David K
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Location: San Diego County
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The Missions that Moved... brief history
Here are the missions that moved one or more times from their founding location:
San Javier; San Javier (founded in 1699) moved south, five miles in the years between 1710 and 1720. One of the best preserved
mission churches is at the final site. No remains at the first site.
San José de Comondú; San José de Comondú (1708) moved south twenty-two miles in 1736. Ruins are visible at the first site, known
now as Comondú Viejo. A chapel was preserved from the once large mission church at the final site.
*Some authors say that Mission La Purísima (1720) moved from a location now called Purísima Vieja around 1730. The Jesuits did not mention a move in
their published letters and books.
Pilar de la Paz; The mission at La Paz (1720) moved fifty miles south in 1748 to its visita of Todos Santos and the location of a
mission called Santa Rosa. No ruins exist in La Paz. A church with modern additions is at the final site in Todos Santos.
Los Dolores; The Dolores mission was established by the beach in 1721 but soon moved about two miles into a canyon. In 1741, the
mission moved fifteen miles southwest to its visita of La Pasión. Stone walls at the canyon site. Rubble and foundations at the final (La Pasión)
site.
Santiago; Santiago began as Santiago de los Coras in 1722 but when that failed the mission was restarted in land of the Pericú in
1724 as Santiago el Apóstol Aiñiní. It was were the Pericú Revolt began in 1734, killing the padre and destroying the mission. In 1736, the
mission was moved two miles south. Today, a modern church is on the final site.
San José del Cabo; San José del Cabo relocated more than any other mission! Began first by the beach in 1730. Mosquitos and poor
soil forced the padre to move the mission several miles inland. After the Pericú Revolt, the mission was re-established back near the estuary and
beach. The mission was abandoned from 1748 to 1768. When it was re-opened, the location was just north of the estuary where the visita chapel had been
moved to in 1753. The modern town church stands on the final mission site.
Santa María; Santa María began at place we call Calamajué, in 1766. The water was heavily mineralized and would not grow crops. In
less than a year, the mission was relocated to site with fresh water, 30 miles to the northwest. Adobe outlines at the first site and adobe walls at
the second site.
El Rosario; El Rosario was the first Dominican mission, in 1774. When the spring next to the mission stopped flowing, the mission was
moved about 2 miles west and closer to the river, in 1802. Adobe mounds and walls at both sites.
Santo Domingo; Santo Domingo was founded in 1775 at the mouth of a canyon. In 1798, the mission relocated two and a half miles up the
canyon for better water supply. Adobe walls at the final site.
San Miguel; San Miguel was founded in 1787, but moved in 1788 moved seven miles west to a Native village at the invitation of the
Indian chief who was treated for snakebite by the Dominican padre. In 1809, floods destroyed the crops forcing the mission to move 8 miles north to El
Descanso. Approximately four years later, a return was made to the earlier site. Adobe walls at the 1788 site, next to the school in La Misión, on
the Free Road to Ensenada.
Santo Tomás; Santo Tomás was founded in 1791 about four miles west of Highway One. Because of mosquitos and lack of sunlight, the
mission moved one mile east, in 1794. In 1799, the mission moved a second time, three more miles, for better water and farmland. Small piece of adobe
wall is at the final site.
San Pedro Mártir; San Pedro Mártir, California's highest elevation mission, was first established in 1794, 6,785 feet above sea
level, at a location the Natives called 'Casilepe'. The exact location was not discovered until 1991, in La Grulla Meadow. The cold was too great and
just three months later, the mission moved seven miles south and down to an elevation of 5,000 feet. Stone walls and outlines at the second site.
Square stone pads at the first site.
Mission history is just one of the fascinating things that draws me to Baja. To read more about the 27 missions, Spanish attempts of conquest, the
lost mission legends, and more... get the book, Baja California Land of Missions at www.oldmissions.com or your local Baja book dealer.
[Edited on 8-6-2022 by David K]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Missions that were abandoned by the Jesuits
Three of the seventeen missions were abandoned:
San Juan Bautista de Ligüí (Malibat) in 1721. The mission moved to Dolores Apaté, with a new benefactor and name.
San José del Cabo in 1748. The mission was reduced to being a visita of Mission Santiago for the next twenty years. The Franciscans
elevated it back to mission status in 1768.
Santa Rosa de las Palmas in 1748. This mission at the La Paz visita site of Todos Santos was established in 1733. However, when the
mission at La Paz (Pilar de la Paz) moved to Todos Santos, it replaced the younger Santa Rosa mission.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Missions abandoned by the Franciscans
In 1768, following orders from the Spanish government, the missions of Dolores (La Pasión) and San Luis Gonzaga
were closed and the Natives were forced to move from their homeland to far off Todos Santos where the new governor believed they could be of more use.
The treatment of the Indians by the government, which removed the Jesuits who were in charge of all things on the peninsula, was very sad.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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The first missions to be abandoned by the Dominicans
In 1773, the Franciscans handed off the peninsula to the Dominicans.
The missions were in decline with diseases introduced over the previous 200+ years taking their toll.
In 1774 or 1775, the mission of Santa María, which had not a resident priest since the Franciscan period, was abandoned as the newer
mission of San Fernando was a much better location and is where the neophytes were moved.
In 1795, the mission of Guadalupe (west of Mulegé) and the mission of Santiago were abandoned.
In 1811, the high mission of San Pedro Mártir was abandoned during a very cold winter. The few Natives moved to the Santo Domingo
mission.
In 1817, San Javier was abandoned as a mission serving the Native Californians.
In 1818, San Borja was abandoned.
Many more missions were abandoned in 1822, after Mexican Independence from Spain and the two Californias pledging allegiance to the Mexican Empire. A
few Dominicans stayed on, in support of the changes, at the few missions with Natives being served by the missions. Mexico made a rule that those
remaining missions could remain open only until the resident Dominican abandoned it or died. Those missions include:Loreto, Mulegé, Comondú,
La Purísima, Todos Santos, San Ignacio, San José del Cabo, San Vicente, San Miguel, Santo Tomás, Santa Catalina.
One Dominican even took it upon himself to establish two missions after Mexican Independence. Not all historians consider these Mexican missions as
being true California missions, which were an instrument of Spain. Those two missions were El Descanso (in 1830) and
Guadalupe del Norte (in 1834).
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