Mission Santa Catarina ( es, Misión Santa Catarina Virgen y Mártir) was a
Spanish mission in present-day
Valle del Álamo
Valle may refer to:
* Valle (surname)
Geography
*"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina
* University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colom ...
in
Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. It was founded on 12 November 1797 by the
Dominican missionary José Loriente. Virtually nothing remains of the original structures. Archaeological investigations of the mission's traces are in progress.
Location
The site chosen for the mission lay on a plateau at an elevation of above sea level, surrounded by an irrigable valley in the
Sierra de Juárez
The Sierra de Juárez, also known as the Sierra Juarez, is a mountain range located in Tecate Municipality and northern Ensenada Municipality, within the northern Baja California state of northwestern Mexico.
It is a major mountain range in the ...
, some east of
Mission Santo Tomás. The location was previously known to the native
Paipai as Ha'ketepohol, meaning "water that falls loudly". Following the precedent of
Mission San Pedro Mártir, it was the second and last of the Baja California missions to be situated in such mountainous terrain.
Today, Santa Catarina is a village of the
Paipai and
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
people.
Mission history
The potential mission site was identified in 1794 by a military party led by Sergeant José Manuel Ruiz and accompanied by missionary Tomás Valdellón. In 1796 lieutenant José Joaquín de Arrillaga, a former ''gobernor'' (governor) of the Californias, confirmed the suitability of the site.
A key factor in the selection of this location was its proximity to the pass of Portezuelo, on a route that led east to the desert and to the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
. The mission was intended as a defensive fort against eastern intruders as well as a center for converting the local Indians to Christianity.
Physical construction of the Mission complex began on August 6, 1797. By 1812, the administration of the mission had been turned over to the authorities at
Mission San Vicente. Yet in 1824, the mission was home to 600 neophytes, making it the most populous of the Dominican missions in Baja California at that time.
From the onset, the missionaries had to deal with the theft of cattle and attacks by the locals. In 1840, hostile raiders struck, killing 16 neophytes and burning the mission. Mexican soldiers launched a
punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavio ...
, but the mission was not rebuilt.
Accounts of the mission's demise
An account of the destruction of the mission was given by a Santa Catarina Indian:
A year or two after Fray Félix left for Guadalupe, one September, when most of the people were away from Santa Catalina getting piñon to the northward along the eastern slope of the Sierra Juarez, the Keliwa came and burned the mission. The sacristan and a few old women were there, but they escaped. (A more authentic version states that sixteen of the neophytes were killed in the attack.) Nicuárr, with 500 of his people, pursued the Keliwa into the San Pedro Mártir Sierra and killed most of them (Meigs 1935:122–123).
Still other accounts maintain that the uprising that destroyed the mission included not only the
Kiliwa but also the
Paipai,
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
from La Huerta, and Colorado River groups such as the
Quechan
The Quechan (or Yuma) ( Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended') are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite th ...
and
Cocopa
The Cocopah (Cocopah language, Cocopah: Xawitt Kwñchawaay) are Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans who live in Baja California (state), Baja California, Mexico, and Arizona, United States.
In the United States, Cocopah peop ...
as well:
They were without a leader in the attack; all fought like animals. They all hated the frailes: the Indians died when the frailes came. They hated the missionaries. (Meigs 1935:123)
Thereafter, the Kiliwa renamed Santa Catarina Wa'iú-ichíu, a combination of the words ''wa'' (house), ''iú'' (empty), and ''ichíu'' (burned).
Appropriation by the Mexican Government
Following the
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de México, links=no, 16 September 1810 – 27 September 1821) was an armed conflict and political process resulting in Mexico's independence from Spain. It was not a single, co ...
, the 1.5 million acres of land owned by the mission was appropriated by the
anticlerical
Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...
Mexican government. In 1855, the Mexican government
granted ownership of the lands of the ex-mission of Santa Catarina to General Ricardo Palacio for his patriotic service to the nation. The grant was made on the conditions that 1) Palacio take possession of the land and have it surveyed within three years, 2) build six houses on the property, and 3) that the land would not be sold to a non-citizen or foreign buyer. In 1861 or 1862, General Palacio passed some of the land to a Manual Castro, who in turn sold it to William Denton, which began the land's passage through several foreign hands. In response, the Mexican government nullified the original grant to General Palacio on the grounds that Palacio had not complied with the conditions of the grant. Ownership of the former lands of Mission Santa Catarina continued to be contested as late as 1916.
The Mission compound
As a defensive measure, the 77 × 53 m mission proper was enclosed by a substantial wall. A watchtower was constructed at the northeast corner, and the only access to the compound was a via a single door located at the south corner.
Valdellón reported in 1797 that the Santa Catarina ''capilla'' (chapel) was constructed of
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
bricks and measured 10 × 5 m, and featured a flat roof; it housed a 150 cm tall statue of Saint
Catherine of Alexandria
Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, wh ...
. The missionary living quarters measured little more than 25 m², as did the granary. There were also ancillary structures housing three workshops and a women's dormitory, each measuring 5 m square. Additional support buildings were constructed in 1798 and 1799.
As agriculture was fundamental for the subsistence of the site, mission industries consisted mainly of the cultivation of
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
and
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
, and the raising and trading of
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
,
donkey
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
s,
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s,
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
s,
mule
The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...
s, and
sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
.
The nearby ''rancherías'' of Agua Caliente, Agua Caliente del Portezuelo, Cerro Colorado, El Portezuelo, El Rincón, La Ciénega, La Huerta, Los Bateques, Poza de González, San Pablo, and Sangre de Cristo were integrated into the Mission holdings.
List of resident padres
The following account of Santa Catarina's resident priests is based on the President of the Missions' ''nómina sacra'', or chart of "sacred names":
* 1674-1689 Bachiller Diego Lucero de Godoy
* 1797–1804 Tomás Valdellón
* 1804–1807 Jacinto Fiol
* 1807–1809 Manuel de Águila
* 1809–1810 Antonio Fernández
* 1810–1811 José Duro
* 1811–1812 Manuel Sáiz
* 1812–1815 no information available
* 1815–1817 Antonio Fernández
* 1817–1819 no information available
* 1819–1839
Félix Caballero Félix Caballero was a Dominican priest. He played an important part in the history of the missions of Baja California, and also the opening up of the route to Tucson, Arizona.
Caballero arrived at Veracruz on December 19, 1812 and traveled to Ba ...
See also
*
Spanish missions in Baja California
The Spanish missions in Baja California were a large number of religious outposts established by Catholic religious orders, the Jesuits, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, between 1683 and 1834 to spread the Christian doctrine among the Nativ ...
References
* Mason, William M. 1978. "A Strategic Mission: Santa Catarina". ''Journal of California Anthropology'' 5:277–287.
* Meigs, Peveril, III. 1935. ''The Dominican Mission Frontier of Lower California''. University of California Publications in Geography No. 7. Berkeley.
* Vernon, Edward W. 2002. ''Las Misiones Antiguas: The Spanish Missions of Baja California, 1683–1855''. Viejo Press, Santa Barbara, California.
External links
Ex-Mission of Santa Catarina Legal FileMSS 124
Special Collections & Archives UC San Diego Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mision Santa Catarina Virgen y Martir
Catarina
Landmarks in Ensenada
1797 establishments in New Spain
Archaeological sites in Baja California