669.  Carlos Robles Ranch House. The painting was made on site during a visit with a party from the Sky Island Alliance.  The land has been converted from cattle ranching to ecotourism and sustainable hunting and features a population of deer. At least one ocelot, and other creatures, have been documented on automated cameras.   (2007). (Copyright William K. Hartmann).

661. Archaeology at Father Eusebio Kino’s Headquarters,  Dolores, Sonora. Kino established his HQ in the 1690s at a now-obscure site overlooking a valley near Magdalena.  He named it Dolores, and the hilltop site is still known by that name, but the hill has been disturbed by later buildings and exact site of Kino’s  mission is uncertain.  In 2006, Mexican archaeologist Jupiter Martinez headed a crew, including occasional Arizona volunteers, to excavate the site, marked by a significant mound.  This view shows the operations, which turned up materials from the right time period.   The cross at the site was erected by the wife of a local rancher to commemorate Kino's mission. (2006). (Copyright William K. Hartmann).

658.  San Xavier Mission, Tucson. The great explorer-priest, Eusebio Kino, working north from his headquarters east of Magdalena, Sonora, founded a mission here in the 1690s.  Today it is called “the white dove of the desert,” and the architecture has been a favorite of visual artists from Ansel Adams onward.  This view was obtained during another paintout of the Tucson Plein Air Painters’ Society.   (2006). (Copyright William K. Hartmann).

636. Painting at Tumacacori National Monument. This hardly counts as “Old Mexico,” as the mission is now in Arizona.  However, Southern Arizona was part of Sonora until acquired by the U.S.A. in 1856, in the Gadsden Purchase.  This view was painted during a paint-out of the Tucson Plein Air Painters’ Society.  (2005). (Copyright William K. Hartmann).

599. Discovering the Colorado River. The Spanish explorer, Alarcón, first identified the Colorado River, and sent small boats upstream, in 1540, a year after another Spaniard had observed a violent outflow at the head of the Gulf of California.  This view was based on views during a short motorboat excursion  from El Golfo, Sonora.  (Mostly 2002, finished 2003). (Copyright William K. Hartmann).

593. Tubatama in the distance. Tubatama is another mission town, not far south of the Arizona border in the Altar Valley.   When selecting this distant view, from a nearby highway, I was struck by how the bright domes of these little towns must have been a welcome sight, rising from the desert scrub to greet riders approaching from a distance (2003). (Copyright William K. Hartmann).

592.   In the Plaza, Caborca, Sonora.   The plaza and old mission, started by Father Kino in the 1690s, has a colorful history.   The  “filibuster” army of William Walker  invaded Caborca in 1854 and tried to annex Sonora into the United States.  (He was aquitted in San Francisco, but later executed in 1860 in Honduras for trying to invade that country.)  The church still has bullet holes from 1857, when  Henry Crabb with another filibuster army of “settlers” marched into Caborca from California.  Crabb and most of his army were captured and executed. (2003). (Copyright William K. Hartmann).

591.   In the Plaza, Magdalena, Sonora. The view shows the mission across the square.  Nearby in the plaza is the tomb of Father Eusebio Kino, who founded the mission in the 1690s.  (2003). (Copyright William K. Hartmann).

578.   The prehistoric walls at Cerro de Trincheras, Sonora. This hill, near Caborca, is the most dramatic example of prehistoric walled hillsides in the Sonoran Desert.  The phenomenon reaches from Sonora into Arizona.  Historic records indicate native people retreated to tops of such hills as defensive positions, but more recent archaeological work indicates that the walls formed terraces used for agriculture.  (2003). (Copyright William K. Hartmann).

036.   The Gulf of California at “Sandy Beach,” northwest of Rocky Point, Sonora. This painting was started on site in 1975 and reworked some years later.  The beach in recent years has been totally transformed into a row of glittering condos, rising as high as eleven stories.  (1975). (Copyright William K. Hartmann).