pencil and pcnknife of the brainless savage, whom modern so-
ciety turns loose in the guise of traveler and sightseer, has
shamelessly defaced it, one carries away the impression it
makes as that of a beautiful architectural poem of Christian
piety.
Going down to the church from Tucson, one passes over
a tortuous road, and the eye wanders from thicket to thicket,
and from mountain to mountain, until it finally is relieved of
the monotony by falling upon a large structure to the left.
Though quite a distance off this is at once recognized as the
old Indian church. Indian farms now lie to the right and to
the left, and Indian wigwams rise up to view in every direc-
tion. As one approaches nearer an extinct volcano, a few
paces to the southeast of the church, suddenly steals on one's
gaze, and the mind gets lost in a maze of thought started up
by this primitive praise-giver of God, frowning down on man’s
handiwork. To the right one passes a small Indian grave-
yard, with its wooden crosses mutely recounting the victories
of the missionary fathers, and forcibly preaching the brother-
hood of man. The road here wheels around and approaches
the church from the south.
The church is beautifully situated in a kettle valley
among the mountains. All around mountain knobs, like