David K
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Several Changes on the Baja Missions web site!
Most of you know of the great photos Jack Swords and others have taken at the mission sites in Baja... they are housed on a special web site, linked
in mine. Anyway, as we add to and learn more, the site gets updated. Tonight several changes were made to make it historically accurate and easy to
use.
Already this year we have four pages on the expedition to Mision San Pedro Martir, led by Jack Swords (with Mexitron, Pappy, Taco de Baja, and
others);
Also: added Mision San Jose del Cabo (two illustrations); corrected notes on the mission names at Todos Santos and on La Paz; edited the wording on
Mision Santiago; edited the info. on Mision San Jose Comondu... and more is to come.
AcademicAnarchist is providing floor plans for as many sites as possible... so, if you need to know what the FIRST 'California'* missions looked like
then and now, go to http://vivabaja.com/bajamissions
* The peninsula was called 'California' first!
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David K
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Wow!
I didn't know, but Jack had this photo which is placed in La Paz at the likely location for the mission that was there. It is NOT under the capitol
buildings or church as reported before! This will be added to my mission page on La Paz.
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bajalera
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The Missing Man
That plaque ignores a real hero of the La Paz mission's founding--Clemente Guillen. Bravo and Ugarte came south from Loreto by boat, but Guillen
arrived overland--with great difficulty, via the southern flanks of the Sierra de la Giganta (a region so rugged there are few roads even today).
Native guides fled when the expedition entered enemy territory northwest of Mechudo Head. For several days they couldn't determine which direction
should be taken--they couldn't see the bay, and there was no way of knowing whether the ship and its cargo of supplies had reached La Paz.
On the day when the last of their food was shared, they finally made their way to the bay, traveled down the length of El Mogote, and were ferried
across to the present site of the city by the people with Bravo and Ugarte. A happy ending--but Guillen's account makes it clear that this was a
fearful trip.
bajalera
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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David K
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Wonderful Lee.... Thank you very much!
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academicanarchist
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Guillen
Yes, an interesting man who also wrote that the high mortality among the native peoples was ok, because heaven was being populated by new souls.
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David K
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Ed Vernon, author of 'Las Misiones Antiguas...' has kindly offered us the use of his photos where they could add to the Baja missions web site to
assist the Baja history seekers... I have added photos from Ed to San Bruno and Guadalupe del Sur at http://vivabaja.com/bajamissions
Ed's web site is: http://www.bajacaliforniamissions.com/
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David K
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San Bruno 1683
The first Jesuit/ Spanish colony in California is about 15 miles north of Loreto. This is one of the images from Edward Vernon I have added to the
'bajamissions' page
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David K
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Here is the site plan for San Bruno... Plans for most of the missions will be added to the BajaMissions web site, as well.
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David K
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Great Photo: Paipai Indian at Mision Santa Catalina
This photo was contributed by Ed Vernon, author of 'Las Misiones Antiguas, the Spanish Missions of Baja California'. This has been added to our
BajaMissions website...
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bajalera
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C'mon now, Acad/Arch!
You're surely not implying that Guillen's view was unusual for a missionary of that era, are you?
Lee
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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academicanarchist
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Not at all
Lee. His views were not unusual for the time. However, the expression of such views generally does not make it into the literature on the missions.
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bajalera
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You're of course right, Robert. But Guillen recognizes that it was a mistake to criticize an Indian who wouldn't accompany them to a group that
included his father-in-law (apparently some sort of incest tabu) because this alienated other Indians. For a missionary, that was pretty perceptive.
And he hardly ever credits an escape from potential disaster to Divine Intercession, which is certainly a refreshing switch from the usual accounts.
I think we ought to cut him some slack.
Lee
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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academicanarchist
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Guillen
He also attributed epidemics to God's punishment for sinful behavior.
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bajalera
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Well, Robert, if you don't agree that sin brings on Divine punishment, I suppose you're also convinced the Earth is more than 6,000 years old? That's
the trouble with you over-educated liberal academic types--particularly the Berkeley ones: you think.
Fortunately, the Bush administration has located [and take my word that this was not easy] a coterie of rightward-thinking scientists who have
rewritten the geologic record, so that innocent visitors to Grand Canyon will no longer be inflicted with misleading theories like those of that
not-very-well-known kook, John Playfair.
Meanwhile, Anarchist, I'm keeping an eye on you! I'd also pray for the rehabilitation of your eternal soul, except that I don't really have a whole
lot of discretionary time.
Lee
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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academicanarchist
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Sorry.
Sorry, it won't work. I was condemned a long time ago to eternal damnation. Ignaz Tirsch, the beloved folk artist, wrote an interesting report in 1744
that explained the demise of around 1,000 natives in several epidemics. He said it was caused by the "repeated apostasy and transgressions" of the
natives. In the 1744 report that he penned, Guillen also complained about the hechizeros, the shaman, who challenged his authority.
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