Oral History Interview, Mission San Xavier del Bac, with Bernard Fontana

AZ 397
Transcription of an Oral History with Father Bonaventure, O.F.M., July 20, 1959

Exceprt from a transcription of an oral history with Father Bonaventure conducted by Benard L. Fontana, O.F.M., July 20, 1959.

Collection area: University of Arizona

Collection dates: 1959

About this collection

Verbatim transcript of interview between Father Bonaventure Oblasser, O.F.M., and Bernard L. Fontana. Oblasser relates his experiences as missionary in the area of Mission San Xavier del Bac from 1910 to 1939.

Historical background

Born in Portland, Oregon, on 7 March 1885, Emil Oblasser studied for the Franciscan priesthood (taking the name of Bonaventure) at Mission Santa Barbara from 1901 until 1908. After his ordination on 28 June 1908, his main assignments were:

  1. 1908-1910 St. Elizabeth Parish, Oakland
  2. 1910-1913 St. John's Mission, Komatke, Arizona
  3. 1913-1916 Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson
  4. 1916-1922 Old San Solano, Cababi, Arizona
  5. 1922-1939 New San Solano, Topawa, Arizona
  6. 1939-1941 Mission San Luis Rey, California
  7. 1941-1948 Santa Isabel Indian Mission, California

His missionary work in Arizona resulted in the construction of over a dozen schools and churches on what would become known as the Papago Indian Reservation in southern Arizona. He was a member of the Committee that contributed to the formation of the reservation (1915), and he was a key advisor in both the legal battle against the Hunter Heirs in their claim to Papago Lands (1926) and in the formation of the tribal constitution (1936).

During his tenure, he gathered unique information on the Franciscan influence in Pimeria Alta, and collected censuses and other ethnological data on Indian populations. In the course of his research, he built a collection of books on the region which are now housed in the Oblasser Library at Mission San Xavier.

Father Oblasser celebrated the jubilee of his priesthood in 1958. He died in 1967 and was buried at the Topawa cemetery.

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