Page 278 - Mexico Diving From the Caribbean to Pacific Isles
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his time the Spaniards sailed the full enabled other Jesuits to introduce more population. The Spanish presence on the
missions throughout the area—a total of 23 peninsula consisted primarily of missions,
T length of the Sea of Cortés, discovering over the next 70 years. However, King Carlos and the missions were closely linked to the
III of Spain became wary of the Jesuits’ grow- Spanish crown. The end of Spanish rule in
that Baja was actually a peninsula. Cortés re- ing power and, in 1767, ordered that they be Mexico spelled the end of the missions’ ad-
turned to Spain in 1541 without fully explor- expelled at gunpoint and returned to Spain ministrative authority as well. After gaining
ing or colonizing Baja California. In 1542, immediately. The Franciscans moved into its independence in 1821, Mexico estab-
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo ventured into the the vacuum left by the Jesuits, and—under lished Baja California as a federal territory.
region, but it proved to be the last explora- the authority of Father Junipero Serra—they
tion for 50 years. In January 1683, the Span- closed or consolidated several of the existing T he Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
ish government provisioned three ships missions and established one of their own, had major repercussions in Baja Cali-
with 200 men and gave them a mandate San Fernando Velicatá. At the direction of fornia. The war began after Mexico refused
to colonize the peninsula. The expedition, the Spanish government, Father Serra con- the United States’ offer to buy California,
led by Sinaloa’s governor Isidro de Atondo tinued to move north, where he established Nevada, Utah and parts of Colorado, Ari-
y Antillón, sailed into the Sea of Cortés and 21 new missions in Alta California (present- zona, New Mexico and Wyoming. In the
attempted its first settlement at La Paz; day California). In the late 1700s, the Do- treaty ending the war, Mexico gave in to
however, hostility from local tribes forced minicans became active in Baja California. U.S. demands and ceded the vast territory
the expedition to move on. When a sec- By 1800, they had established nine new mis- in exchange for $15 million. The original
ond settlement failed for the same reason, sions in the northern part of Baja and contin- draft of the treaty included Baja California
the expedition returned to the mainland. ued to oversee the existing Jesuit missions. in the sale, but the United States eventu-
Twelve years later, in 1695, a Jesuit priest ally agreed to omit the peninsula because
named Juan María Salvatierra established T he independence movement in Mexi- of its proximity to Sonora, which is lo-
the region’s first permanent Spanish settle- co began in 1810, but Baja California’s cated just across the narrow Sea of Cortés.
ment, the Misión Nuestra Señora de Loreto, involvement was minimal, given its small
which quickly became the peninsula’s reli-
gious and administrative capital. Its success
