Mission to Arizona, 1916–1940: Father Augustine Schwarz, O.F.M.

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Photo, Fr. Augustine on location with film Westerners
Annotation

This exhibition presents photographs taken by Father Augustine Schwarz (1887–1946) while he served as a Catholic missionary to American Indians in Arizona. The images, donated by the Schwartz family, depict missionary scenes and workers, church buildings, and other landmarks.

The site focuses on three American Indian groups—Pima, Papago, and Apache Indians—and serves as an accessible portal to Catholic missionary activities among those three groups. Many of the photographs are accompanied with brief descriptions and annotations by Father Schwarz. A brief biography of Father Schwarz is included.

Along with images of Whiteriver Apaches of northern Arizona taken by Father Schwarz's brother, Arnold Schwarz, the entire collection consists of 179 images.

Kate and Sue McBeth, Missionary Teachers to the Nez Perce

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Image, Hal-hal-tlos-tsot or "Lawyer," Gustav Sohon, 1855, Kate and Sue McBeth
Annotation

Presenting full-text letters and diaries, this website focuses on the lives and careers of Kate and Sue McBeth, missionaries and teachers among the Nez Perce Indians during the last quarter of the 19th century. Government documents and images pertaining to the tribe's history accompany these materials. Sue McBeth established a successful theological seminary for Nez Perce men, collected and organized a Nez Perce/English dictionary, and wrote journal articles. Kate McBeth provided literacy education for Nez Perce women, taught Euro-American domestic skills, and directed a Sabbath school and mission society.

Divided into five sections, materials include more than 150 letters, a diary, a journal, five treaties, more than 70 commission and agency reports and legislative actions, excerpts from a history of the Nez Perce, and 19 biographies. Six maps and approximately 100 images, including 13 illustrations depicting the 1855 Walla Walla Treaty negotiations, are also available.

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument [NM]

Description

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument consists of 1,100 acres containing the ruins of four mission churches, located at Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira, in addition to the partially excavated pueblo of Las Humanas, otherwise known as Gran Quivira. Originally inhabited by the American Indian trade communities of Tiwa- and Tompiro-speaking Puebloans, in the early 17th century Spanish Franciscans visited the area and found it ripe for their missionary efforts. As of 1677 the entire Salinas District was depopulated of both Indian and Spaniard alike.

The monument offers museums, three historic sites, and an interpretive trail.

Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park [NV]

Description

The first permanent nonnative settlers in the Las Vegas Valley were a group of Mormon missionaries who built an adobe fort along Las Vegas Creek in 1855. They successfully farmed the area by diverting water from the creek. Today, the park includes a remnant of the original adobe fort, which serves as a Visitor Center with interpretive displays.

The site offers exhibits and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).

Schoenbrunn Village [OH]

Description

The Moravian church founded Schoenbrunn ("beautiful spring") in 1772 as a mission to the Delaware Indians. The settlement grew to include sixty dwellings and more than 300 inhabitants who drew up Ohio's first civil code and built its first Christian church and schoolhouse. Problems associated with the American Revolution prompted Schoenbrunn's closing in 1777. Schoenbrunn's story features a rare meeting of Indian and European cultures and a fascinating perspective on the American Revolution. Today the reconstructed village includes 17 log buildings, gardens, the original mission cemetery, and a museum and visitor center.

The village offers a short film, exhibits, and tours.

Iliniwek Village State Historic Site [MO]

Description

On a high sand terrace above the Des Moines River floodplain in northeast Missouri sets Iliniwek Village State Historic Site, the largest and best preserved remnant known of any Illinois Indian village. This site was occupied from ca. A.D. 1640-1683, when Europeans were just contacting Native Americans in this region. During excavations in the 1990s, the locations of numerous houses, storage pits and even a ditch and palisade fortification were discovered. The Illinois Indians were the first Native Americans that Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette encountered in present-day Missouri in 1673. At that time, the village contained 300 lodges and perhaps 8,000 people. Evidence of early European contact appears in archaeological finds through glass beads, metal objects, and Jesuit trade rings. The historic site interprets the history and daily life of the Illinois Indians and the Jolliet and Marquette expedition of 1673. A short walking trail crosses the site, and the location of an excavated Illinois Indian longhouse is marked to show its size.

The site offers exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Iron Mission State Park Museum [UT]

Description

Iron Mission State Park Museum tells the story of development in Iron County when in the 1850s, Brigham Young sent Mormon missionaries here to mine and process iron. Museum displays include horse-drawn vehicles used from 1850 to 1920 and a collection of pioneer artifacts. An iron industry exhibit features the only known remaining artifact from the original foundry—the town bell. In addition to the permanent collections, changing special exhibits highlight artists from the local region, as well as rarely seen artifacts from the museum's collections. Other items of interest include several historic cabins, a large collection of horse-drawn farm equipment, and a replicated pioneer household. In addition, Iron Mission now manages the historic ruins of Old Iron Town, an iron foundry west of Cedar City that operated in the 1860s—1870s.

The site offers exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Education, Culture, and the Patterns of Frontier Settlement

Description

Kathryn Kish Sklar of SUNY—Binghamton discusses the rising importance of successful schools in antebellum frontier towns and the feminization of the teaching profession that accompanied the new demand for teachers. Sklar also looks at the impact of the Second Great Awakening on the education of female teachers.

To view this clip, select "Education, Culture, and the Patterns of Frontier Settlement" under "Frontier Settlement Video."