Anza Day Mass

Each October the park hosts a commemorative Mass inside the Tumacácori mission church in conjunction with Tubac Presidio State Historic Park’s annual Anza Day celebration.

During the years 1775 and 1776, on the East Coast of what became the United States, a ragtag colonial army was busy declaring Independence from England, the greatest military power in history. It would have been foolhardy to bet against the Brits. Which is why most of the colonists, who considered themselves Englishmen, remained loyal to the King during most of the Revolution.

 

Spain, on the other hand, was busy consolidating its considerable holdings on the same North American Continent two to three thousand miles to the West.

At the direction of the Spanish King, Juan Bautista de Anza gathered 30 Spanish families and a sizable herd of animals at Tumacácori and headed 1200 difficult miles

Northwest where they established the Presidio de San Francisco and Mission San Francisco de Asis. In a few years, the site would become an important Spanish village, a strategic harbor, and eventually, the great City of San Francisco, California.

Photos by Gabby Cook: Park Guide.