Eusebio Francisco Kino

(1645 –1711), often referred to as Father Kino, was an Italian Jesuit, missionary, geographer, explorer, cartographer and astronomer born in the Territory of the Bishopric of Trent, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. For the last 24 years of his life he worked in the region then known as the Pimería Alta, modern-day Sonora in Mexico and southern Arizona in the United States. He explored the region and worked with the indigenous Native American population. He proved that the Baja California Peninsula is not an island by leading an overland expedition there. By the time of his death, he had established 24 missions and visitas (country chapels or visiting stations).