Father Eusebio Kino (1644–1711)
A relentless missionary, Fr. Kino explored vast expanses of present-day New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico and established more than twenty missions. He was the first European to discover that Baja California was a peninsula rather than an island and, as a skilled cartographer, mapped many previously uncharted regions. Respected by the Pima natives, whose language and culture he understood, he served as an intermediary between the Indians and the often hostile Spanish military.
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