The Jesuit

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

 missionary Clemente Guillén founded Mission Dolores in 1721, on the Gulf coast of Baja California Sur

Baja California Sur

Baja California Sur , is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises...

, Mexico, about midway between Loreto and La Paz

Misión de Nuestra Señora del Pilar de La Paz Airapí

Mission La Paz was established by the Jesuit missionaries Juan de Ugarte and Jaime Bravo in 1720, at the location of the modern city of La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico....

 in Baja California Sur

Baja California Sur

Baja California Sur , is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state on October 8, 1974, the area was known as the South Territory of Baja California. It has an area of , or 3.57% of the land mass of Mexico and comprises...

, Mexico.

Dolores drew its initial neophytes from the earlier, unsuccessful mission at Malibat or Ligüí

Misión San Juan Bautista Malibat

Mission San Juan Bautista was founded by the Jesuit missionary Pedro de Ugarte in 1705, about 30 kilometers south of Loreto near the Gulf of California coast of what is today the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. The site was intended to serve the local Monqui and Cochimí natives...

 to the north. In 1723, the mission site was moved to the Guaycura

Guaycura

The Guaycura were a native people of Baja California Sur, Mexico, occupying an area extending south from south of Loreto to Todos Santos. They contested the area around La Paz with the Pericú....

 settlement of Apaté, about 4 kilometers inland from the coast. It was moved again in 1741 by Lambert Hostell to a location which had previously functioned as its visita of La Pasión, known as Chillá or Tañuetía ("place of the ducks"), about 25 kilometers southwest of Apaté.

The mission was subsequently reduced to the status of a visita of Mission San Luis Gonzaga

Misión San Luis Gonzaga Chiriyaqui

Mission San Luis Gonzaga was a Jesuit mission established among the Guaycura on the Magdalena Plains of central Baja California Sur, Mexico.Initially in 1721 a visita or subordinate mission station of Mission Dolores near the coast to the east, the site was elevated to mission status by Lambert...

. It was finally abandoned in 1768, when the Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

s took over control of the Baja California missions from the Jesuits. The remaining neophytes were relocated to Todos Santos

Misión Santa Rosa de las Palmas

Two names were given in succession to the Jesuit mission at Todos Santos in southern Baja California Sur, Mexico: Santa Rosa de las Palmas, and Nuestra Señora del Pilar de la Paz....

.

See also

• Spanish missions in California
  Spanish missions in California
  The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...