GARCEES, FRANCISCO. - Franciscan missionary and explorer, born in 1738 at Morate del Conte (Kingdom of Aragon), died on 17 July 1781. Sent to the missions of Central America, he belonged to the College of S. Cruz in Querétaro (Mexico), where he remained for several years as a teacher. In 1768 he left the college to devote himself to the conversion of the natives.
Amid countless dangers and difficulties, he visited various tribes hitherto unknown; he explored the Colorado River and in one expedition pushed as far as Upper California, San Francisco. With martyrdom he sealed his laborious work as a missionary and explorer. Among other foundations, he established the missions of the Immaculate Conception and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul on the Colorado River.
His important Diary and other writings are found in: O. Maas, Viajes de visionarios Franciscanos a la conquista del Nuevo México (Sevilla 1915).