Hi Joe and ditto, hope you had a great Christmas and that Smoky is giving you a hard time.
It is not such a wonder, when the padres were legally allowed to extract three days forced labor from all of "their" Indios, and that many of them were not sticking to that rule. Farming was far from a huge success in Baja, probably due to the arid climate and sterility of the soil in many areas, so the farming work was rather limited at most of the Baja missions. It is a greater wonder that the Baja missions were able to produce a surplus to sell to the Manila galleons fairly regularly, however if you are still in doubt about the gold mines as found by the Spanish authorities on the expulsion of the padres I am sure we can find that again as it is posted in another thread, as well as the finding of a small but still respectable treasure in one of the missions, hidden in a wall. The Baja missions were also financially supported by the 'Pious California fund'*** which still exists, and at the time of the expulsion was listed as owning a number of farms in Mexico
as well as mines which were supporting the missions of Baja.
For our readers - the Jesuit missions of Baja were run rather like a private Jesuit fiefdom, with little oversight by Royal authorities. The Jesuits had been granted full authority and control over the entire peninsula. An interesting 'slideshow' for anyone interested is available online at:
https://www.slideshare.net/drpatzkowski/california-missions
***For anyone unfamiliar with the Pious Fund, here is a place to start:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pious_Fund_of_the_Californias
Also, I would recommend The Wealth of the Jesuits in Mexico 1640-1767 by James T. Riley, especially take note of the footnotes and citations, and the portion covering the Pious Fund. It was available online at JSTOR, not sure if it still is but here is the linkee:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/980785
More recommended reading for anyone interested:
A Natural and Civil History of California by Michael Venegas
The letters of Jacob Baegert, 1749-1761: Jesuit missionary in Baja, Jacob Baegert and Doyce Blackman Nunis
There are many more, I am sure that our amigo Cactusjumper could add to this list many, better titles, this is just a sample of what is available.
Please do continue;