THE MISSION OF OUR LADY OF DOLORES DE APATÉ

 

Author: Sealtiel Enciso Pérez

The colonizing advance of the Jesuits in California was from north to south. It began with the establishment of the Mission and Royal Presidio of Loreto and gradually advanced through the Cochimi territory until reaching the borders of the Guaycura territory. During the overland journey of the priest Clemente Guillén to reach the port of La Paz (formerly Santa Cruz), he found the settlement of Apaté and decided to establish a mission that would be a point of colonization for the Guaycura Nation.

Next, I transcribe how this colonial establishment was carried out as well as the difficulties that led to its abandonment. The author of this writing is the American philosopher James Arraj in his book "An Expedition to the Guaycura Nation in the Californias":

"The missions of Nuestra Señora de Los Dolores and San Luis Gonzaga continue to dominate our historical knowledge of the Guaycuras, as it has been from the writings of the missionaries that we have obtained most of what we know about them. It is interesting to consider that the era of missions in the Guaycura nation lasted only 47 years, in contrast to the era of rancherías that has lasted more than 200 years and the prehistoric era of the area that dates back thousands of years. The history of the Jesuit missions focuses mainly on three missionaries: Clemente Guillén, whom we have already spoken of, Lamberto Hostell, and Jacobo Baegert.

On his return from his expedition to La Paz, Guillén deliberated with his superior, Francisco María Píccolo. Píccolo wanted Guillén to take over the mission of Loreto when he died, and he at that time only wished to establish a new mission between Ligüí and La Paz.

In 1702, Píccolo had written an enthusiastic description of California in which important facts hardly coincide. As Harry Crosby puts it, he described the California peninsula "in terms that would make a modern real estate swindler blush," and when he came to this new mission his enthusiasm did not diminish.

On July 17, 1721, he wrote: (...) a beautiful and spacious area has been found, (and it is) considered suitable for a mission, because of a large number of natives living nearby and the lands are watered by nine springs that produce a large volume of water. And since Father Clemente also visited the place, I authorized him to plant some corn (since it was easy to obtain water for irrigation) and prepare the area to establish the mission of Los Dolores. Thus, the missionary who goes there will find a good start and with peaceful natives. I hope that you can send me Father Cristóbal Laris to found this new mission of Dolores (...); it is imperative to settle the area between this mission and that of Pilar de La Paz, at a distance, as all are maintained, of more than 100 leagues. Recently, a contingent of 8 soldiers, who took some colts and horses to Father Jaime in La Paz, took 29 days to reach him and 18 to return, traveling all the time through the lands of non-converted Indians.

The trip to La Paz actually took 26 days one way and 14 days back, and as Bravo wrote, there were three soldiers and four servants. Nevertheless, it is Guillén who would actually found the mission of Los Dolores at the site of Apaté, in August 1721, "with the aim," he says later, "of reducing to obedience to the Holy Church and His Majesty the numerous and barbarous Waicura Nation". The mission is supported by a donation of ten thousand pesos from the Marquis José Villapuente may have brought some of his converts from Ligüí with him.

The summary of Guillén's mission objectives symbolizes the overall program of the Jesuit missions and their disadvantages. The Indians are eventually encouraged to leave their scattered rancherías for the mission, and their stations or towns, where they will learn not only to be Christians but also to be subject to the Spanish Crown. But the mission, sometimes poorly located as Ligüí was, is then abandoned due to the insurmountable problem of trying to feed and clothe the Indians, a task that often could not be carried out with their own resources due to a lack of suitable land, sufficient water, or trained workers. This left them with the need to continue with subsidies in the form of supplies from the continent that had to be sent to California. The Indians, therefore, by gathering them, began to quickly lose their own culture and, sometimes, even their language; they became prime targets of European infectious diseases.

Despite Father Píccolo's exaggerated praises, the site of the mission in Apaté was never optimal, but the springs and farmland that could be cultivated, along with its proximity to the sea that facilitated communication with Loreto, induced Guillén to put the first mission there. Most of the Indians, however - as he would soon discover - were up in the Sierra del Tesoro, in Chiyá and beyond.

Bibliography:

An Expedition to the Guaycura Nation in California - James Arraj.