Some Early Historic Maps
of the San Pedro region

[Note: this page is under initial construction. The attached sketches are -- obviously -- merely a beginning.]

Sources: University of Arizona Map Collection, Bulletin vol. 23, numbers 2 & 3, 1991; Charles Di Peso, 1953, The Sobaipuri Indians of the Upper San Pedro Valley, Southeastern Arizona, Ph.D Thesis, University of Arizona; Rev. Charles Polzer & Don Bufkin, 1968?, Pimeria Alta of Padre Kino, UA Map Collection G4331.S1.1711.B9; Charles Polzer, 1981, S.J., Eusebio Kino, S.J., Publicacion del Gobierno del Estado de Sonora.

Here is a detail of Fr. Eusebio Francis Kino's map from 1701-2, showing his record of communities encountered during his travels among the "Sobaiporis" of the San Pedro River at the right side of the image. This is an English engraving of the manuscript map, published in 1762 and derived from the first publication, in French, in 1705. The map also shows the Mission San Xavier, and Tucson (by its village name, "S. Augustin"). This is just one of a number of manuscript maps made by Fr. Kino, showing varying lists of village names. Note the labeling of "Casa Grande" on the R. Hila. Note also the indication of a tributary stream entering the San Pedro from the east (later identified as "Arivaipa"), and the community of "Quburi", or Quiburi, which historians and archaeologists have placed near the confluence of the Babocomari River. (Click on the map for a close-up.)

See also Fr. Kino's Visits to the San Pedro River.

The second map, below, was compiled by Nicolas de Fer and published in Paris in 1720. This is one of a number of pirated copies of Fr. Kino's original manuscript maps, and is quite close to Kino's orginals, including lists of village names (though de Fer, a French cartographer, was better valued for his decorations than for his accuracy, and he made mistakes on his maps).

The third map, below, was compiled by Charles Di Peso (1953), basing his list of places on Herbert Bolton's work (and Di Peso's own archaeological studies). This map shows "Quiburi" (Giburi, Cuburi) as located near the later mining town of Fairbanks (and where Di Peso excavated), while "San Salvador de Baicatcan" is placed somewhere between the Redington area and Cascabel:.

The intermediate "shadings" on this image, aside from that shown running along (mostly the West Bank of) the San Pedro River, is due to the staining of the old photocopy image found in Di Peso's Dissertation. Here, below, is a close-up of the Cascabel-to-Arivaipa portion of the map:

 

In 1968, the Rev. Charles Polzer and Don Bufkin published a map entitled Pimeria Alta of Padre Kino, a copy of which may be found in the UA Map Collection (see above), a detail of which shows the San Pedro Village sites as follows:

This map, which corresponds to Father Polzer's later map in his 1981 book, presumably represents his mature views on the locations of these Sobaipuri Villages. In this model, San Salvador del Bai-Cat-Can was located near the Tres Alamos Wash, San Marcos near Cascabel (on the West bank), and Jiaspi near Redington (also on the West Bank). San Eugenio was placed near the present-day intersection of State Hwy 77 with the San Pedro, and La Victorio near the mouth of the Arivaipa Stream.