Todos Santos (not to be confused with the surfers' island off the coast of Ensenada) scribbled itself onto several pages in my notebook as I explored more of the area than necessary for my Baja assignment. The history fascinated me. Attracted by the two substantial pozas (natural springs) fed by underground rivers that originated in the Sierra de la Laguna, Jesuit padres had established a farm community and chapel called Todos Santos ("All Saints") here in 1724 to supply the mission community at La Paz with fruits, vegetables, wine and sugar cane. By 1731, Todos Santos was producing 200 burro-loads of panocha--raw brown sugar--annually, along with figs, pomegranates, citrus and grapes.Two years later, Father Sigismundo Taraval founded Misi-n Santa Rosa de las Palmas at the upper end of the arroyo a bit more than a mile inland from the Pacific. By the mid-1700s, Todos Santos had outgrown La Paz. The town, renamed Nuestra Se-ora del Pilar de Todos Santos in 1749, remained an important mission settlement until secularization in 1840. Anglo whalers visiting Todos Santos in 1849 praised the town as "an oasis" with "friendly and intelligent people." In the post-mission era, Todos Santos thrived as Baja's sugar cane capital, supporting eight sugar mills by the late 1800s.
Link (here)
Photo is of Todos Santos Mission
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