Place:Oquitoa, Sonora, Mexico

Oquitoa is surrounded by its municipal area in the northwest of the Mexican state of Sonora. It was founded in 1689 by the Jesuit missionary Eusebio Kino.

Neighboring Municipalities

Neighboring municipalities are Atil, Sonora, Mexico to the northeast; Trincheras, Sonora, Mexico to the southeast, and Altar, Sonora, Mexico to the west.^[1]

History

Oquitoa. A former Pima rancheria on Rio del Altar, N. W. Sonora, Mexico, and a visita of the mission of Ati (q. v.) dating from about 1694. Pop. 104 in 1730. It is now a civilized town.^[2]

Of historic importance is the San Antonio Paduano del Oquitoa mission, the only still-used church in the region of Jesuit (pre-1767) construction. Oquitoa is considered by many to be the gem of the Kino missions. Padre Kino first makes mention of San Antonio de Uquetoa on January 19, 1689, when the Father Visitor Manuel Gonzales assigned Father Antonio Arias as its first priest. The church apparently had a facelift by the Franciscans between 1788 and 1797, and was restored in 1920. This simple adobe hall church stands atop a small hill in the midst of the village cemetery.^[3]

Economic Activity

Agriculture covered 901 hectares (2000), most of which were not irrigated. Main crops are alfalfa, beans, corn and the production of fodder for the cattle industry. Cattle raising was carried out by most of the work force (2000).^[4]

References

1. ↑ wikipedia:Oquitoa#Neighboring Municipalities
2. ↑ Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Part 2 of two parts. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. Bureau of American Ethnology, 1910.
3. ↑ wikipedia:Oquitoa#Tourist Sights
4. ↑ wikipedia:Oquitoa#Economic Activity

Geographic Sources

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: GeoNames Geographical Database