"José Refugio De la Torre Curiel traces the institutional and economic history of these Sonoran missions from [1768] until their demise in the first decades of Mexico's early republican period . . . Recommended."—B. R. Larkin, Choice "This manuscript demonstrates a unique mastery of the English and Spanish literature on the missions of northwestern New Spain, a thorough command of the difficult archival sources upon which the study is based, and a coherent, well-researched, and compelling argument. Scholars and students interested in colonial Mexico, its northern frontier, the Jesuit and Franciscan missions of northwestern New Spain, Indian life along the Spanish frontier, and economic and political developments in Sonora will all find this to be a rich and rewarding read."—Steven W. Hackel, University of California, Riverside "Twilight of the Mission Frontier provides an economic and institutional history of colonial New Spain that, unlike many of its predecessors, incorporates the impact of and variations within religious concerns, administrative practices, and transcultural negotiations This welcome contribution to the field ably complicates narratives of the missionary frontier of New Spain and mission histories."—Michael P. Gueno, Journal of Religion