BajaNomad

Trivia: The shortest-lived missions on the peninsula

David K - 2-12-2024 at 02:33 PM

Missions that failed early or were the first to be abandoned. Most that were in a bad location simply moved to a better one. Nearly half of the missions moved one or more times, up to 50 miles away! These had the shortest lives:

San Juan Bautista de Ligüí (1705-1721) was replaced by Mission Dolores Apaté, much further south.

San José del Cabo (1730-1748) was made a visita of Mission Santiago for the next 20 years, then returned to being a mission again.

Santa Rosa de las Palmas (1733-1748) was replaced by Mission Pilar de la Paz when it relocated to Todos Santos from La Paz Bay.

Santa María de los Angeles (1766-1775) relocated after just 7 months at the first site, called Calamajué, and was closed after about 8 years at the new site, which lacked farmland.

San Pedro Mártir (1794-1811) also moved after less than 3 months at its first site which was nearly 7,000 feet above sea level and too cold for crops. The second site had issues with hostile Natives.

El Descanso (1830-1834) & Guadalupe del Norte (1834-1840) both these missions were established after Mexico's Independence from Spain by a rogue Dominican padre without authorization. These two are not missions to many historians but more likely new locations for Mission San Miguel, which was near to both.

See the missions as one would traveling down the peninsula: https://vivabaja.com/mission-site-photos/