San José del Cabo celebrated its 295th anniversary on Monday, April 8. It was officially founded on that date by the Spanish, who established the first Jesuit mission in Baja California. The area would later witness one of the most significant indigenous uprisings in the region.
The Jesuit order founded the original settlement to evangelize the local population and strengthen Spanish control over the peninsula. Their goal was to baptize and convert the native Pericú people to Catholicism.
In an interview with local media, Jorge Castro, an interpreter of Southern California heritage, explained that San José del Cabo was one of 18 Jesuit missions across the peninsula. The mission was promoted by Father Nicolás Tamaral, who arrived first in La Paz and later moved south with Father Visitor José de Echeverría to establish the San José del Cabo mission near the estuary.
“Upon arrival, Father Tamaral and the visiting father founded the mission close to what is now the San José del Cabo Estuary. The Pericú called the area ‘Añuití,’ which some experts interpret as meaning ‘place between palm trees’, a fitting description if you walk through the estuary,” said Castro.
Due to soil conditions and mosquitoes, the mission was eventually relocated further north. Still, in its first year, more than a thousand Pericú people were baptized. However, tensions grew. In 1734, just four years after the church’s founding, an indigenous rebellion erupted in response to the imposition of religious practices that conflicted with local customs such as polygamy. Fathers Carranco and Tamaral were killed.
“One reason for the uprising was that both priests publicly reprimanded local leaders,” Castro said. “On October 1, 1734, Father Lorenzo Carranco was killed in Santiago, and Father Nicolás Tamaral was murdered on October 3.”
By the second half of the 19th century, San José del Cabo began to develop as a town, spurred by land distribution for agriculture and livestock. Trade and piloncillo production also emerged, boosting the town’s economy.
Today, 295 years after its founding, San José del Cabo Añuití remains a powerful symbol of the region’s historical identity.