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As I was stumbling through a recent El Vigía article, I had to Google "cuchibriachis", and thereby found the treasure.

El Rosario, Baja California, México - Pueblo mas antiguo de Baja California

I bet you've met/know this guy, Ron.



-El Ingeniero Civíl Alejandro Espinoza Arroyo

Very interesting and great he made a list of the grave markers in 1976. Thank you for this link!

Of course, using the Rosario mission founding as the age of the town might not be accurate, as there were older missions in (state of) Baja California with 'towns' or population centers at those sites, too (Santa Gertrudis, San Borja, Santa María and San Fernando were all founded before El Rosario). Santa María was abandoned by 1775 and the population there was transferred to San Fernando...

The exact date the mission was founded is also unknown, but believed to be by July 21 of 1774 as that was the first entry made in the mission registrar, that survived (the first page having been ripped out). If he knows of a document not collected in the 1890's that has an earlier date, that would be great!

In 1849, a small military base was at El Rosario, but that and the families belonging to the soldiers were moved to Santo Tomas that year. In 1855 only 24 people were reported living at El Rosario. In 1872 the population was just 51. Worthy of additional research...

Originally Posted by Marty Cortez

As I was stumbling through a recent El Vigía article, I had to Google "cuchibriachis", and thereby found the treasure.

El Rosario, Baja California, México - Pueblo mas antiguo de Baja California

I bet you've met/know this guy, Ron.



-El Ingeniero Civíl Alejandro Espinoza Arroyo

We have corresponded and share a deep love for the history of the region...

The community museum is a great place to see some of El Rosario's history... Located in the older community of El Rosario de Abajo, about 2 miles west from Hwy. 1 (at the sharp curve in town) and across the river...

One of El Rosario's leading citizens gave us a tour of the museum...










Antonio sees his family's original gasoline selling operation in a photo taken well before World War II.


Antonio's family was an important part of El Rosario's history.
Both his grandparents' photos are on display.

Very near the museum are the ruins of the Rosario Mission, second site (1802-1834):



The first site is near Hwy. 1 in town...


Founded in July 1774 as the first Dominican mission in (Baja) California.
In 1802 the spring went dry, so the mission moved down the valley
to its second site close to the river, known today as 'Rosario Abajo'.

Chinos en El Rosario, Personas muy calladas y laboriosas

...Santiago Bawser - a German, killed Alfonso Cho,a successful local Chinese businessman in El Rosario and fled north to the border to escape...


My, how times have changed...