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Chihuahua’s Colonial Missions 
An Invaluable Patrimony
Karla Muñoz Alcocer*
W
hen people talk about Mexico’s
colonial, artistic and cultural patri-
mony, states like Puebla, Que ré ta o,
Michoacán, Jalisco or, more to the north, Za -
catecas, usually come to mind. You could men-
tion all the states of the republic and the last
name might very well be Chihuahua since it
has always been classified as poor in historical
patrimony. This does not take into account,
however, the fact that the colonial legacy there
was formed under less favorable circumstances:
a vast stretch of desert to the north; broad cen-
tral plains bordered diagonally on the south-
west by the Western Sierra Madre, known as
the Tarahumara Mountains, that take time and
patience to reach; an extreme climate with tem -
peratures from sub-zero to 46 degrees Centi -
grade; and little water. It was far from the
capital of New Spain, far from artistic centers
and skilled workmen; this meant that master
sculptors, painters and architects living in the
beautiful, creative cities of CentralMexico hesitat -
ed to exchange their comforts for cold, sober
* Coordinator of the Smithsonian Center for
Materials Research and Education project “Ima gi -
nería de las Californias” (Scul p ture of the Cali for -
nias) and director of the Chi hua hua Colonial
Missions Civic Association.
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towns where just getting food took twice the
ef fort. These factors, among others,make the Chi -
 huahua colonial legacy in valuable and incom-
parable.
During colonial times, Franciscan, Jesuit, Do -
minican and diocesan priests were sent to the
North (what is now the U.S. Southwest and
northern Mexico) to spread the Gospel to the
local population by building churches and creat-
ing societies around them. This was a way to
expand Spanish domination, which was devel-
oping as mines and lands conducive to these set-
tlements were discovered. This system of con-
quest —to call it that— was the mission.
Although the founding ordinances were the
same throughout New Spain, differences in the
settlement and the development of trades are
noteworthy, depending on the order the mission-
aries belonged to and the specific characteristics
of the ethnic group converted. For example, To -
más de Guadalajara and José Tardá wrote in
their 1675 report about how difficult it was for
the Raramuri, or Tarahumara, to congregate in
towns: “We tried to limit them to one site and a
church, although they are disseminated along
seven or eight leagues.”1 This description con-
tinues to be valid 300 years later. The missions
were organized into what were called partidos, or
districts, each with a cabecera, or main church,
and between three and five visitas, or dependent
churches.
Chihuahua’s mission system began to be
built after the discovery of two mines: the Santa
Bárbara Mine, found in 1567 in the south-
western part of the state, from where a few
decades later Juan de Oñate would leave to
found New Mexico; and the Chínipas Mine,
whose main vein was discovered in 1589 by
explorers crossing the Sinaloa mountains as
they left Culiacán. The first missions were
established by the followers of Saint Francis of
Assisi in the Santa Bárbara region; they creat-
ed important settlements of colonists in the
San Bartolomé Valley (or Allende Valley) and
San José del Parral. The Franciscans founded
missions on the plains and inland all along the
royal highway that led to Santa Fe; the Company
of Jesus built others on the Western Sierra Madre,
Chihuahua’s mission system began 
to be built after the discovery of two mines: 
the Santa Bárbara and the Chínipas. 
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Baroque altarpiece dedicated to Saint Rosa de
Lima, Cusihuiriachi Church.
Immaculate conception, Five Lords Saints of Cusarare
Mission.
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divided into three regions: the Lower or Old Ta -
ra humara, the High or New Tarahumara and
Chínipas, which was actually part of the Sinaloa
and Sonora Province. The first Jesuit settlement
in San Pablo de Tepehuanes (Balleza) dates from
1607. Although innumerable Tarahumara, Te -
pehuan, Pima and Guarojío rebellions destroyed
the fruits of their labor, sometimes postponing
the establishment of missions for between 10
and 20 years after they arrived to a site, it can be
said that, starting with San Pablo, they set up
missions and contacts throughout the mountain
foothills, all the way to the well-known Babícora
and later into the interior. Other “black-robed
ones” came through the Sonora mountains to work
in the Chínipas region.
Over a period of 160 years, the Je suits found-
ed more than 100 missions throughout this re -
gion, until they were expelled in 1767 after
becoming a veritable threat for the Spanish
Crown’s economy and organization given their
effective self-sufficient system and the fact that
they obeyed only the Pope and not the king.
Most of their missions were taken over by the
Fran ciscans from the College of Gua da lupe in
Zacatecas or the Texas missions, and others were
secularized by the archbishop of Durango.
Even with all the difficulties that this region
caused the missionaries, 168 missions were
eventually founded in what is today Chi hua -
hua, the largest number in a single state, be it in
Mexico or what is now the United States. Many
of these missions are now county seats; others
remained small towns and hamlets inhabited
by indigenous or mestizos, and, in some cases,
both together sharing a single church. The mi s -
sion continues to be the main meeting place
where religious and social traditions are upheld,
such as during Easter Week, when the matachi -
nes dance or when the sirime, or governor, calls
the people together, or like on Sunday when,
even without a priest, the mestizos or Tara hu -
maras go in and out of the church, congregating
finally in the atrium. This means that the mis-
sions not only have historic and artistic impor-
tance, but are also a living cultural patrimony.
Their architecture is appropriate to the cli-
mate and the materials available in the region;
for example, on the plains and in the foothills,
the constructions are made of adobe; in the
mountains, they are made of stone with roofs
covered in shingles or carved out, canoe-shaped
tree trunks, now replaced by metal sheeting; and
in the canyons, it is common to find walls and
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Immaculate conception, Nonoava
Mission.
Easter Week at the Our Lady Pilar de Norogachi Mission.
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vaults made of fired brick because of the abun-
dance of red clay. In the missions built near mines,
or those that were designated district headquar-
ters, the construction system is more complex,
with richly decorated walls, altar pieces, sculp-
tures and paintings. However, all of them have
works that have been done by either skilled,
guild artisans or workmen that can be classified
in different categories according to their visual
characteristics and the techniques used in their
manufacture: from those that imitate Spanish
art to the simplest work for which the artist’s
only aim was the creation of an image to worship
and not its aesthetic quality.
Unfortunately, for many decades the missions
were plagued by a dearth of security measures,
which fostered pilfering, the lack of awa reness of
the value of the historic, cultural and ar tistic pat-
rimony, and insufficient communication among
government institutions, priests and com mu ni -
ties. All of this caused inappropriate action to be
taken, even if with the best intentions. For this
reason, in January 2001, Chi hua hua business-
men created the Chihuahua Co lo nial Missions
Civic Association to further an inte gral project
called “A Mission for Chi hua hua: Its Colonial
Missions” with the ongoing, active collaboration
of the state government, the National Institute of
Anthropology and History, the Ca tholic Church,
local communities, educational institutions and
national and international associations such as
the Smithsonian Institution and the Mexico-
North Research and Edu ca tion Network.
The project’s objective is to create security,
promote research and disseminate information
about the missions, as well as to restore and pre-
serve both the buildings and other patrimony of
these colonial churches. The main interest is to
give the communities the tools and know-how
they need through practical workshops. The idea
is to reclaim traditional building techniques, teach
an appreciation and respect for this patrimony
and offer a new economic alternative by foster-
ing rural tourism routes.
Part of the integral project is made up of two
specific research and conservation projects. The
first is “Ima ginería de Las Californias” (Sculp -
tu re of the Californias), sponsored by the
Smith sonian Center for Materials Research and
Edu cation; its aim is to determine the origin of
the colonial sculptures found in the missions
of the U.S. Southwest and northern Mex ico
through chemical and technical analysis of the
materials they are made of, to establish the sim-
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Five Lords Saints of Cusarare Mission, Guachochi.
106
ilarities and differences with the visual classi-
fication done of the sculptures in Chi huahua.
This study will contribute valuable information
about anonymous viceregal sculpture and ar -
tistic techniques in the colonial period, as well
as significant data about the dev elopment of
the mission system in this entire region. 
The second project is “A Mission for Chi hua -
hua: The Santa María de Cuevas Mission.” Two
hours away from the city of Chihuahua, this mis-
sion has a beautiful, multicolored ton gue and
groove ceiling dating from 1700; unique in nor th -
ern Mexico, it has eight Marian symbols in the
center surrounded by a wealth of mirror-like
sprays of flowers, as well as a figurative mural.
Thanks to a grant from the J. Paul Getty Foun -
da tion, a year from now another study will be
carried out to determine the painting’s state of
conservation and analyze the materials it is made
of as well as ar chaeological samples to establish
restoration criteria and processes. This project
also received a grant for preventive work from
Mexico’s National Council of the Arts Fund for
the Res toration of Monuments and Art Works.
The establishment of Chihuahua’s mission
system took great effort on the part of mission-
aries and indigenous peoples of the region;
undoubtedly, the same effort will be required
to preserve it. For this to happen, we all need
to be aware that our cultural patrimony is not
only a testimony of the past, but also a factor
for present and future development.
NOTE
1 Luis González Rodríguez, Tarahumara. La sierra y el hom-
bre (Chihuahua, Chihuahua: Edi torial Camino, 1994).
FURTHER READING
González Rodríguez, Luis, Tarahumara. La sierra y el hom-
bre (Chihuahua: Editorial Cami no, 1994).
Suárez, Wendy, Conservemos las Misiones de la Sierra
Tarahumara (thesis, Instituto Supe rior de Arquitectura
y Diseño de Chihua hua, A.C., 1999).
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Mission of the Angel Custodian Saint of Sateva Batoplas.