Jean Baptiste Salpointe was born at St. Maurice, Puy de Dome, France on February 21, 1825. After studying theology at Clermont Seminary, he was ordained as a priest. He held several posts in Europe before arriving in the United States as a missionary for Archbishop Lamy of Santa Fe. Salpointe was sent to the Arizona Territory, and when this region was converted to a vicariate, Salpoint was named the First Vicar Apostolic of Arizona, his territory including Arizona, New Mexico and a part of Texas. He was again promoted in 1884, this time to archbishop, succeeding Lamy. He resigned this position in 1894, returning to Tucson, where he died four years later.
From the guide to the Correspondence of Jean B. Salpointe, 1867-1884, (University of Arizona Libraries, Special Collections)
