[1] Jesuit missionary Eusebio Kino founded Suamca in 1706 as a visita of Mission Nuestra Señora de los Dolores.
It became an independent mission with the 1732 arrival of Ignacio Xavier Keller[1] At times, Mission San Lázaro and Mission San Luis Bacoancos were administered as visitas of Suamca.
[2] The missionaries abandoned Suamca in favor of Mission Nuestra Señora del Pilar y Santiago de Cocóspera, after an Apache raid on November 19, 1768 destroyed most of the buildings.
[1][3] In 1787, Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate was relocated to Suamca, which was subsequently repopulated and called Santa Cruz after the presidio.
[1] Missionaries stationed at Santa María Suamca included:[1]