Conquistadors and Spanish and Mexican Colonial Periods 1528 - 1848
Explore the military expeditions of the 16th-century Spanish explorers who first ventured into what is now Arizona, setting up presidios and missions.
Other than the indigenous inhabitants who populated what is now Arizona in prehistoric times, the Spanish Conquistadors were the first ‘military’ to explore what is now Arizona in the 16th century. In their quest for gold, they mined and subjugated those with whom they came in contact to do their bidding.
As the Spanish further populated Latin America and moved north through Mexico to present-day Arizona and beyond, they brought their customs, culture, and religion as they developed the southwestern United States. They built presidios such as in Tubac and Tucson. Tucson was a Spanish presidio (fort and settlement) in 1775 before the U.S. Declaration of Independence. They also established missions such as Tumacacori and San Xavier del Bac.
With the independence of Mexico from Spain with the Treaty of Cordoba in August, 1821, Mexico gained control of the territory South of the Gila River. This period lasted until the end of the Mexican American War in 1848.
On June 8, 1854, with the Treaty of Mesilla or the Gadsen Purchase, the United States purchased the territory west of the Rio Grande River and south of the Gila River.
