Mission Santo Tomás was founded on April 24, 1791 by the Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 missionary José Loriente, with the authorization of the president of the missions, Juan Crisóstomo Gómez.

The mission was established in the territory of the Kumeyaay

Kumeyaay

The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai, Kamia, or formerly Diegueño, are Native American people of the extreme southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. They live in the states of California in the US and Baja California in Mexico. In Spanish, the name is commonly spelled...

, on the mountainside of the San Solano hills in northwestern Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

, Mexico. It bridged the 120-kilometer gap between the previously founded missions of San Vicente

Misión San Vicente Ferrer

Mission San Vicente was founded in August 1780 by the Dominican missionaries Miguel Hidalgo and Joaquin Valero among the Paipai Indians of northwestern Baja California, Mexico....

 and San Miguel

Misión San Miguel Arcángel de la Frontera

Mission San Miguel was established on 28 March 1787 by the Dominican missionary Luis Sales among the Kumeyaay Indians of northwestern Baja California, Mexico...

.

The mission was relocated twice, in around 1794 and in 1799. Historians are uncertain concerning the locations of the first two mission sites. The third and final location was at the modern town of Santo Tomás.

The population was over 250 individuals in 1800, and it reached its peak of 400 in 1824. The mission was secularized in 1833, but a priest continued to serve the neophytes until 1849. In that year, the native population had fallen to 60, and the mission was abandoned to the military, who used it as a fort and capital for northern Baja California. Deteriorating ruins survive at the site.

Location and natural habitat

The mission was built in a large valley crossed by two or three little springs in the town that today bears the name of the former mission.

Among the flora that the missionaries found were mezcal

Mezcal

Mezcal, or mescal, is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from the maguey plant native to Mexico. The word mezcal comes from Nahuatl metl and ixcalli which mean 'oven cooked agave.'...

, chamizo, alder

Alder

Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...

, willow

Willow

Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...

, oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

, poplar

Poplar

Populus is a genus of 25–35 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar , aspen, and cottonwood....

, and elderberry

Elderberry

Sambucus is a genus of between 5 and 30 species of shrubs or small trees in the moschatel family, Adoxaceae. It was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified due to genetic evidence...

.

Agricultural crops included wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

, olive

Olive

The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

s, grape

Grape

A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...

s, maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, barley

Barley

Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...

, bean

Bean

Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....

s, and other vegetables, all of which were cultivated using irrigation. It is estimated that the mission had around 80-178 hectares of farm land.

Mission Compound

A full reconstruction of the final mission site is nearly impossible, because the foundations have been destroyed by constant plowing through the years. However, it is possible to form a mental picture of the evolving mission infrastructure with the aid of reports from contemporary priests.

Presumably at the second mission site, Miguel López reported in 1795 that some 70 varas (60 m) had been laid down as foundation for the construction of the mission. One year later López and José Loriente reported the construction of a residence with a grand hall, three rooms, common spaces, a dispensary, and separate residences for single men and women. In 1797 another report refers to the existence of a small corral for smaller livestock.

Commerce

The mission's proximity to the coast allowed it to take part in maritime commerce that exploited the nearby Bocana de Santo Tomás and Bahía de Todos Santos at Ensenada

Ensenada, Baja California

Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...

. Accounts such as those by William Shaler and John Locke, going as far back as 1795, mention trading with the Santo Tomás missionaries.

Sea otter

Sea Otter

The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...

fur was a popular trade item on the shores under the jurisdiction of Santo Tomás. In 1809, the Boston vessel Dromio acquired 1,700 furs in the course of a 34-day period in the bay of Ensenada. It is worth mentioning that most of the commerce near San Tomás was illegal because of the Spanish Crown's restrictions against trading with vessels under foreign flags.

Beginning in the late 1790s, grapes were grown for winemaking. Santo Tomas is home today to several Baja winemakers and is one of the three principal grape growing and wine making regions in Baja California.

List of resident padres

Missionaries who directed Mission Santo Tomás during its formative years included:

• 1791 – 1797 José Loriente
• 1798 – 1803 [Miguel López
• 1803 – 1803 Eudaldo Surroca