Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas
Ruins of the mission compound and church at Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas.
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| Location | near Nogales, Arizona |
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| Name as founded | La Misión de San Cayetano de Calabazas |
| English translation | The Mission of Saint Cajetan of the Gourds |
| Patron | Saint Cajetan |
| Founding date | 1756 |
| Founding priest(s) | Father Francisco Xavier Pauer |
| Built | 1756 |
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Native tribe(s) Spanish name(s) |
Pima |
| Governing body | Private |
| Current use | Historical Monument |
| Designated | June 3, 1971 |
| Reference no. | 71000118 |
| Designated | December 14, 1990 |
Coordinates: 31°34′05″N 111°03′02″W / 31.5681465°N 111.0506458°W
Mission San Cayetano de Calabazas, also known as Calabasas, is a Spanish Mission in the Sonoran Desert, located near present-day near Tumacácori, Arizona.
It was founded by Spanish Jesuit missionary Father Francisco Xavier Pauer in 1756. He took at least seventy-eight Pima Indians to the site from their village of Toacuquita. The original San Cayetano mission was at Tumacacori and was founded by Father Eusebio Kino in 1691 on Kino's first major exploration trip into the Pimeria Alta. The mission church, houses and the granary were set ablaze during an Apache attack in 1777. The Mission was abandoned in 1786 due to continuing problems with the indigenous peoples.
Between 1807 and 1830 the settlement area was used as an estancia (farm) for nearby Mission San José de Tumacácori. In 1808, Spanish settlers moved into Calabazas and restored the chapel. In response, the Apaches again attacked, setting fire to the buildings and carrying off sacred vessels and vestments in the process. The property was sold to Governor Manuel Gándara of Sonora in 1808.
In 1837, the Mexican government built Presidio de Calabasas to protect the mission.
The 1854 Gadsden Purchase, of land by the U.S. from México, included this area in the Arizona Territory. Subsequently, the former mission church served a number of purposes, including a customs house, post office, and a ranch house.
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