Anthropological History

Three tribes inhabited the wild Baja California landscape before the arrival of the Spaniards. In the north were the Cohchimi who could be found all the way down to Loreto. Beyond, the Guaycura inhabited land from Loreto down past La Paz and the Pericu lived around the southern extremes of the peninsula. These natives undoubtedly harvested fish from the abundant sea, and fruit from the cactus. This diet was supplemented by game hunting and agave or mescal root collecting. Hernando Cortes heard reports of "abundant pearls" in the sea around the island of California. Indeed, for many years the Spaniards thought Baja California was an island, which they called California.

In the late 17th century the Spaniards controlling Mexico sent Jesuit Missionaries to Baja California to introduce Christianity, build missions, and baptize new devotees. This led to the establishment of 17 Jesuit missions on the peninsula. However, communication between the Jesuits and the Spanish authorities on the Mexican Mainland was such that comprehension of the difficulties that existed in living on Baja California were never understood.

Eventually, the Jesuits were replaced by the Franciscans and the Dominicans, but life remained harsh on the peninsula, and all efforts to subdue the natives and live in peace, on the harsh landscape of the peninsula failed. Hurricanes and torrential, destructive rains hindered Spanish settlement of the peninsula. Meanwhile, the native population was decimated by diseases unintentionally brought to the peninsula by the missionaries. Eventually in 1823 a successful rebellion led to the creation of Mexico, and Baja California was declared a federal territory. Unfortunately, some of the most extensive rock art on earth is about all that is left of the original native peoples. These can still be viewed today in many caves and on canyon walls in numerous places on the peninsula, undoubtedly others remain yet to be discovered.

The conveniences of modern times came very late to Baja California. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries only occasional boats of wealthy owners appeared and departed. In 1877 a disastrous earthquake in the vicinity of Loreto caused grave damage and led to an exodus of many families from the area. Carmen Island's infamous salt mine became one of the most important sources of salt in the world. A narrow gauge railway was built to transport the salt and hundreds of people lived out their lives on this remote island. The earthquake of 1877 did not affect the island as it did the peninsula. Loreto did not have running water until 1960 and electricity arrived in the town in 1964. The transpeninsular highway was not paved until 1973. Prior to this construction, the rugged trip from the north to Cabo San Lucas in the south could take a full week.

Baja California remains one of the wildest places on earth until this day. Many of its canyons and mountains are rarely visited, and the Sea of Cortez still abounds with remote islands that rarely receive boat traffic. Commercial fishing has played a significant role in the decline of life in this rich sea; however, with recent protection some of its former abundance has returned. Solitude is easy to find here and the flora and fauna, together with the towering jagged mountains, dominate the landscape.

Natural History of Baja (Geology)

The geologic history of Baja California, is a long and complicated one. The finest experts have some disagreement as to the specific details of what happened. However, it seems that this much is agreed upon. The North American plate collided with the Pacific plate thereby throwing up the mountains that are visible on today's Baja landscape. The North American continental plate was thicker and the thinner Pacific plate went under the North American plate, thus forming a subduction zone with accompanying volcanoes. In a simplified sense the plates joined as one rode over the other, but massive faults such as the famed San Andreas remained. Because of these many faults, the Pacific plate (which Baja and all land west of the San Andreas fault are part of) began to drift up to the north and over many millennium tore the Baja peninsula off of the Mexican mainland. This action occurred very slowly over tens of millions of years. The opening was complete and the sea rushed in to fill it roughly 5 million years ago. Thus the Sea of Cortez was born. The San Andreas fault occupies the middle of the Sea of Cortez and the northern drifting continues to this day. Baja California and the part of upper California west of the San Andreas fault are eventually destined to tear off the continent and become a very long island.


The Sea of Cortez is 669 miles in length from the mouth of the Colorado River in the north to the southern tip at Cabo San Lucas. Actually the Baja peninsula used to be longer than it is today, but sediment from the Colorado River filled in a large delta at the northern end of the peninsula creating the Imperial Valley in the process and this shortened the Baja peninsula. Many of the fantastic and beautiful islands in the Sea of Cortez were formed when the last ice age ended and the sea rose dramatically due to the ice melting. This filled in low areas and left the formerly connected coastal higher lands as islands in the sea. Volcanic activity was indeed associated with the collision of the tectonic plates. Baja was formerly the scene of spectacular cataclysms, massive eruptions working to form much of the landscape. Many of the volcanoes are obvious on today's landscape; others are not. At present, there are no active volcanoes on the Baja Peninsula.

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