page_title: Misión El Descanso
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Misión El Descanso / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The ancient fort in El Descanso Mission
context_page_description: Mission El Descanso was founded in 1817 among the Kumeyaay by Dominican missionary Tomás de Ahumada at a site 22 kilometers south of the present-day city of Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico.
  It was the next-to-last mission founded by the Dominicans, and the farthest north. Today only stone foundations and ruined adobe walls survive.
context_section_description: Because Mission San Miguel, 13 kilometers to the south, was frequently flooded by the Río Guadalupe, Ahumada sought another site on higher ground for El Descanso. Additional advantages of the northerly location were good grazing and plentiful arable land.
  In 1830, Father Félix Caballero constructed an adobe church here and managed both missions from El Descanso, but in 1834, it ceased to function as a mission. At the time it had a population of just 254, including those from Mission San Miguel. By 1853 the mission was deserted.
  Due to its proximity to the Pacific Ocean, El Descanso had been involved in a maritime commerce with ships that traveled along its shores in search of merchandise such as otter fur, salt, tallow, vegetables, and grain.
caption: The fort at Mission El Descanso
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