4x4abc
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San Ignacio question
I remember seeing images here of a Jesuit built dam somewhere around San Ignacio.
Does anyone have an exact location for me?
Harald Pietschmann
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David K
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It was called the "Muralla". Harry Crosby showed photos of it in the 1960's.
Here is a paragraph from my new book about it:
Flash floods were frequently responsible for agricultural losses, so the Jesuits had massive dikes built. The largest was called a muralla and was
three miles long, twelve feet high, and up to forty feet wide. Protective dikes had been destroyed twice before this final one was completed, in 1762.
Remains of the muralla are located just east of the mission and town center of San Ignacio.
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David K
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This photo is from the 1974 book, 'The King's Highway in Baja California' by Harry Crosby. Highway construction to San Ignacio was in late 1972.
Based on the background (Highway 1 cut, and Tres Virgenes volcano), my guess for this location is: 27º17.52', -112º52.58'
It sure would be fun to get a new photo from that same spot or see more of the mission dikes, if they haven't all been destroyed!
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4x4abc
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I think, I found it.
9 miles out of town. About half way between San Ignacio and Tres Virgines.
I'll check it out in a couple of days
Harald Pietschmann
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Bajahowodd
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A giant dike, or dyke?  
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David K
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I spelled the same as Harry did in his book. A quick Internet search turns up this:
Dike vs. dyke
In American and Canadian English, dike is the preferred spelling of the noun referring to (1) an embankment used to prevent floods, and (2) a low wall
dividing lands. Dyke is the preferred spelling in all other main varieties of English.
Dyke is also a derogatory slang word referring to a lesbian. While this sense of dyke has been reappropriated and made positive by some, it is still
generally considered offensive and should be shunned outside very specific contexts.
Examples
American and Canadian publications use dike for a flood-preventing embankment—
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woody with a view
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I wonder how much they paid the workers for each rock deposited? Three miles long, 12 feet high and 40 feet thick equals enough rocks to for someone
to retire a rich man!!!
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David K
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Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view  | I wonder how much they paid the workers for each rock deposited? Three miles long, 12 feet high and 40 feet thick equals enough rocks to for someone
to retire a rich man!!!
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Paid? Workers? Funny!
The padre who commissioned the work (José Rotea) was in charge at San Ignacio from 1759 to 1768. The mission was founded in 1728, so the Indians were
2nd or 3rd generation neophyte Christians and probably knew little of their ancestors pre-mission life not working for the church, king, God.
It was a mission-community action to prevent floods from destroying their fields where food was grown. The same is true of the hundreds of miles of
roads built in the 1700s called El Camino Real, particularly the switchbacks down mountainsides.
It may not have been "politically correct" in today's world, but that is how such things in (Baja) California were built 250 years ago.
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David K
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Last month, I visited the Muralla... an easy to reach piece of it, just east of the San Ignacio entrance...
It is amazing!
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mtgoat666
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| Quote: Originally posted by David K | | Quote: Originally posted by woody with a view | I wonder how much they paid the workers for each rock deposited? Three miles long, 12 feet high and 40 feet thick equals enough rocks to for someone
to retire a rich man!!!
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Paid? Workers? Funny!
The padre who commissioned the work (Jos� Rotea) was in charge at San Ignacio from 1759 to 1768. The mission was founded in 1728, so the Indians
were 2nd or 3rd generation neophyte Christians and probably knew little of their ancestors pre-mission life not working for the church, king, God.
It was a mission-community action to prevent floods from destroying their fields where food was grown. The same is true of the hundreds of miles of
roads built in the 1700s called El Camino Real, particularly the switchbacks down mountainsides.
It may not have been "politically correct" in today's world, but that is how such things in (Baja) California were built 250 years ago.
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So it was either a communal effort (sort of commie or socialist) or slave effort. Which?
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David K
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It was for the preservation of the farmlands which everyone depended on for food. The Jesuits did not enslave or make prisoners of the natives. That
came later when the Spanish government took over from the Jesuits in 1768.
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BajaBlanca
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What an incredible wall! Thanks for the history lesson.
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David K
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Next time you are in San Ignacio, just drive past the entrance road (whalebone display) and in a few hundred meters is a large dirt lot, on the
right... just before the Baja Oasis Motel. Turn into that lot and park towards the back of it. The Muralla is there!
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