History
Even though there are previous evidences of human presence in Todos Santos that date from at least 3000 years ago, the first record of Todos Santos was its foundation as a visiting town belonging to the Mission of Nuestra Señora del Pilar de la Paz, both were founded by the priest Jaime Bravo in the year 1723.
The Jesuit missions in the peninsula were established basically with resources given by private benefactors. In 1731 Mrs. Rosa de la Peña donated ten thousand pesos for the foundation of the new mission in the south of the peninsula; the Jesuit priests decided that this mission would be called Santa Rosa to honor its benefactor. It was initially thought it would be established in Ensenada de las Palmas, this is why in some ancient chronicles it was mentioned as the Mission of Santa Rosa de las Palmas; as no adequate spot was found in that place, it was decided not to create a new establishment, but rather to give the already existent town of Todos Santos the category of Mission, this happened in 1733, the town who then became a mission received the name of Santa Rosa de Todos Santos and its founder and first missionary was the priest Sigismundo Taraval.
It is noticeable that the name of Todos Santos prevailed over the name of Santa Rosa, but the name of the mission was modified again as in 1749 the Mission of Nuestra Señora del Pilar de la Paz was abandoned because of lack of water and was moved to the Mission of Todos Santos, and since then it was called the Mission of Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Todos Santos and this is why the patron of the town is the Virgin of El Pilar, whose festivity is celebrated on the 12th. of October. Finally, the original name of Todos Santos, given to the town by the priest Bravo is the one that prevails to our present time.
The priest Taraval initiated his mission with the Guaycura and Pericue native tribes, whom he found very willing to convert into Christianity, but they refused to give any help to the missionaries as they were used to a leisurely life, in spite of this, the first plots of land were opened to agriculture, growing corn, wheat, beans and chick peas coming from the Yaqui river. Later on, sugarcane, rice, cotton, indigo and several different fruit bearing trees were introduced, soon after bovines and horses were introduced as well. The first years of the mission were troublesome because of rebellions of the Guaycura and Pericue Indians. Between 1742 and 1748 severe epidemics were suffered; venereal diseases, smallpox and measles decimated the population to only one sixth of the original native Pericue and Guaycura people.
In 1768 the Jesuit priests were expelled and were succeeded by the Franciscan monks. Later on, in 1771 they were sent back to Spain and were substituted by the Dominican priests, who remained in the peninsula for many years.
According to the mission´s memorials, in 1778 Todos Santos had 221 inhabitants, 36 households, 470 sugarcane furrows, 1700 bovine livestock and 338 horse livestock. In 1840 the mission was abandoned definitely due to the difficulties that the friars encountered in its administration as well as because of its scarce population, but the town remained there.
The site of the original Jesuit mission is unknown; the most accepted version is that it was located next to the Church of Fatima in the neighborhood of San Juan.
The new church that we know nowadays was built by the Dominican friars José Fernández Salcedo and José Armesto in 1786, and the contemporary main nave that was added transversally was built in 1960 by the Combonian priest Mario Franco. The latest remodeling of the main altar was carried out by the priest Juan Gómez Esqueda at the end of the nineties.
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Post-Misional Time
In 1842, by decree, the Governor Luis del Castillo Negrete redistributed the land belonging to the church. By a decree of the political chief Don Manuel Amao, the Mission of Todos Santos officially became a town on the 6th. of February of 1858. Later on, since the year of 1861 it became a Municipal Government ruled by Municipal Presidents, from 1926 to 1929 it was ruled by Municipal Boards, since 1930 by a Government Delegate and from 1972 to present date it is ruled by Municipal Delegates of the Municipality of La Paz. |
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An important event that fostered the future development of the town was the constitution of the common land and the legal fund that was created by decree on the 13th. of October of 1869, issued by President Benito Juárez. The common lands were measured on the uncultivated plots of land that were adjacent to the town, resulting in 1775 hectares and 61 areas. The agricultural farms with a title that were already inside this perimeter were respected. For the urbanization of the town, the legal fund was measured inside the common lands that were more adequate for this.
In 1921 the water source of San Juan sprouted again after being dry for 35 years, this gave way to the first distribution of common land with the intention of the poor people using this water, 80 lots of 2 hectares each one were distributed by careful raffle. The population census of 1921 was of 1200 inhabitants but went up to 1500 people in times of sugar harvest. |
| Agricultural Bonanza and the Golden Age of Todos Santos |
It is doubtless that the water resource, that is, the oasis and water spring of Todos Santos, was the main attraction and the reason to be of the foundation of this community. The cyclical sprouting and drying of this spring has determined the development and flourishing, as well as the decrease of this town.
The introduction of sugarcane cultivation in Todos Santos is with no doubt one of the most important contributions of the Jesuit missionaries to the development of this community. Even though sugarcane was farmed here since 1744, it was around 1773 that the first rudimentary mills were brought and installed in the farms of El Triunpho and Santa Genoveva, but it wasn´t until the mid XIX Century that Mr. Manuel Salvador Villarino brought the first sugarcane iron mill to Todos Santos, it was imported from San Francisco, California and disembarked in Cabo San Lucas and taken to its destiny by a crew of men who used powerful crowbars to move this heavy machinery. Later on, the first steam mill was set up in the grounds of San Pablo.
In 1850 there were eight sugar refineries in the region of Baja California Sur. Sugarcane was cultivated mainly in Todos Santos, San José del Cabo and Santiago. The different varieties of sugarcane were the striped purple sugarcane, the castile and the yellow sugarcane.
From the second half of the XIX Century to the first half of the XX Century, Todos Santos was the main producer of sugarcane, producing the best molasses of Mexico that were processed in the four mills that everybody remembers, “El Progreso”, belonging to Mr. Abraham Salgado Villalobos, “La Central”, belonging to brothers José and Manuel Santana Villarino, “Cerro Verde”, belonging to Mr. Antonio L. Dominguez and “El Rinconcito”, belonging to Mr. Refugio Salgado Villalobos.
Between 1897 and 1899 the production was well over 10,000 tons, but it diminished due to a drought and then recovered in 1907 with the best harvest of 20,000 tons.
In 1932 nine hundred hectares were harvested. This production was sent to different sugar mills of the region, to be converted into molasses that were then sent to the city of La Paz, to Santa Rosalía, Ensenada of Todos Santos, Guaymas, Mazatlán and San Francisco California.
The sugarcane bonanza lasted approximately one hundred years and was eventually discontinued because of several reasons, among them was the need to produce two harvests a year, the droughts, the quieting of the water springs and the thriving tomato cultivation, as well as the drop in the prices of sugar at the end of the Second World War that caused the commerce of molasses to become more and more meager, causing the decay of sugarcane production. Little by little the mills began to disappear and the last one of them was shut down in 1974. The other important crop that supported Todos Santos financially was tomato as, due to the very specific climatic conditions of this place, could be harvested all year round, allowing great commercial advantages in comparison with other
producing regions of Mexico and the United States. The production of tomato was set on in 1925 and beginning to obtain the best results as from 1931, when the average production was of 150,000 crates. This produce was embarked from the Port of Algodones near Punta Lobos, to several differ ent regions of Mexico and the United States.
The cultivation of tomato was displacing sugarcane as the trade of molasses became increasingly scarce and by 1936 tomatoes produced $559,000, whereas sugarcane only produced $122,000.
In order of importance, the crops that complemented the local economy were fruit bearing trees, cereals and vegetables.
This financial thriving of Todos Santos propitiated a flourishing of the town in many aspects. This bonanza manifested itself with the building of important landmarks, such as the Rural Teachers´ School, the electricity plant, the Madero Park, the Manuel Márquez de León Theatre and many beautiful brick wall houses. The town came to be known as “The Oasis of California”.
By 1960 agriculture continued to be the main activity in Todos Santos, but it became necessary to change its direction to fruit culture and horticulture, mango gained a special importance, as well as many different vegetables. Nowadays the cultivation of organic vegetables and poblano peppers among other crops, has acquired a great importance. Since then, fishing and cattle raising are very important activities for the local people.
In 1971 the federal government established the Experimental Forestal Camp, this came to enrich the work opportunities in the area and set Todos Santos in the eyes of the world because of its valuable results in the research of the native vegetation, particularly with the Jojoba and Neem plants.
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Translation: Ana Rodríguez Carrington
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