Architecture and defense on the military frontier of Arizona, 1752-1856.

• Main Author: Williams, Jack Stephen.
• Other Authors: Olson, Stanley J.
• Language: en
• Published: The University of Arizona. 1991
• Subjects: Military architecture > Arizona > History.
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/185464

The relationship between architecture and defense during the mid-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth centuries in the portion of Hispanic Sonora that later became southern Arizona is examined. Included are a description and analysis of presidio fortifications, and a comparison of these defense works with other kinds of fortified and garrisoned places found in the region. Separate sections offer appraisals of how raw materials, labor, and tools, were used to plan and build frontier strongholds in northern New Spain and early Mexico. Also provided is a description of the weapons and tactics used in the defense of fortified places. An evaluation is made of the role of fortifications in grand strategy. Based on this evidence, it is argued that defense involved a wider variety of institutions than has traditionally been recognized. The survey of defensive sites also indicates that the presidios do not share certain important features. These differences reflect gradual changes in design concepts over time. It is argued that the causes of these modifications are principally the results of shifts in strategy.