Product Description

First published in 1994 and now available again, this Spanish Borderlands classic recounts Jesuit colonization of the Old California, the peninsula now known as Baja California. Jesuit missionaries founded their first settlement in 1697 and unintentionally created a Hispanic society that outlived the missions and their Indian converts. The author brings to light Jesuit missionization and culture, European-Indian contacts, mission and presidio operations, family social life, the unique peninsular economy, and the Jesuit expulsion. Four appendices provide data on Spanish kings, royal officials, Jesuit personnel and vistors, and founders of pre-1768 peninsular California families.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #656851 in Books
• Published on: 1994-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 574 pages

Review
A truly monumental work. -- Hispanic American Historical Review

Raises the historiography of both Spanish Californias to a new level. -- The Americas

The definitive work on Jesuit activities in Antigua California . . . worth every penny of its price. -- Journal of Arizona History

Review
“A truly monumental work.” (Hispanic American Historical Review )

“The definitive work on Jesuit activities in Antigua California . . . worth every penny of its price.” (Journal of Arizona History )

“Raises the historiography of both Spanish Californias to a new level.” (The Americas )

About the Author
Harry W. Crosby is a writer, photographer, and historian living in La Jolla, California. Among his other books is Cave Paintings of Baja, California.

Customer Reviews

Definitive and Fascinating
When missionaries came to colonize California, it was to Baja California "Antigua California" that they came. This is the story of the Jesuits who persevered in a barren, waterless, resource poor place. But the really great thing about the book is that it is the whole story of the pioneer mission period: it is also the story of the aboriginal peoples who were the targets of the Jesuits, and of the people (mostly Mexican) whom the Jesuits hired and brought along to handle and create daily life-soldiers, sailors, artisans, laborers. For once, a comprehensive history truly is. Using original eighteenth century materials (church records, diaries, letters, reports) the author has tracked down the movement of individuals, their genealogies, their careers, their contributions. More than most, it is a book of portraits of real people, pieced together sympathetically from scattered and scanty records. For a scholar, the book is eminently useful: full of maps, chronological tables of people and places, explanations of systems and bureaucracies. For the history buff, it is a dream of readability and detail. Highly recommended.