Spanish missions in Baja California - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Spanish Missions in Baja California comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

Catholic religious orders, the Jesuits

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

, the Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

s and 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...

s, between 1683 and 1834 to spread the Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

doctrine among the local natives. The missions gave Spain a valuable toehold in the frontier land, and introduced Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

, fruit

Fruit

In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...

s, vegetables, and industry

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

into the region. Eventually, a network of settlements was established wherein each of the installations was no more than a long day's ride by horse or boat (or three days on foot) from another.

As early as the voyages of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...

, the Kingdom of Spain

Spain

sought to establish missions to convert pagans

Paganism

Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....

to Catholicism

Catholicism

Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

in Nueva España (New Spain

New Spain

New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...

). New Spain consisted of the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, and portions of what is now the Southwestern

Southwestern United States

The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

). To facilitate colonization

Spanish colonization of the Americas

Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...

, the Catholic Church awarded

Inter caetera

Inter caetera was a papal bull issued by Pope Alexander VI on , which granted to Spain all lands to the "west and south" of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues west and south of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde Islands.It remains unclear to the present whether the pope was issuing a...

these lands to Spain.

Background

In addition to the presidio (royal fort) and pueblo (town), the misión was one of three major agencies employed by the Spanish crown to extend its borders and consolidate its colonial

Colonialism

Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...

territories. Asistencias ("sub-missions" or "contributing chapels") were small-scale missions that regularly conducted Divine service on days of obligation, but lacked a resident priest. Visitas ("visiting chapels") also lacked a resident priest, and were often attended only sporadically. Since 1493, the Crown of Spain

Crown of Castile

The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...

had maintained missions throughout Nueva España.

Each frontier

Frontier

A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...

station was forced to be self-supporting, as existing means of supply were inadequate to maintain a colony of any size. To sustain a mission, the padres needed colonists or converted Indigenous Americans

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

, called neophytes, to cultivate crops

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

and tend livestock

Livestock

in the volume needed to support a fair-sized establishment. Scarcity of imported materials and lack of skilled laborers compelled the Fathers to employ simple building materials and methods. Although the Spanish hierarchy

Hierarchy

A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...

considered the missions temporary ventures, individual settlement development was not based simply on "priestly whim." The founding of a mission followed longstanding rules and procedures. The paperwork involved required months, sometimes years of correspondence, and demanded the attention of virtually every level of the bureaucracy. Once empowered to erect a mission in a given area, the men assigned to it chose a specific site that featured a good water supply, plenty of wood for fires and building material, and ample fields for grazing herds and raising crops

Agriculture

. The padres blessed the site, and with the aid of their military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

escort fashioned temporary shelters out of tree limbs or driven stakes, roofed with thatch or reed

Phragmites

Phragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...

s (cañas). It was these simple huts that would ultimately give way to the stone and adobe buildings that exist today.

The first priority when beginning a settlement was location and construction of the church (iglesia). The majority of mission sanctuaries were oriented on a roughly east-west axis to take the best advantage of the sun's position for interior illumination; the exact alignment depended on the geographic features of the particular site. Once the spot for the church was selected, its position would be marked and the remainder of the mission complex would be laid out. The workshop

Workshop

A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...

s, kitchen

Kitchen

A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...

s, living quarters, storerooms, and other ancillary chambers were usually grouped in the form of a quadrangle

Quadrangle (architecture)

In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...

, inside which religious celebrations and other festive events often took place. The cuadrángulo was rarely perfectly square because the Fathers had no surveying

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

instruments at their disposal, and simply measured off dimensions by foot.

Missions in present day Baja California (Mexico)

Fortún Jiménez de Bertadoña discovered the Baja California Peninsula

Baja California Peninsula

The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...

in early 1534. However, it was Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...

who recognized the peninsula as the "Island of California

Island of California

The Island of California refers to a long-held European misconception, dating from the 16th century, that California was not part of mainland North America but rather a large island separated from the continent by a strait now known instead as the Gulf of California.One of the most famous...

" in May 1535, and is therefore officially credited with the discovery. In January 1683, the Spanish

Spain

government chartered an expedition consisting of three ships to transport a contingent of 200 men to the southern tip of Baja California

Baja California Sur

Baja California Sur , is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises...

. Under the command of the governor

Governor

A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...

of Sinaloa

Sinaloa

Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....

, Isidoro de Atondo y Antillon

Isidoro de Atondo y Antillon

The Spanish admiral Isidro de Atondo y Antillón is best known for his role in unsuccessful attempts to establish colonies on the Baja California peninsula in 1683–1865....

, and accompanied by Jesuit priest Eusebio Francisco Kino, the ships made landfall in La Paz

La Paz

Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...

. The landing party was eventually forced to abandon its initial settlement at San Bruno due to the hostile response on the part of the natives. In 1695, the missionaries

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

attempted to establish a settlement near Loreto

Loreto, Baja California Sur

Loreto was the first Spanish settlement on the Baja California Peninsula. It served as the capital of Las Californias from 1697 to 1777, and is the current seat of the municipality of Loreto in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur...

but again failed. Father Kino and Atondo y Antillon returned to the Mexican

Mexico

mainland, where Kino went on to establish a number of missions in the Pimaria Alta, now located in southern Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, USA and Sonora

Sonora

Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo....

, Mexico

Mexico

. A Jesuit priest named Juan María de Salvatierra

Juan María de Salvatierra

Juan María de Salvatierra was a Catholic missionary to the Americas.His family was of Spanish origin, the name being written originally Salva-Tierra. Born in Milan, Italy, he studied in the Jesuit college of Parma. It was there that he accidentally came across a book upon the "Indian missions,"...

eventually managed to establish the first permanent Spanish settlement, the Misión Nuestra Senora de Loreto Conchó. Founded, on October 19, 1697, the Mission went on to become the religious and administrative capital of 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...

. From there, other Jesuits went out to establish other settlements throughout the peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

, founding a total of 18 missions and two visitas ("visiting stations" or "country chapels") along the initial segment of El Camino Real

El Camino Real (California)

El Camino Real and sometimes associated with Calle Real usually refers to the 600-mile California Mission Trail, connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions , 4 presidios, and several pueblos, stretching from Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego...

over the next seven decades.

Unlike the mainland settlements that were designed to be self-sustaining enterprises, the remote and harsh conditions on the peninsula made it all but impossible to build and maintain these missions without ongoing assistance from the mainland. Supply lines from across the Sea of Cortez in the Port of Guaymas

Guaymas

Guaymas is a city and municipality located in the southwest part of the state of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. The city is located 117 km south of the state capital of Hermosillo, and 242 miles from the U.S. border, and is the principal port for the state. The municipality is located in the...

played a crucial role in keeping the Baja California mission system intact. Along with religion, the Europe

Europe

ans brought with them diseases that the indigenous peoples had never been exposed to, and consequently had no immunity against. By 1767, epidemic

Epidemic

In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...

s of measles

Measles

Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...

, plague

Bubonic plague

Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...

, smallpox

Smallpox

Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...

, typhus

Typhus

Epidemic typhus is a form of typhus so named because the disease often causes epidemics following wars and natural disasters...

, and venereal diseases had decimated the native population. Out of an initial population of as many as 50,000, only some 5,000 are thought to have survived.

During the sixty years that the Jesuits were permitted to serve among the natives of California, 56 members of the Society of Jesus

Society of Jesus

came to the Baja California peninsula, of whom 16 died at their posts (two as martyrs). 15 priests and one lay brother survived the hardships, only to be subjected to enforcement of the brutal decree launched against the Society by King Carlos III of Spain

Charles III of Spain

Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...

. It was rumored that the Jesuit priests had amassed a fortune on the peninsula and were becoming very powerful. On February 3, 1768 the King ordered the Jesuits forcibly expelled from "New Spain" and returned to the home country. The Franciscans, under the leadership of Fray Junípero Serra

Junípero Serra

Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...

, took charge of the missions and closed or consolidated several of the existing installations. The order also founded Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá

Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá

Located in Baja California, Mexico about 200 miles south of Ensenada, Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá was the only mission founded by Franciscans in Baja California....

(the only Franciscan mission in all of Baja California) and the nearby Visita de la Presentación

Visita de la Presentación

During their brief presence in Baja California, the Franciscans established Visita de la Presentación, a subordinate mission station for San Javier, about 16 kilometers south of that mission, west of Loreto in Baja California Sur....

in 1769. A total of 39 Friars Minor

Franciscan

toiled on the peninsula during the five years and five months of Franciscan rule. 4 of them died, 10 were transferred to Alta California, and the remainder returned to Europe. Along with Governor Gaspar de Portolà

Gaspar de Portolà

Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira was a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California , explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal...

, Father Serra was ordered by the Spanish government to travel north and establish a series of mission sites in Alta (Upper) California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Representatives of the Dominican order

Dominican Order

arrived in 1772, and by 1800, had established 9 more missions in northern Baja

Baja California

, all the while continuing with the administration of the former the Jesuit missions. The peninsula was divided into two separate entities in 1804, with the southern one having the seat of government established in the Port of Loreto. In 1810, Mexico sought to end Spanish colonial rule, gaining her independence

Mexican War of Independence

The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...

in 1821, after which Mexican President Guadalupe Victoria

Guadalupe Victoria

Guadalupe Victoria born José Miguel Ramón Adaucto Fernández y Félix, was a Mexican politician and military man who fought for independence against the Spanish Empire in the Mexican War of Independence. He was a deputy for Durango and a member of the Supreme Executive Power...

named Lt. Col. José María Echeandía

José María Echeandía

José María de Echeandía was twice Mexican governor of Alta California from 1825 to 1831 and again from 1832 to 1833.Echeandía supported the Mexican government's secularization the Alta California missions and redistribution of the holdings as land grant ranchos.-See also:*List of pre-statehood...

governor of Baja California Sur and divided it in four separate municipios (municipalities

Municipality

A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

). The capital was moved to La Paz

La Paz, Baja California Sur

La Paz is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and an important regional commercial center. The city had a 2010 census population of 215,178 persons, but its metropolitan population is somewhat larger because of surrounding towns like el Centenario, el Zacatal and San Pedro...

, in 1830, after Loreto was partially destroyed by heavy rains. In 1833, after Baja California was designated as a federal territory, the governor formally put an end to the mission system by converting the missions into parish churches.

In geographical order, north to south

Baja California (state)

Misión El Descanso
Misión El Descanso
Mission El Descanso was founded in 1817 among the Kumeyaay by Dominican missionary Tomás de Ahumada at a site 22 kilometers south of the present-day city of Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico....

(Misión San Miguel la Nueva), in Rosarito
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte
Mission Guadalupe was founded by the Dominican missionary Félix Caballero in June 1834, at the site of the modern community of Guadalupe, Baja California...

, in Guadalupe
Guadalupe, Baja California
Valle de Guadalupe , or Francisco Zarco is a village located in the municipio of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, 20 km north of the city of Ensenada...
Misión San Miguel Arcángel de la Frontera
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...

, in 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...
Misión Santa Catarina Virgen y Mártir
Misión Santa Catarina Virgen y Mártir
Mission Santa Catarina was founded on November 12, 1797 in the present-day Valle of El Álamo in the municipio of Ensenada, Baja California, México, by the Dominican missionary José Loriente....

, in 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...
Misión Santo Tomás de Aquino
Misión Santo Tomás de Aquino
Mission Santo Tomás was founded on April 24, 1791 by the Dominican missionary José Loriente, with the authorization of the president of the missions, Juan Crisóstomo Gómez....
Misión San Vicente Ferrer
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....
Misión Santo Domingo de la Frontera
Misión Santo Domingo de la Frontera
Mission Santo Domingo was founded among the Kiliwa Indians of Baja California, Mexico, by the Dominicans Miguel Hidalgo and Manuel García in 1775. It is located near Colonia Vicente Guerrero and northeast of San Quintín Bay ....

, near Colonia Vicente Guerrero
Misión San Pedro Mártir de Verona
Misión San Pedro Mártir de Verona
Mission San Pedro Mártir was established by the Dominican missionary José Loriente in 1794, in the mountain range of the same name in northern Baja California, Mexico....
Misión Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario de Viñacado
Misión Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario de Viñacado
Mission El Rosario was the first Dominican mission in Baja California, established in 1774 by Vicente Mora and Francisco Galisteo near the modern town of El Rosario....

, near El Rosario
El Rosario, Baja California
El Rosario is a small town on the west coast of the state of Baja California on Highway 1, 61 kmsouth of San Quintín and 119 km north of Cataviña. The census of 2010 reported a population of 1,704 inhabitants...
Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá
Visita de Calamajué
Visita de Calamajué
The Cochimí settlement of Calamajué in Baja California, Mexico was briefly, in 1766–1767, a Jesuit visita or subordinate mission station....

(Visita de Calamyget) in Calamajué
Misión Santa María de los Ángeles
Misión Santa María de los Ángeles
Mission Santa María de los Ángeles was the last of the missions established by the Jesuits in Baja California, Mexico, in 1767. The site chosen was the Cochimí settlement of Cabujakaamung , west of Bahía San Luis Gonzaga near the Gulf of California coast, about 22 kilometers east of Rancho Santa...

, near Cataviña
Cataviña, Baja California
Cataviña, Baja California is a small town on Highway 1 in the Mexican state of Baja California. It is located 118 km south of El Rosario and 106 km north of the junction with the road to Bahía de los Ángeles....
Misión San Francisco Borja
Misión San Francisco Borja
San Borja was a Spanish mission established in 1762 by the Jesuit Wenceslaus Linck at the Cochimí settlement of Adac, west of Bahía de los Ángeles....
Misión Santa Gertrudis
Misión Santa Gertrudis
Mission Santa Gertrudis, called Dolores del Norte by some historians, was founded by the Jesuit missionary Jorge Retz in 1751 among the Cochimí Indians of the Baja California Peninsula, about 80 kilometers north of San Ignacio...

Baja California Sur

Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán
Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán
Mission San Ignacio was founded by the Jesuit missionary Juan Bautista de Luyando in 1728 at the site of the modern town of San Ignacio, Baja California Sur, Mexico....

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/san_ingnacio_kadakaaman_eng.htm, in San Ignacio
San Ignacio, Baja California Sur
San Ignacio is a palm oasis town in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, located between Guerrero Negro and Santa Rosalía. The town had a 2010 census population of 667 inhabitants and grew at the site of the Cochimí settlement of Kadakaamán and the Jesuit Mission San Ignacio founded in 1728 by...
Misión Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Huasinapi
Misión Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Huasinapi
Mission Guadalupe was established by the Jesuit Everardo Helen in 1720, at the Cochimí settlement of Huasinapí in the Sierra de la Giganta about 40 kilometers west of Mulegé, Baja California Sur, Mexico....

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/ntra_sra_guadalupe_guasinapi_eng.htm, in Guadalupe
Visita de San José de Magdalena
Visita de San José de Magdalena
The Visita de San José de Magdalena was founded in 1774 by the Dominican missionary Joaquín Valero to serve Cochimí Indians associated with the Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé in Baja California Sur, Mexico....

, in Santa Rosalía
Santa Rosalía, Baja California Sur
Santa Rosalía is a city located on the Baja California peninsula, in the northern part of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It was named after Saint Rosalia, although the reason for the name is not quite clear since the Misión de Santa Rosalía is not located by the town, but rather in...
Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé
Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé
Mission Santa Rosalía de Mulegé was founded in 1705 by the Jesuit missionary Juan Manuel de Basaldúa at a ranchería of the local Cochimí which was known as Mulegé, in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The site lies near the entrance of Bahía de Concepción, on the Gulf of California coast.A few odd...

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/sta_rosalia_mulege_eng.htm, in Mulegé
Mulegé
Mulegé is an oasis town in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, situated at the mouth of the Río de Santa Rosalía. It is the fourth-largest community in Mulegé Municipality...
Misión San Bruno
Misión San Bruno
The short-lived Jesuit mission of San Bruno was established in 1683 on the Gulf of California of Baja California Sur, about 20 kilometers north of the later site of the town of Loreto....

in San Bruno
San Bruno, Baja California Sur
San Bruno is a populated place at the Gulf of California in Mulegé Municipality in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is located at , about 20 kilometers north of the city of Mulegé. The short-lived Jesuit Misión San Bruno was established there in 1683, and abandoned in 1685...
Misión La Purísima Concepción de Cadegomó
Misión La Purísima Concepción de Cadegomó
Mission La Purísima, was founded about 100 kilometers west of Loreto in Baja California Sur, by the Jesuit missionary Nicolás Tamaral in 1720. By 1735 it had been moved to a new location at the Cochimí ranchería known as Cadegomó, meaning "arroyo of the carrizos", about 30 kilometers south of the...

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/la_purisima_concepcion_eng.htm, in La Purísima
Misión San Jose de Comondú
Misión San Jose de Comondú
Mission San José de Comondú was one of the Jesuit missions established early in the 18th century in Baja California Sur, Mexico, west of Loreto on an arroyo flowing to the Pacific coast. "Comondú" was a place name of the native Cochimí, who were the objects of the missionaries' efforts...

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/san_jose_comondu_eng.htm, north of Loreto
Loreto, Baja California Sur
Loreto was the first Spanish settlement on the Baja California Peninsula. It served as the capital of Las Californias from 1697 to 1777, and is the current seat of the municipality of Loreto in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur...
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó, or Mission Loreto, was founded on October 25, 1697 at the Monqui settlement of Conchó in the present city of Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico...

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/ntra_sra_loreto_eng.htm, in Loreto
Loreto, Baja California Sur
Loreto was the first Spanish settlement on the Baja California Peninsula. It served as the capital of Las Californias from 1697 to 1777, and is the current seat of the municipality of Loreto in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur...
Misión San Francisco Javier de Viggé-Biaundó http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/san_fco_javier_viggebiaundo_eng.htm, in San Javier
San Javier, Baja California Sur
San Javier is a village in Loreto Municipality in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is approximately 36 km southwest of Loreto on an unfinished road...
Misión San Juan Bautista Malibat
Misión San Juan Bautista Malibat
Mission San Juan Bautista was founded by the Jesuit missionary Pedro de Ugarte in 1705, about 30 kilometers south of Loreto near the Gulf of California coast of what is today the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. The site was intended to serve the local Monqui and Cochimí natives...

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/san_juan_bautista_ligui_eng.htm (Misión Liguí), in Liguí
Misión Nuestra Señora de los Dolores del Sur Chillá
Misión Nuestra Señora de los Dolores del Sur Chillá
The Jesuit missionary Clemente Guillén founded Mission Dolores in 1721, on the Gulf coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico, about midway between Loreto and La Paz in Baja California Sur, Mexico....

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/ntra_sra_los_dolores_eng.htm, between Loreto
Loreto, Baja California Sur
Loreto was the first Spanish settlement on the Baja California Peninsula. It served as the capital of Las Californias from 1697 to 1777, and is the current seat of the municipality of Loreto in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur...

and La Paz
La Paz, Baja California Sur
La Paz is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and an important regional commercial center. The city had a 2010 census population of 215,178 persons, but its metropolitan population is somewhat larger because of surrounding towns like el Centenario, el Zacatal and San Pedro...
Misión San Luis Gonzaga Chiriyaqui
Misión San Luis Gonzaga Chiriyaqui
Mission San Luis Gonzaga was a Jesuit mission established among the Guaycura on the Magdalena Plains of central Baja California Sur, Mexico.Initially in 1721 a visita or subordinate mission station of Mission Dolores near the coast to the east, the site was elevated to mission status by Lambert...

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/san_luis_gongaza_eng.htm, northwest of La Paz
La Paz, Baja California Sur
La Paz is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and an important regional commercial center. The city had a 2010 census population of 215,178 persons, but its metropolitan population is somewhat larger because of surrounding towns like el Centenario, el Zacatal and San Pedro...
Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz Airapí
Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz Airapí
Mission La Paz was established by the Jesuit missionaries Juan de Ugarte and Jaime Bravo in 1720, at the location of the modern city of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico....

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/ntra_sra_pilar_lapaz_eng.htm, in La Paz
La Paz, Baja California Sur
La Paz is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and an important regional commercial center. The city had a 2010 census population of 215,178 persons, but its metropolitan population is somewhat larger because of surrounding towns like el Centenario, el Zacatal and San Pedro...
Misión Santa Rosa de las Palmas
Misión Santa Rosa de las Palmas
Two names were given in succession to the Jesuit mission at Todos Santos in southern Baja California Sur, Mexico: Santa Rosa de las Palmas, and Nuestra Señora del Pilar de la Paz....

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/sta_rosa_laspalmas_todossantos_eng.htm (Misión Todos Santos), in Todos Santos
Todos Santos, Baja California Sur
Todos Santos is a small coastal town at the foothills of the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains, on the Pacific coast side of the Baja California Peninsula, about an hour's drive north of Cabo San Lucas on Highway 19 and an hour's drive southwest from La Paz. Todos Santos is located very near the Tropic...
Misión Santiago de Los Coras
Misión Santiago de Los Coras
Mission Santiago was founded by the Italian Jesuit Ignacio María Nápoli in 1724 at the native settlement of Aiñiní, about 40 kilometers north of San José del Cabo in the Cape Region of Baja California Sur, Mexico....

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/santiago_eng.htm, in Santiago
Santiago, Baja California Sur
Santiago is a small town in Los Cabos Municipality in Baja California Sur, Mexico, located on Mexico's Highway 1, about an hour's drive north of San José del Cabo....
Misión Estero de las Palmas de San José del Cabo Añuití
Misión Estero de las Palmas de San José del Cabo Añuití
Mission San José del Cabo was the southernmost of the Jesuit missions on the Baja California peninsula, located near the modern city of San José del Cabo in Baja California Sur, Mexico....

http://sepiensa.org.mx/contenidos/h_mexicanas/misiones/misiones/san_jose_cabo_eng.htm, in San José del Cabo

Jesuit Establishments (1683–1767)

Misión San Bruno
Misión San Bruno
The short-lived Jesuit mission of San Bruno was established in 1683 on the Gulf of California of Baja California Sur, about 20 kilometers north of the later site of the town of Loreto....

founded in 1683
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó, or Mission Loreto, was founded on October 25, 1697 at the Monqui settlement of Conchó in the present city of Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico...

founded in 1697
Visita de San Juan Bautista Londó
Visita de San Juan Bautista Londó
The Jesuit visita, or subordinate mission station, of San Juan Bautista Londó was founded by Juan María Salvatierra and Francisco María Piccolo in 1699...

founded in 1699
Misión San Francisco Javier de Viggé-Biaundó founded in 1699
Misión San Juan Bautista Malibat
Misión San Juan Bautista Malibat
Mission San Juan Bautista was founded by the Jesuit missionary Pedro de Ugarte in 1705, about 30 kilometers south of Loreto near the Gulf of California coast of what is today the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. The site was intended to serve the local Monqui and Cochimí natives...

(Misión Liguí) founded in 1705
Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé
Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé
Mission Santa Rosalía de Mulegé was founded in 1705 by the Jesuit missionary Juan Manuel de Basaldúa at a ranchería of the local Cochimí which was known as Mulegé, in Baja California Sur, Mexico. The site lies near the entrance of Bahía de Concepción, on the Gulf of California coast.A few odd...

founded in 1705
Misión San Jose de Comondú
Misión San Jose de Comondú
Mission San José de Comondú was one of the Jesuit missions established early in the 18th century in Baja California Sur, Mexico, west of Loreto on an arroyo flowing to the Pacific coast. "Comondú" was a place name of the native Cochimí, who were the objects of the missionaries' efforts...

founded in 1708
Misión La Purísima Concepción de Cadegomó
Misión La Purísima Concepción de Cadegomó
Mission La Purísima, was founded about 100 kilometers west of Loreto in Baja California Sur, by the Jesuit missionary Nicolás Tamaral in 1720. By 1735 it had been moved to a new location at the Cochimí ranchería known as Cadegomó, meaning "arroyo of the carrizos", about 30 kilometers south of the...

founded in 1720
Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz Airapí
Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz Airapí
Mission La Paz was established by the Jesuit missionaries Juan de Ugarte and Jaime Bravo in 1720, at the location of the modern city of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico....

founded in 1720
Misión Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Huasinapi
Misión Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Huasinapi
Mission Guadalupe was established by the Jesuit Everardo Helen in 1720, at the Cochimí settlement of Huasinapí in the Sierra de la Giganta about 40 kilometers west of Mulegé, Baja California Sur, Mexico....

founded in 1720
Misión Santiago de Los Coras
Misión Santiago de Los Coras
Mission Santiago was founded by the Italian Jesuit Ignacio María Nápoli in 1724 at the native settlement of Aiñiní, about 40 kilometers north of San José del Cabo in the Cape Region of Baja California Sur, Mexico....

founded in 1721
Misión Nuestra Señora de los Dolores del Sur Chillá
Misión Nuestra Señora de los Dolores del Sur Chillá
The Jesuit missionary Clemente Guillén founded Mission Dolores in 1721, on the Gulf coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico, about midway between Loreto and La Paz in Baja California Sur, Mexico....

founded in 1721
Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán
Misión San Ignacio Kadakaamán
Mission San Ignacio was founded by the Jesuit missionary Juan Bautista de Luyando in 1728 at the site of the modern town of San Ignacio, Baja California Sur, Mexico....

founded in 1728
Misión Estero de las Palmas de San José del Cabo Añuití
Misión Estero de las Palmas de San José del Cabo Añuití
Mission San José del Cabo was the southernmost of the Jesuit missions on the Baja California peninsula, located near the modern city of San José del Cabo in Baja California Sur, Mexico....

founded in 1730
Misión Santa Rosa de las Palmas
Misión Santa Rosa de las Palmas
Two names were given in succession to the Jesuit mission at Todos Santos in southern Baja California Sur, Mexico: Santa Rosa de las Palmas, and Nuestra Señora del Pilar de la Paz....

(Misión Todos Santos) founded in 1733
Misión San Luis Gonzaga Chiriyaqui
Misión San Luis Gonzaga Chiriyaqui
Mission San Luis Gonzaga was a Jesuit mission established among the Guaycura on the Magdalena Plains of central Baja California Sur, Mexico.Initially in 1721 a visita or subordinate mission station of Mission Dolores near the coast to the east, the site was elevated to mission status by Lambert...

founded in 1740
Misión Santa Gertrudis
Misión Santa Gertrudis
Mission Santa Gertrudis, called Dolores del Norte by some historians, was founded by the Jesuit missionary Jorge Retz in 1751 among the Cochimí Indians of the Baja California Peninsula, about 80 kilometers north of San Ignacio...

founded in 1752
Misión San Francisco Borja
Misión San Francisco Borja
San Borja was a Spanish mission established in 1762 by the Jesuit Wenceslaus Linck at the Cochimí settlement of Adac, west of Bahía de los Ángeles....

founded in 1762
Visita de Calamajué
Visita de Calamajué
The Cochimí settlement of Calamajué in Baja California, Mexico was briefly, in 1766–1767, a Jesuit visita or subordinate mission station....

(Visita de Calamyget) founded in 1766
Misión Santa María de los Ángeles
Misión Santa María de los Ángeles
Mission Santa María de los Ángeles was the last of the missions established by the Jesuits in Baja California, Mexico, in 1767. The site chosen was the Cochimí settlement of Cabujakaamung , west of Bahía San Luis Gonzaga near the Gulf of California coast, about 22 kilometers east of Rancho Santa...

founded in 1767

Franciscan Establishments (1768–1773)

Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá
Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá
Located in Baja California, Mexico about 200 miles south of Ensenada, Misión San Fernando Rey de España de Velicatá was the only mission founded by Franciscans in Baja California....

founded in 1769
Visita de la Presentación
Visita de la Presentación
During their brief presence in Baja California, the Franciscans established Visita de la Presentación, a subordinate mission station for San Javier, about 16 kilometers south of that mission, west of Loreto in Baja California Sur....

founded in 1769

Dominican Establishments (1774–1834)

Misión Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario de Viñacado
Misión Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario de Viñacado
Mission El Rosario was the first Dominican mission in Baja California, established in 1774 by Vicente Mora and Francisco Galisteo near the modern town of El Rosario....

founded in 1774
Visita de San José de Magdalena
Visita de San José de Magdalena
The Visita de San José de Magdalena was founded in 1774 by the Dominican missionary Joaquín Valero to serve Cochimí Indians associated with the Misión Santa Rosalía de Mulegé in Baja California Sur, Mexico....

founded in 1774
Misión Santo Domingo de la Frontera
Misión Santo Domingo de la Frontera
Mission Santo Domingo was founded among the Kiliwa Indians of Baja California, Mexico, by the Dominicans Miguel Hidalgo and Manuel García in 1775. It is located near Colonia Vicente Guerrero and northeast of San Quintín Bay ....

founded in 1775
Misión San Vicente Ferrer
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....

founded in 1780
Misión San Miguel Arcángel de la Frontera
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...

founded in 1797
Misión Santo Tomás de Aquino
Misión Santo Tomás de Aquino
Mission Santo Tomás was founded on April 24, 1791 by the Dominican missionary José Loriente, with the authorization of the president of the missions, Juan Crisóstomo Gómez....

founded in 1791
Misión San Pedro Mártir de Verona
Misión San Pedro Mártir de Verona
Mission San Pedro Mártir was established by the Dominican missionary José Loriente in 1794, in the mountain range of the same name in northern Baja California, Mexico....

founded in 1794
Misión Santa Catarina Virgen y Mártir
Misión Santa Catarina Virgen y Mártir
Mission Santa Catarina was founded on November 12, 1797 in the present-day Valle of El Álamo in the municipio of Ensenada, Baja California, México, by the Dominican missionary José Loriente....

founded in 1797
Visita de San Telmo
Visita de San Telmo
The visita or subordinate mission station of San Telmo may have been built in the years 1798-1800 by the Dominican missionaries based at Mission Santo Domingo....

founded in 1798
Misión El Descanso
Misión El Descanso
Mission El Descanso was founded in 1817 among the Kumeyaay by Dominican missionary Tomás de Ahumada at a site 22 kilometers south of the present-day city of Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico....

(Misión San Miguel la Nueva) founded in 1817
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte
Mission Guadalupe was founded by the Dominican missionary Félix Caballero in June 1834, at the site of the modern community of Guadalupe, Baja California...

founded in 1834

Father-Presidents of the Baja California Mission System

Father Junípero Serra
Junípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...

(1769–1784)
Father Francisco Palóu
Francisco Palóu
Francesc Palou was a Franciscan missionary, administrator, and historian on the Baja California peninsula and in Alta California. Father Palou's made significant contributions to the Alta California and Baja California mission systems...

(acting) (1784–1785)
Father Fermín Francisco de Lasuén (1785–1803)
Father Pedro Estévan Tápis
Pedro Estévan Tápis
Father Pedro Estévan Tápis was a Spanish missionary to the Americas.He was born at Santa Coloma de Farnes in Catalonia, Spain and joined the Franciscan order at Genoa on 22 January 1778...

(1803–1812)
Father José Francisco de Paula Señan
José Francisco de Paula Señan
Father José Francisco de Paula Señan was a Spanish missionary to the Americas.He was born in Barcelona, Spain and entered the Franciscan Order in 1774. In 1784 he was incorporated in the missionary College of San Fernando de Mexico, and in 1787 traveled to California...

(1812–1815)
Father Mariano Payeras
Mariano Payéras
Father Mariano Payéras was a Spanish missionary to the Americas.He was born at Inca on the Island of Majorca and joined the Franciscan order. He received the habit of St...

(1815–1820)
Father José Francisco de Paula Señan (1820–1823)
Father Vicente Francisco de Sarría
Vicente Francisco de Sarría
Father Vicente Francisco de Sarría was a Spanish missionary to the Americas.Father Sarría baptized John Gilroy, the first foreigner to permanently settle in California. Gilroy landed from the Isaac Todd in Monterey in 1814, and was baptized Juan Antonio Maria on September 29 of that year...

(1823–1824)
Father Narciso Durán
Narciso Durán
Narciso Durán, OFM was a Franciscan friar and missionary. He arrived in California in 1806 after studying briefly at the missionary College of San Fernando de Mexico...

(1824–1827)
Father José Bernardo Sánchez
José Bernardo Sánchez
Father José Bernardo Sánchez was a Spanish missionary in North America.-Early Life:Born in Robledillo, Old Castile, Spain, Sánchez became a Franciscan on October 9, 1794 and in 1803 joined the missionary College of San Fernando de Mexico in New Spain .-California Missions:He traveled on to Las...

(1827–1830)
Father García Diego (1831–1835)
Father José Maria González Rubio (1835–1843)
Father José Anzar (1843–?)

The "Father-Presidente" was the head of the Catholic missions in Alta and Baja California. He was appointed by the apostolic college in Mexico City until 1812, when the position became known as the "Commissary Prefect" who was appointed by the Commissary General of the Indies (a Franciscan residing in Spain). Beginning in 1831, separate individuals were elected to oversee Upper and Lower California.

External links

www.ca-missions.org — The official website of the California Mission Studies Association, a good source of accurate, peer-reviewed information on Mission Era history with an extensive links page.
California Missions article at The Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
Missions of Baja California and Baja California Sur
Google earth map of the Baja missions
Reseña histórica de las misiones de Baja California by Dr. W. Michael Mathes (in Spanish)

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Background

Missions in present day Baja California (Mexico)

In geographical order, north to south

Baja California (state)

Baja California Sur

Jesuit Establishments (1683–1767)

Franciscan Establishments (1768–1773)

Dominican Establishments (1774–1834)

Father-Presidents of the Baja California Mission System

See also

Further reading

External links