1776 to 1785

On July, 1776, in another stage of the process of Borbonic Reforms, King Charles III of Spain named Jose de Galvez as his Universal MInister of the Indias. He had been in Sonora during 1769, during an inspection and reorganization visit to the Colonias. Now he would be able to continue his reorganizative work.

Two months before assuming Galvez his post, Teodoro de Croix was named as the first General Commander of the Internal Provinces. The jurisdiction of the Internal Provinces was all of today´s Northern Mexico and South United States.

Croix would arrive at Arizpe, the chosen Capital of the Provinces, until November 13, 1779. By then, the change of the Presidios made by O´Connor, another measure undertaken without realizing what would be it´s consequences, had propiciated an almost daily chain of Apache attacks to all of the settlements locatec along the Santa Cruz river, stealing cattle, killing people, burning houses.

On May, 1777, Anza had returned to Sonora, now as Military Commander of Sonora, and when he saw the precarious situation of Pimeria Alta, he obtained the Viceroy permission to return to their original places the Presidios of Terrenate, Fronteras and Tubac. However, he was named Governor of New Mexico before he coud do anything, and it wasn´t until Croix arrival to Arizpe when this was acted upon. By then, the Apache attacks were even worse.

In 1779, Fathers Francisco Garces and Juan Diaz had started the Colonization of the Yuma river, with the establishment of two missions and the settlement, there, of colonizers from the Santa Cruz valley. However, on July, 1781, these settlements were destroyed by the Indians, and the death of four missionaries and more than 100 colonizers.

When this massaccre happened, it was evident that O´Connor's presidios relocation program had been a colossal error. In May 1780, through today´s Municipio de Nogales passed the Military Governor of the Provincia de Sonora, Jacobo de Ugarte y Loyola, accompanied by the Lieutenant Geronimo de la Rocha from the Royal Corps of Engineers, who came sent by Croix commanding an expedition to look at the situation of the border presidios.

His recommendation was that the San Bernardino presidio should return to Fronteras, as well as move the Santa Cruz Gaybanipitea presidio. Besides this, instead of reestablishing the Tubac presidio, they recommended a new one, San Rafael de Buenavista they named it, to be located in a mesa situated aproximately 1 Km. Southeast of today´s houses of the Buenavista Ranch. It would protect Tubac, Tumacacori and Calabazas, as well as allowing the repopulation of Sonoita, Guevavi, Soamca and the Santa Cruz Valley.

However, this new presidio would never be built, although the Governor formed a Compañia Volante de Pimas (a moving body of indian soldiers), established at San Ignacio, which in 1787 would be moved to Tubac.

In 1784 the First Bishop of Sonora arrived at Alamos, Fray Antonio de los Reyes, a franciscan who before that had been a missionary at Cucurpe. The establishment of the Bishopry of Sonora was the result of another of the Borbonic Reforms.

On October 1, 1786, a group of Apaches appeared at Calabazas, saying that they came in peace, and looking at the lands nearby to determine which one they would choose to settle. As a little earlier another group had appeared at Bacoachi with the same petition, the Calabazas vecinos believed them. However, as soon as they could, they attacked the settlers, killing two Pimas, and escaped with a sizable booty. Captain Pablo Romero, Commander at Tucson, went after them with his 54 soldiers, finding them Southwest of today´s Nogales at the Arizona Sierra, killing four Apaches and recuperated the robbery.

In spite of this triumph, soon afterward the few families that still lived at Calabazas abandoned the place, and moved to Tumacacori, and so this mission was left without visitas and more aislated than ever.