San Francisco de Átil

The Jesuit missionaries referred to the mission as ‘Los Siete Príncipes del Atil,’ or the Seven Archangels.  Its patronage changed to St. Francis of Assisi when the Franciscans arrived following the Jesuit expulsion of 1767.  It was made a cabecera with a visita at Oquitoa.  In 1730 there were reports that construction of the church had begun, although initial construction had started under Jesuit Fr. Sedelmayer when Atil was visita of Tubutama.  Fr. Sedelmayer had brought 200 O’Odham from the coast to work on the building project.  Finally, Átil was the home base of Jesuit Fr. Ignaz Pfefferkorn (1756-1761), one of the more literary Jesuits in the Pimería Alta and author of Sonora: A Description of the Province.