Page 20 - Enclave Communities 8-5-2022

St. David Springs – Farm and Ranch Homes

Country and Ranch Style Homes harmonize with the generous

vegetation & farm and ranch land at St David Springs

Saint David Springs was established due to the Mormon Battalion passing through what is now St David
Springs in 1846 and building camp and a small fort at Escalante Crossing. This crossing provided a low

water crossing to cross from east to west and back though the San Pedro River and the crossing provided
access to the rich farmland at River Bend Ranch.
But this group was not the first to depend on this crossing.

During the years of Spanish and Mexican control, Southern Arizona was, for the most part, included within a
larger area which the Spaniards called the Primera Alta or "Land of the Northern Pimans.

European explorers passed through the Primera Alta as early as the middle of the sixteenth century.
Spanish colonists came to live in what is now Southern Arizona.

By the time Hispanic settlers arrived, the native population had become familiar with a few elements of
European culture, thanks to visitations from Jesuit missionaries beginning with Father Eusebio Francisco
Kino in 1691.

And what is now River Bend Ranch and lush farming land, along the San Pedro River the Indians were
growing European-derived grains, vegetables, and fruits. These cultigens supplemented native crops such as
corn, beans and squash. Small herds of cattle were raised on what is now River Bend Ranch.

Southern Arizona's first Hispanic colonists were probably individuals who came into the area looking for
minerals. In 1736, a major silver strike took place a few miles southwest of modern Nogales, Sonora, and
some of the prospectors pushed on northward to develop the mines around St David Springs.
The Native Americans, Spanish and Europeans left behind their impact of food and architectural influence.

The family of homes designed for River Bend Ranch represent Farm Style homes typical of what may have
been influenced by the Europeans, the last to settle in the St David area.

Grain Silo Farm and Ranch