Historian Kevin Starr, describing the "whippings and confinement in stocks" with which the Jesuits punished the natives, characterizes Keller as "notably harsh – and therefore particularly hated.
I had the open country in which to sleep, with no cover but the heavens ... My neophytes had no oxen, nor did they know how to plow, until two years later when I acquired four ... Because of the lack of provisions I was not able to go ahead with the building of a church, not even a house.
Thus I persevered living for years in a straw-thatched hut like the natives, sustaining myself and them on the alms I would go out to beg for.In 1736 and 1737, Keller explored along the Gila River, visiting local Pima villages on the way.
Keller, who may have been drunk at the time, responded dismissively, threatening to burn the letter, publicly criticizing Oacpicagigua for his Spanish style of clothing and weapons.
[10] His right-hand man, Pedro de la Cruz, also accused the Jesuits, including Keller, of mistreating the natives:[6] I am not the cause of the rebellion.
[12] In 1756, Keller accompanied Miguel Gerstner and Francisco Hlava to the San Pedro Valley in the hope of establishing a mission church there, but the three priests were repelled by the natives.