Who was Francisco Garces?

July 19 – Francisco Garces – Order of Friars Minor (OFM)

The Servant of God Francisco Hermenegildo Tomás Garcés, O.F.M., (April 12, 1738 – July 18, 1781) was a Spanish Franciscan friar who served as a missionary and explorer in the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. He explored much of the southwestern region of North America, including present day Sonora and Baja California in Mexico, and the U.S. states of Arizona and (southern) California.

It was he who gave the Colorado River its name.

Garcés travelled to New Spain (Mexico) and served at the Franciscan college of Santa Cruz in Querétaro. In 1768, when the King of Spain expelled the Jesuits from their extensive mission system in northwestern New Spain (within present-day Baja California, northwestern Mexico, and the southwestern United States), Garcés was among the Franciscan replacements. He was assigned to Mission San Xavier del Bac in the Sonoran Desert, near present-day Tucson, Arizona.

Garcés was murdered along with his companion friars during an uprising by the Native American (Yuma) population, and they have been declared martyrs for the faith by the Catholic Church.  Garcés' body was later reinterred at Mission San Pedro y San Pablo del Tubutama. He and the other friars killed at those missions are considered martyrs by the Catholic Church. The cause for his canonization has been officially opened by the Church.

The El Garces Hotel, named in Francisco Garcés' honor, is the historic 1908 Santa Fe Railroad station and Harvey House hotel 'oasis' located in the City of Needles.

Garces National Forest was established by the U.S. Forest Service in southern Arizona on July 1, 1908 with 78,480 acres (317.60 km2) from portions of Baboquivari, Tumacacori and Huachuca National Forests. The name was discontinued in 1911 when it was combined with Coronado National Forest.

There are several landmarks for Francisco Garcés in Bakersfield, California: Garces Memorial High School, the city's Catholic high school; and on Chester Avenue Garces Memorial Circle, with a memorial statue of Garcés.