I took the back roads through the desert, past a huge mine in the mountains and across the Indian reservation until I saw the white structure in the small Indian town beside the Interstate.
I'd read it was the oldest extant Euroepean structure in Arizona. The mission had been founded in 1692 by the Jesuits. The current structure dates from the 1790s. Visiting this kind of historical landmark is always something I make a priority of doing, as my friends David and Betty can testify, when I forced them to take me to the old mission that is the oldest structure in San Francisco.
The parking lot was half full with tourists, including a few buses. Before going in I ate lunch by buying an "Arizona fry bread" from one of the Indian women selling them below the makeshift ramadas alongside the parking lot. The fry breads are basically deep fried tortillas wrapped arond beans, cheese, and meat.
The missile museum had been a palace of science and rationality. It had been overwhelming to absorb the beautiful functionality of all its working parts, all from the age of analog electronics. Now I was inside a shrine of faith, although which a fun twist.
San Xavier refers to Francis Xavier, the founder of the Jesuit order, which functioned from its beginnings as the foreign intelligence arm of the Vatican. It is not accident that Georgetown University, the pre-eminent Jesuit institution in the United States, is located amidst the heaviest "spook" area of D.C., and is a CIA factory. It also happens to be located on the highest hill overlooking the Capitol and the White House.
In a way the old mission felt like some kind of bizarro counterpart to the missile museum. As I entered a tour was in progress. I sat in the pews and absorbed the ornate interior. The domelike apse was not unlike the "birdcage" structure that housed the command facility of the missile facility.
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