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The Demise of the California-as-an-Island Myth
California.
CONSAG, Fr. F. / BAEGERT, Fr. J. [Mannheim, 1773]
California per P. Ferdinandum Con/sac S.I. et Alias . . . .
9 1/4 x 7 inches
Fine condition.
Rare map of Baja California and northern Mexico based on the explorations of the Jesuit Ferdinand Consag, which confirmed Kino’s reports of the non-insularity of California. The map appeared in Jacob Baegert’s Observations in Lower California, in which he reports: “After Father Ferdinand Konschak (Consag), a Jesuit from Hungary, investigated and explored the entire east coast of California as far as the Colorado River (which he followed upstream for several hours in 1746), it can no longer be doubted that California is a peninsula, bounded by the sea on three sides only, rather than completely surrounded as was once believed.” Kino’s journeys of 1684-5 had been undertaken by land and were not considered to be definitive proof that California was not an island.
Baegert’s map includes details of the Jesuit missions of Baja California and Northern Mexico. He also adds the path of his own journey to California from Mexico in 1751 as well as of his departure upon the expulsion of the Jesuits from California in 1768. Baegert’s notes on the map tend to support his view of California as a wasteland full of dangerous savages: “Here Fathers Tello of Spain and Ruhen of Germany were killed in 1750 by Pimi (Indians);” ”Mission of Guaymas destroyed by apostate Seri (Indians);” “Los Apaches: Heathen Savages.” The map is attractively engraved with a cartouche decorated with craggy rocks, sparse vegetation, a palm tree, and an alligator.
Tooley’s Dictionary K-P p.51 (entry for Koncság); Burrus, Kino and the Cartography of Northwestern New Spain, p.52; Baegert, Johann Jakob, S.J. Observations in Lower California. p.12 |
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