DOMINICANS AT BAJA CALIFORNIA MISSIONS 1773-1855

* NOTE, a new version of the following list with a much larger listing of Dominican padres who performed a service at the missions is in the works... stay tuned! (See the edited list in following post)


For over seventy years, from 1697 to 1768, the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church had near-autonomy in the occupation and Christianization of the California Peninsula. They had founded 17 missions, in all directions from the first permanent headquarters, at Loreto. In the 1750’s they had begun to move northward in order to encircle the Gulf of California with their missions, once it was clear that California was not an island. That advance was halted with a political decision that forever changed the direction of the California missions.

The Franciscans were already chosen to replace the Jesuits in California, but the Dominicans had pleaded for some responsibility on the peninsula. Years of negotiations and revisions would transpire before the Dominican priests actually began serving the Baja California missions. The doorway to California mission service for the Dominicans opened once the 1767 Royal order of expulsion was delivered to the Jesuits missionaries. The Jesuits were forcibly removed from all their missions throughout the New World and sailed away from the coast of Baja California in February, 1768. The Franciscans were soon charged with occupying the ports of San Diego and Monterey, far to the north. An opportunity for other Catholic Orders to have a hand in the mission field was now available. The following is a summary of some of the events leading to the Dominicans arrival in Antigua (Old) California, later called Baja California:

July 24, 1768: A request for the administration of some of the Jesuit founded missions of Baja California was made by Dominican Fray Juan Pedro de Iriarte y Laurnaga. Iriarte was Procurator General for the Province of Santiago de Mexico, residing at the Royal Court of Madrid. He asked especially for those missions between the twenty-fifth and twenty-eighth degrees of north latitude.

December 17, 1769: The King (Carlos III) decided that ten Dominican fathers, destined for the nearest former Jesuit missions, should go there, but left the exact posts unspecified.

January 17, 1770: the Procurator-General, Fray Juan de Dios de Cordoba, recommended that Iriarte's petition be granted, that the requested territory of Baja California be allocated, since there was urgent need tor the conquest of Nueva (New) California as a check against foreign encroachments.

June 15, 1770: Juan Pedro de Iriarte and Juan de Dios de Cordova asked the King for a grant of twenty four missionaries, at royal expense, for the missions of Baja California.

July 10, 1770: Iriarte issued a circular to the convents of the three Spanish Provinces of the Dominican order, announcing that the King had granted them a mission field in Baja California, and calling for volunteers.

April 30, 1772: The division of California was settled and the Dominicans accepted all of Baja California and the Franciscans had Nueva California, later called Alta California, as far north “as they can extend their spiritual conquests”. This arrangement was approved by the Council of the Indies on May 11, 1775.

September, 1772: Two boats were used to bring the Dominicans to California sailing from San Blas. Storms separated the boats and disaster would fall upon one. The storm, disease, and bad food forced one boat back to shore at Mazatlán. On board the doomed boat was their leader, Padre Iriarte. After arriving at Mazatlán he was taken to San Sebastián, where he died.

October 14, 1772: The successful boat with nine Dominican priests and one laybrother arrived at Loreto. Ten days later one of the priests died. Nearly six months would pass before news of the other boat carrying Dominicans had wrecked, and their leader, Padre Iriarte (and two other priests) had died.

May 12, 1773: Two boats brought the eighteen Dominicans who survived the shipwreck, arrived at Loreto. Three days later the padres were given their mission burroignments (see list below). Now with 26 Dominicans in California, each of the missions would be burroigned two, except for the far north missions of Santa María and San Fernando, which shared the same two priests. The Indians of Mission Santa María were transferred to Mission San Fernando the following year.

September 21, 1773: Padre Luis Sales arrived in Loreto after being delayed by his illness from the disastrous events of a year earlier. Sales was burroigned to Mission Guadalupe.

ASSIGNMENTS OF THE 26 DOMINICANS AT THE 14 BAJA CALIFORNIA MISSIONS
May 15, 1773:

Loreto: Vicente Mora, Martín Zavaleta

San José de Comondú: Cristóbal de Vera, Andrés Souto

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe: José Santolárria, Nicolás Muñóz

Purísima Concepción: Francisco Galistéo, Juan Antonio Formoso

San Francisco Javier: Manuel Pérez, Domingo Ginés

San José del Cabo: Gerónimo Soldevilla, José Lafuente

Todos Santos: José Fernández Salcedo, José Armésto

Santiago: Antonio Salas, José Estévez

San Ignacio: Juan Crisóstomo Gómez, José García Villatoro

Santa Rosalia (de Mulegé): Joaquín Valero, Antonio Luésma

Santa Gertrudis: Manuel Rodríguez, José Díez Bustamante

San Francisco de Borja: Manuel García, José Aivár

Santa María, San Fernando: Miguel Hidalgo, Pedro Gandiága


Next we will examine surviving mission documents and letters to discover what Dominican priests served at each mission, after the initial burroignments of May 15, 1773. In some cases the missionary may have only been visiting and was not the resident priest. He also may have been at the mission other years than those listed or served at more than one mission the same year.

[EDIT: SEE REVISED LIST of missions/padres BELOW]

Mexico and Spain were at war from 1810 to 1821. In 1822, the two Californias pledged their allegiance to Mexico. The Spanish Mission Era was over, but the need for instruction and expanding civilization necessitated the missions to remain in operation. Many Dominicans retired from service in Baja California in 1822. Those that remained after 1822, or arrived during the Mexican mission period include:

Félix Caballero (to 1840)
Gabriel Gonzáles (to 1855)
Domingo Luna (to 1832)
Tomás Mansilla (to 1855)
José Martínez (to 1836)
Juan Martínez (to 1840)
Antonio Menéndez (to 1825)
José Morquecho (to 1841)
José Miguel de Pineda (to 1826)
Ignacio Ramírez (to 1849)
José de Santa Cruz (to 1844)

Assisting the Dominicans in Baja California were three Mercedarians, who arrived in 1836:
Amado Aldana (to 1841)
Vicente Sotomayor (to 1851)
Ascenscio Torres (to 1845)

[EDIT: See list below...]

The stories and details of the mission period in Baja California continue to entertain and enlighten us as to happenings in this harsh and rugged land, so many years ago.

References
‘The Dominican Mission Foundations in Baja California, 1769-1822’ by Albert Nieser, 1960
‘The Missions and Missionaries of California’ (Vol. 1, Lower California) by Zephyrin Engelhardt, 1929
‘The Dominican Mission Frontier of Lower California’ by Peveril Meigs, 1935
‘Observations on California, 1772-1790’ by Luis Sales, translated by Charles Rudkin, 1956
‘Historical Notes on Lower California’ by Manuel Rojo 1879, translated by Philip Gericke, 1972
‘The Peninsular California Missions, 1808-1880’ by Francis Weber, 1979
'The Old Missions of Baja & Alta California 1697-1834' by Kurillo, Tuttle, & Kier, 2012

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Sharing this article to inspire discussion, discovery and adventure!

I hope to add the missing years and/or missing padre's names to this list. Finding the names and places the Dominicans were was quite an effort. However, I could not find it anywhere else so it had to be done, I believed!

I will make a list of what needs to be yet found...


SEE BELOW for the newer, expanded list of Dominicans...



[Edited on 12-27-2014 by David K]

Brilliant!

Dominicans listed by name

I've always appreciated the quality roll of a well trained Dominican.

From Cigars back to Missionaries