Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte

Mission Guadalupe del Norte (Spanish: Misión Guadalupe del Norte), also known as Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte, is a Spanish mission located in Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California. It was founded by the Dominican missionary Félix Caballero in June 1834 in an area long inhabited by the Kumeyaay people. The mission was the last of the Dominican missions to be founded, and one of only two founded after Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821.

Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte is located in Baja California
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte
Location in Baja California
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte is located in Mexico
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte
Location in Mexico
LocationValle de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico
Coordinates32°5′31″N 116°34′27″W / 32.09194°N 116.57417°W / 32.09194; -116.57417
Name as foundedMisión de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte
PatronMary, mother of Jesus
Founding dateJune 1834 (1834-06)
Founding OrderDominican
Native tribe(s)
Spanish name(s)
Kumeyaay

Location

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Location of Mission Guadalupe del Norte among the Spanish missions in Baja California

The mission's inland site, about 25 kilometers east of Misión San Miguel was presumably chosen for the agricultural potential of its wide valley. Wheat, olives, pears, and grapes were among the crops that were produced.

History

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Mission Guadalupe del Norte may have had about 400 Kumeyaay Indians in its care. However, conflicts seem to have been frequent, both with the local groups and with Quechan from as far away as the lower Colorado River. In 1840, a rebellion under a local leader, Jatñil, forced Caballero to abandon the mission.

Construction

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Stone foundations and adobe walls from the short-lived mission survived at the site as late as the middle twentieth century. Only the foundations of the original mission complex remain.

See also

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References

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  • Mathes, W. Michael. 2001. "Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe: The Last Mission of the Californias and Theater of Conflicts, 1795–1840". Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 37(4):25-29
  • Meigs, Peveril, III. 1935. The Dominican Mission Frontier of Lower California. University of California Publications in Geography No. 7. Berkeley.
  • Meigs, Peveril, III. 2001. "Guadalupe: Last Mission of the Californias". Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 37(4):19-24.
  • Vernon, Edward W. 2002. Las Misiones Antiguas: The Spanish Missions of Baja California, 1683–1855. Viejo Press, Santa Barbara, California.