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History of San Felipe: Seasonal Occupation

 
 

THE HISTORY OF SAN FELIPE, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO

CHAPTER VIII: SEASONAL OCCUPATION OF SAN FELIPE

No one knows exactly when San Felipe gained its first residences. Edward Nelson visited San Felipe Bay in 1905 and found no settlers, temporary or permanent. [Nelcon, loc. cit.]

I. THE NELSON AND HOGG REPORTS

In his report, Nelson gives further evidence that San Felipe Bay was used as a port for supplies coming from mainland Mexico to northern Baja California:

Near the base of the low mountains on the east side of the valley we found traces of an old wagon road laid out many years ago from Ensenada by way of Trinidad Valley and San Matias Pass to San Felipe Bay, when it was planned to colonize the shores of the bay and to land there the supplies for Ensenada and other parts of northern Lower California which were to be transported overland by wagon. [Ibid.]

Nelson then continues with a discussion of the bay and coastal area:

The day was extremely hot and our animals were much exhausted when, late in the afternoon, we rode through a gap among some hills and came in sight of the narrow line of green mesquites in the flat behind the sand dunes at San Felipe Bay. We saw no sign that a house had ever been built here, but a strong signal post stood on the beach just in front of two water holes, three or four feet deep, dug in the clay flat near the mesquite. No recent trace of human visitors was visible, but evidently numbers of coyotes and turkey buzzards visited the water holes regularly, and the fluid was so foul in consequence that even our excessively thirsty animals refused to drink it. After some hard work the holes were emptied and the vile smelling mud on the bottoms and sides cleaned out. The new water quickly seeped in was usable although offensive in odor and taste. [John Edwin Hogg, "El Desierto de Los Chinos," Touring Topics XXII (October, 1930), p. 36.]

Although there was no sign of settlement at San Felipe in 1905, the water hole marker post demonstrates that San Felipe must have served as a sanctuary for temporary inhabitants or passers-by not present when Nelson arrived at the bay.

An inconsistency is found between Nelson's eye witness report of San Felipe and the Account of John Hogg who did research about the area in 1930. Hogg's work concerns a group of Chinese that landed at San Felipe in 1902 and attempted to walk to Mexicali, meeting with tragedy. The reader must keep in mind that Hogg's accounts are based on second-hand information. Hogg found that a Chinese party arrived at San Felipe in 1902 about to embark on the second part of their journey to Mexicali. At San Felipe the party met Jose Escobado who had come to San Felipe from Guaymas in search of employment in the recently started fishing industry at the bay. Finding the fishing industry closed down for the summer, Escobado was attempting to find a boat to return to Guaymas. [John Edwin Hogg, "El Desierto de Los Chinos," Touring Topics XXII (October, 1930), p. 36.]

II. ANALYSIS OF THE REPORTS

Hogg's report directly states that the bay was used by fishermen on a migratory basis at the turn of the century. Fishermen would reside at San Felipe during the height of the fishing season. Fishing came to a standstill with the arrival of summer. Therefore, it is feasible that some of these migrant fishermen may have traveled to the agricultural lands of the Mexicali area for summer work, and others to various ports on mainland Mexico where summer fishing was more profitable. All would return again to San Felipe in the winter and spring when fishing was at its height.

The dwellings of these fishermen were probably temporary, composed of tents and other quickly assembled shelters. It is, therefore, possible that in 1905 Nelson arrived at San Felipe when the fishermen had abandoned San Felipe for the season. Therefore, Nelson reported the bay site as uninhabited with no signs of occupation save the water-hole marker.

It can also be speculated that Nelson did not survey the entire shore of the bay. He discussed only the area where the present town of San Felipe is situated behind the small beach ridge about mid-way with regard to the shore-line's semicircular stretch. Strong evidence indicated that the early inhabitants settled at the north end of the bay near the base of Point San Felipe. This area is approximately one quarter mile from the locality that Nelson discussed; therefore, the seasonally abandoned site may have escaped his view.

III. SUMMARY BASED ON THE EVIDENCE

Very strong evidence indicates that San Felipe was seasonally settled by migrant fishermen. These fishermen had learned of the bountiful presence of the fish called totuava. In late winter the migrant fishermen would relocate their fishing activities to San Felipe in order to take advantage of the spring spawning migrations of the totuava to the northern part of the gulf.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: HISTORY OF SAN FELIPE SITE EVOLUTION, BY THOMAS ANTHONY TERICH

(Related San Felipe articles and reports may be found at Mexfish.com's main San Felipe information page. See weekly fishing news, photos, and reports from the major sportfishing vacation areas of Mexico including the San Felipe area in "Mexico Fishing News.")




 

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