BajaNomad

The Mission Name Game (April 2019 Baja Bound Newsletter)

David K - 4-20-2019 at 09:23 AM

The twenty-five Spanish missions on the peninsula of Baja California, plus two more founded after Mexico’s independence, have many intriguing mysteries and questions of history. Some of these are as simple as what year they were established, or as questionable as to what year they were abandoned, or as odd as what was their true name.

The confusion of Los Dolores and La Pasión mission sites, and Todos Santos/ Santa Rosa/ Pilar de la Paz is detailed and cleared up (I hope) in this new article (with photos and map):
https://www.bajabound.com/bajaadventures/bajatravel/mission_...

David K - 4-22-2019 at 07:26 AM

This is the last paragraph of the article (I hope these articles will awaken more interest in Baja history):

Baja California continues to be a wonderland of exploration and discovery. The peninsula seems to be a place with endless adventures. The traveler in Baja California sees new things with each trip, even if returning to the same place as before. Learning some of the history opens up new chapters of exploring and discovery.

pacificobob - 4-23-2019 at 06:46 AM

wow, speaking of learning some of the history, this is a swell opportunity to celebrate the enslavement and genocide of the local indigenous people!

mtgoat666 - 4-23-2019 at 07:02 AM

The missions were built with slave labor. The remaining mission buildings are gruesome relics, reminders of man’s inhumanity, when missions were concentration camps where Indians were beaten, whipped, brainwashed and almost their entire culture exterminated by the church.
Are the missions haunted by those killed on their grounds?

Skipjack Joe - 4-23-2019 at 07:25 AM

Dolores, Dolores
Bo-lores Banana fana
Fo-lores, fee fi Mo-lores

David K - 4-23-2019 at 07:29 AM

If you chose to believe that was their purpose and do not want the facts to get in the way, fine. Bad stuff did happen, it always has and always will. I think neither of you knows exactly who and when these things happened. Genocide is an intentional killing of an entire race and that couldn't be further from the truth.

The question I have for you two is, do we just stop teaching about the past because it may have been bad? Does ignoring history do any good? I am not religious, my attempts are just to preserve the facts of Baja's past. Missions were the tool used to colonize much of the Western Hemisphere and were successful in most cases for Spain and Portugal.

The fact remains that these artifacts were built and do exist, so why not learn who, what, when, where, and why? That's what my book and my articles attempt to do. The padres did stop the Indians from killing each other, which was common before the Spanish came. The Jesuits did insist on having authority over the Spanish soldiers to protect the Indians. Things became bleak for the Indians when the Spanish government removed the Jesuits and took over civil authority of California at the end of 1767. That is when times became rough for the Native Californians.

mtgoat666 - 4-23-2019 at 07:52 AM

Quote: Originally posted by David K  
If you chose to believe that was their purpose and do not want the facts to get in the way, fine. Bad stuff did happen, it always has and always will. I think neither of you knows exactly who and when these things happened. Genocide is an intentional killing of an entire race and that couldn't be further from the truth.

The question I have for you two is, do we just stop teaching about the past because it may have been bad? Does ignoring history do any good? I am not religious, my attempts are just to preserve the facts of Baja's past. Missions were the tool used to colonize much of the Western Hemisphere and were successful in most cases for Spain and Portugal.

The fact remains that these artifacts were built and do exist, so why not learn who, what, when, where, and why? That's what my book and my articles attempt to do. The padres did stop the Indians from killing each other, which was common before the Spanish came. The Jesuits did insist on having authority over the Spanish soldiers to protect the Indians. Things became bleak for the Indians when the Spanish government removed the Jesuits and took over civil authority of California at the end of 1767. That is when times became rough for the Native Californians.


DK,
The facts you tell us about missions (construction dates, GPS locatation, padre names) are not the whole story.
The mission story taught in California schools and your books is all wine and roses.

The real story is forced movement of Indians into concentration camps, forced labor, religious brainwashing, and genocide. Genocide was intentional or unintentional, but none the less was genocide.
Tell the whole and true story. The truth shall set you free.

David K - 4-23-2019 at 08:17 AM

No Goat, it isn't the whole story, but neither is the version you mentioned.

My book, which you haven't obviously read, deals with the facts of history about the building of the missions and what has happened to them. There were none of the terrible things until the government took over California from the Jesuits and put the Franciscans and Dominicans in place. Under government controls, the Indians were no longer respected by those in charge and there were some cases of bad actions. Learn the truth, all of it.

The Jesuits (1697-1767) learned the Indian languages, traded food for labor and the labor was voluntary, the Jesuits did not force any to live at the missions, recognized their nations on the maps of the time, and protected them from any evils attempted by government troops. Religion is no more brainwashing than watching CNN and it was very high in importance in the 1700s.

Now, there were things the Jesuits at some missions did that caused a revolt and that was to halt polygamy and instead of laying under trees all day while their wives worked, that got the men to work, too. Two Jesuits were murdered by the Indians in 1734 at Santiago and San José del Cabo. So, bad things happened to the padres, too. Two Dominican missionaries were murdered at Santo Tomás many years later, as well.

mtgoat666 - 4-23-2019 at 09:06 AM

Speaking of brainwashing, seems like you been drinking the jesuit koolaid!

David K - 4-23-2019 at 09:26 AM

No drinking, just reading the letters and reports made by people who were actually there, rather than some PC feel-good BS that makes you feel superior.

The past wasn't all good and religion isn't all bad, either. Clearly, too much government was, however! Funny how some things never change! LOL