Pirates, Jesuit Missions, and Petroglyphs
In the distant past, Baja's remote proximity to mainland Mexico, its unforgiving environment, its lack of natural resources, and its sometimes unfriendly native Indians made it difficult to explore and almost impossible to settle. The cost in human life, resources, and time was high. Sailing under the Spanish flag, 15th century mariners Hernan Cortez, for which the Sea of Cortez is named, Diego Becerra, and Juan Cabrillo were responsible for the early navigation and mapping of the "island" known as Isla De California. Directed by the crown to expand Spanish dominance and Catholicism in the new world, the first attempts to reach Baja resulted in two ships being captured by pirates in the Sea of Cortez. The second endeavor, captained by Diego Becerra, ended in a mutiny of the ship and Becerra's murder at the hands of his own crew.
The first to actually make landfall was Fortun Jimenez, who led the mutiny against Diego. Landing near present-day La Paz, the celebration was short-lived. At the hands of hostile native Amerindians, Jimenez and 22 of his mutineers were killed while attempting to restock their water casks. A third attempt in 1535, captained by Hernan Cortez, included 500 men, women, and children. The settlement lasted just two years before falling to disease, lack of supplies from the mainland, and unfriendly natives. Reflecting on the extreme difficulties of early adventurers reminded us how tough they were and how glad we were to have our trusty 4x4s.
Settlement of the peninsula and the eventual development of a 20-strong missions system did not happen for more than a century after the first attempts. Commissioned to the Jesuits between the years of 1697 to 1767, a contingent of padres, accompanied by regular Spanish soldiers, expanded colonial influence and Christianity by developing a series of missions. Through assimilation of the willing and elimination of those who resisted or rebelled, it is estimated that half of the 40,000 indigenous Amerindians were converted to Christianity or controlled by the Jesuits. The last and northernmost mission credited to the Jesuits was remote Mission Santa Maria, near present-day Catavina. This was our destination.
Due to its remote location and 15 miles of boulder-strewn access road, Mission Santa Maria has often been called Mission Impossible. It sits in a valley known to the indigenous Cochimi Indians as Cabujakamaang, or "place where the spirits dwell."The road to get there was truly the worst - we mean, best - route we had encountered on our adventure south. We liked the idea of doing some good rockcrawling beyond the sight of any stray tourists on the highway. We veered off the pavement to a sandy arroyo south of Catavina. The track quickly disappeared, and we found ourselves navigating through a half-mile sluice of limestone boulders and loose sand. We located the actual route near the local airstrip, and a gravelly two-track led us east. Rising into the southern reaches of the Sierra San Pedro Martir, we cleared a low summit and were treated to a panoramic view of Bahia San Luis Gonzaga and Punta Final, where we had kayaked and camped a week earlier.