Mission El Rosario was the first Dominican

Dominican Order

The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...

 mission in Baja California

Baja California

Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

, established in 1774 by Vicente Mora and Francisco Galisteo near the modern town of El Rosario

El Rosario, Baja California

El Rosario is a small town on the west coast of the state of Baja California on Highway 1, 61 kmsouth of San Quintín and 119 km north of Cataviña. The census of 2010 reported a population of 1,704 inhabitants...

.

When the Dominicans took over the mission field of Baja California from the Franciscans in 1773, the missions in the central and southern parts of the peninsula were in evident decline, as their Indian populations dwindled under the impact of Old World diseases. However, the northern portion of the peninsula, only recently reconnoitered by Gaspar de Portolá

Gaspar de Portolà

Gaspar de Portolà i Rovira was a soldier, governor of Baja and Alta California , explorer and founder of San Diego and Monterey. He was born in Os de Balaguer, province of Lleida, in Catalonia, Spain, of Catalan nobility. Don Gaspar served as a soldier in the Spanish army in Italy and Portugal...

 and Junipero Serra

Junípero Serra

Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...

, had much more potential.

The site of El Rosario, located near the western coast among the northernmost Cochimí

Cochimi

The Cochimí are the aboriginal inhabitants of the central part of the Baja California peninsula, from El Rosario in the north to San Javier in the south....

 Indians, was chosen as the initial Dominican mission site. The location had been initially identified by the soldier José Velásquez

José Velásquez (explorer)

José Velásquez was a Spanish soldier who served in Baja California, Mexico, and in Alta California, leading notable exploring expeditions and describing the region in his diaries and reports.Velásquez was born in San Ildefonso de Ostimuri, Sonora...

in 1770 and had been favored by the Franciscans as a potential mission site. Its native name was variously given as Viñadaco, Miñaraco, and Viñatacot.

In 1802, the mission was moved from its first site to a location about 6 kilometers closer to the coast with more space, more agricultural land, and better access to external supplies. When the second site ceased to function as a mission in 1832, it was turned over to local residents. Ruined walls and foundations from both the first and the second mission survive.