David K
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Baja's Spanish Missions (over the years)
As missions were established and abandoned the actual total number on the peninsula at any one time makes an interesting list.
I will use Ed Vernon's excellent book LAS MISIONES ANTIGUAS for dates. New missions will be all CAPS and just the short version of the mission name is
used. When the list shrinks, that year a mission was abandoned. Ligui was the first to be abandoned, in 1721. However, the inhabitants were moved that
year to the new mission of Dolores.
1697: LORETO
1699: SAN JAVIER, Loreto
1705: LIGUI, MULEGE, San Javier, Loreto
1708: COMONDU, Mulege, Ligui, San Javier, Loreto
1720: LA PURISIMA, LA PAZ, GUADALUPE (DEL SUR), Comondu, Mulege, Ligui, San Javier, Loreto
1721: DOLORES, La Purisima, La Paz, Guadalupe, Comondu, Mulege, San Javier, Loreto
1724: SANTIAGO, Dolores, La Purisima, La Paz, Guadalupe, Comondu, Mulege, San Javier, Loreto
1728: SAN IGNACIO, Santiago, Dolores, La Purisima, La Paz, Guadalupe, Comondu, Mulege, San Javier, Loreto
1730: SAN JOSE DEL CABO, San Ignacio, Santiago, Dolores, La Purisima, La Paz, Guadalupe, Comondu, Mulege, San Javier, Loreto
1733: SANTA ROSA (Todos Santos), San Jose del Cabo, San Ignacio, Santiago, Dolores, La Purisima, La Paz, Guadalupe, Comondu, Mulege, San Javier,
Loreto
1737: SAN LUIS GONZAGA, Santa Rosa, San Jose del Cabo, San Ignacio, Santiago, Dolores, La Purisima, La Paz, Guadalupe, Comondu, Mulege, San Javier,
Loreto
1748: La Paz mission was moved to Todos Santos and the two missions blended into one, called PILAR*. Total: 12 missions
* This is a simplistic answer for a much more complex situation at Todos Santos, possible fodder for a seperate article.
1751: SANTA GERTRUDIS (orig. to be called Dolores del Norte), San Luis Gonzaga, Pilar, San Jose del Cabo, San Ignacio, Santiago, Dolores, La Purisima,
Guadalupe, Comondu, Mulege, San Javier, Loreto (13 missions)
1762: SAN BORJA, Santa Gertrudis, San Luis Gonzaga, Pilar, San Jose del Cabo, San Ignacio, Santiago, Dolores, La Purisima, Guadalupe, Comondu, Mulege,
San Javier, Loreto (14 missions)
1766: SANTA MARIA founded at CALAMAJUE but moved in 1767, San Borja, Santa Gertrudis, San Luis Gonzaga, Pilar, San Jose del Cabo, San Ignacio,
Santiago, Dolores, La Purisima, Guadalupe, Comondu, Mulege, San Javier, Loreto (Total 15 missions operating)
1768: JESUITS removed from the New World. Their 15 missions (that year) were reduced to 13 with the ordered closing of San Luis Gonzaga and Dolores by
the Spanish government. Only Ligui and La Paz had failed during their period on Baja.
1769: SAN FERNANDO was founded by the Franciscan Junipero Serra on his way to San Diego. Santa Maria was reduced from a mission to a visita. Total net
13 missions.
1774: DOMINICANS take over from the Franciscans who expand into Alta California, and establish ROSARIO (14 on the peninsula this year)
1775: SANTO DOMINGO (15)
1780: SAN VICENTE (16)
1787: SAN MIGUEL (17)
1791: SANTO TOMAS (18)
1794: SAN PEDRO MARTIR (total 19 missions operating this year, the maximum)
1795: Guadalupe del Sur and Santiago are abandoned (17 total)
1797: SANTA CATALINA (18 total)
1817: DESCANSO founded and San Javier abandoned (18 total)
1818: San Borja, San Fernando abandoned (16 total)
1822: La Purisima, Santa Gertrudis abandoned (14 total)
1824: San Pedro Martir abandoned ( 13 total )
1827: Comondu abandoned ( 12 total )
1828: Mulege abandoned ( 11 total )
1829: Loreto abandoned ( 10 total )
1832: Rosario abandoned ( 9 total )
1833: San Vicente, San Miguel abandoned (7 total)
1834: GUADALUPE (DEL NORTE) founded, Descanso abandoned. Remaining missions: San Ignacio, San Jose del Cabo, Santo Domingo, Santo Tomas, Santa
Catarina, Pilar (Todos Santos) TOTAL in 1834: 7
Of interest, Guadalupe del Norte was the last California mission founded (Baja and Alta).
Note: Various authors have various dates for the missions' operation.
The last mission officially operating was Santo Tomas, until 1849. The others all closed in 1839 to 1840.
[Edited on 6-28-2004 by David K]
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academicanarchist
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List of missions
Being "abandoned" is very misleading. The Dominicans recruited personnel primarily in Spain, and being from Spain after Mexican independence was
risky. There were decrees in 1827 and 1829 ordering the expulsion of the Spanish from Mexico, although missionaries were excluded. A more accurate
date would be 1833, with the passage of the secularization law that applied to the missions in both Californias.
After 1810, it was difficult for the Dominicans to find new personnel to serve in Mexico because of the on going civil war-independence war. The
"abandonment" simply meant that there was no longer a Dominican to staff the mission. That does not mean that the former missions did not continue to
serve as sacred precincts.
Now to Descanso and Guadalupe del Norte. My contention has always been that they were not separate missions, but rather new sites for San Miguel
mission. The Dominicans began to develop Descanso around 1795 as a farming station, and in that year the missionaries stationed at San Miguel recorded
the construction of buildings, a granary if I remember correctly, at the site. When floods damaged the fields at San Miguel, they simply shifted the
residence to Descanso while retaining the complex at the first site. When Felix Caballero began working more in the interior, he shifted the site of
the mission to Guadalupe. There was no separate endowment for Descanso and Guadalupe, nor authorization to establish new missions. However, the
Dominicans did not need authorization to move to a new site.
One final point. 1824 is too late for the abandonment of San Pedro Martir. I believe it was abandoned and the neophytes moved to the coastal missions
shortly after 1810, when things began to go very poorly with the outbreak of the independence war in Mexico.
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David K
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Thank you AA
Somehow, I knew you would contribute to this post!
As I noted, different authors have different dates... I picked one, Ed Vernon (who credits you in his book for contributing information).
Since I like lists, perhaps one that compares the various dates betwen the authors?
Would you like to offer some details on the Todos Santos (Santa Rosa de las Palmas and Nuestra Senora de Pilar) mess?
Also, I figured you would appreciate that I didn't add the 'maybe' mission of San Miguel (del Sur) or the 'double' mission of Dolores del Sur/ La
Pasion. Then there's the pre-mission of Ensenada de las Palmas (finally becoming Santiago after the move to Real de Santa Ana). I know you are glad I
didn't mention the lost missions of San Juan Bautista in the Santa Clara mountains or Santa Maria Magdalena south of L.A. Bay as they are both shown
on the 1757 map http://community-2.webtv.net/baja4me/1757
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academicanarchist
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Southern Missions
The southern missions, La Paz south, were a real mess, because of native uprisings 1734-37 and again in the early 1740s. Moreover, the populations
declined very quickly, and the soldiers brought from Sinaloa to suppress the 1734 uprising spread syphilis among the natives. The Jesuits closed La
Paz in 1749, and merged it with Santa Rosa de las Palmas at Todos Santos. Todos Santos had previously been a visiting station for La Paz. Todos
Santos was important because of the agricultural potential.
[Edited on 6-28-2004 by academicanarchist]
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David K
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Abandoned is not a good term, I agree. But, that is the word used to indicate when the Dominicans threw in the towel. The Jesuits only 'closed' Ligui
and La Paz. The Spanish government Inspector General Jose de Galvez closed San Luis Gonzaga and Dolores/La Pasion. All others were 'abandoned' by the
Dominicans. The Indians were nearly gone, Mexico hated Spain and so the mission system had run its course. The Mestizos moved into the mission lands
and many missions became local Catholic parish churches (Loreto, San Javier, Mulege, San Ignacio, Todos Santos, San Borja were probably included).
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academicanarchist
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Ligui and La Paz
Technically, the Jesuits relocated Ligui and La Paz, and transferred the endowment to new locations. The Dominicans did not throw in the towel, but
rather faced the reality of being unable to replace the personnel they had in the Peninsula with the changing political realities in Mexico. In 1833,
the Franciiscans in California transferred half of the missions there to the apostolic college of Zacatecas, that provided Mexican born personnel for
the missions. The Dominicans had recruited their personnel in Spain, hence the problem as I previously pointed out. Given the missionary mentality,
they would not have willingly abandoned their avocation.
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David K
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Just recapping the mission numbers...
JESUITS: 17 missions founded. Some confusion on this number between various authors. For example...
San Miguel (next to San Jose Comondu) is not included in the number. It operated much like a mission with a resident priest from 1730-1737, but never
had its own endowment.
La Pasion (called Chilla by the natives) was a visita of Mision Dolores Apate until 1741 when that mission was moved to La Pasion (and renamed Mision
Dolores Chilla). Some authors list 'La Pasion' as a seperate mission.
Calamajue was the first site for the mission of Santa Maria. Bad water caused the site to be moved to where the Jesuits founded their final mission in
California, just west of Gonzaga Bay. Some authors list Calamajue as a seperate mission from Santa Maria.
FRANCISCANS (Junipero Serra): founded one mission on the peninsula, San Fernando Velicata.
They did build churches at several Jesuit founded sites during their four years in Baja such as the adobes at Santa Maria and San Borja as well as a
stone church at La Presentacion, south of San Javier.
DOMINICANS: 9 missions were established in northern Baja. However, the final two (Descanso and Guadalupe del Norte) are considered just new locations
for Mision San Miguel by at least one author and historian (see his post above).
The Dominicans are responsible for building or completing the stone churches at San Borja, Santa Gertrudis and San Ignacio.
[Edited on 11-6-2004 by David K]
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academicanarchist
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Last missions
The question of Guadalupe del Norte is an interesting one, because the Mexican government passed a secularization law the year before Caballero moved
there in 1834. In a strictly legal sense, it could not exist as a separate mission. Descanso is analagous to the second site of Rosario Mission, which
also constituted a change in sites. Meigs was responsible for identifying Descanso and Guadalupe del Norte as independent missions.
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