MISSIONS AND MISSILES

Wednesday April 15

Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tumacacari NM and Titan Missile Museum

The restoration architect took our group photo in front of the Mission

A National Historic Landmark, San Xavier Mission was founded as a Spanish Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692 on the centuries old Tohono O’odham Indian Settlement near the Santa Cruz River. The first church was built in 1700 near the site of the current mission.  It was used until 1770 when the Apaches razed it.  Construction of the current church began in 1783 and was completed in 1797.

The oldest intact European structure in Arizona, the church's interior is filled with marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. It is constructed of low-fire clay brick, stone and lime mortor.Little is known about the people who decorated the interior. The sculpture was created in guild workshops and carried by donkey through the Pimeria Alta to its destination at the Mission. In 1783 construction began on the present structure.

In 1978 a group was formed to promote the conservation of Mission San Xavier.  A five year program had an international team of conservators clean and remove over painting.  Then they repaired and painted the sculptured art of the Mission.  This extensive restoration returned the Mission interior to its historic splendor.

San Xavier has an elegant white stucco Moorish inspired exterior, with an ornately decorated entrance. The massive, carved mesquite-wood doors are the originals. The interior is dazzling display of colors of the paintings, carvings, frescoes and statues.  The floor plan of the church resembles the Latin Cross with a main aisle separated from the sanctuary by the transept which has chapels at either end. The dome above the transept is 52 feet (16 m) high, supported by arches. It is considered by many to be the finest example of Spanish mission architecture in the United States.

The Mission was declared a National Historic Landmark 1960.  San Xavier is still actively run by Franciscans and continues to serve the Native community.


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The Titan Missile Museum is the only remaining Titan II site open to the public. On our tour we relived a time when the threat of nuclear war between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union was a reality. The Titan II was capable of launching from its underground silo in 58 seconds and could deliver a nine megaton thermonuclear warhead to its target more than 6300 miles away in less than thirty minutes. For more than twenty years, 54 Titan II missile complexes across the United States stood "on alert" 24 hours a day, seven days a week, heightening the threat of nuclear war or preventing Armageddon, depending upon your point of view.

The underground facilities consist of a three-level launch control center, the eight level silo containing the missile and its related equipment, and the connecting structures of cableways (access tunnels), blast locks, and the access portal and equipment elevator. The complex was built of steel reinforced concrete with walls as much as 8-feet-thick in some areas, and a number of 3-ton blast doors sealed the various areas from the surface and each other.

The top level of the silo permits viewing the silo missile doors.

Frank in the Tube connecting control room to silo

Above Ground

Our guide explained the duties and responsibilities of the “crew” who worked in 12 hour shifts and had to check a multitude of equipment daily.

A demonstration of how the procedure to launch would progress with one of our group “turning the key”

Some of us visited the Tumacacouri National Historic Park.  This park protects the ruins of three Spanish mission communities that were established in 1691 by Jesuits making it the oldest Jesuit mission site in Southern Arizona.  Movie scenes filmed in the park include “Duel in the Sun” and “Young Guns II”

And some of us went shopping in Tubac

And then there was dinner at Tubac Jacks