ening into the Gulf. La Paz is a port of call for steamships running
between Mazatlan and San Francisco, and had a population of 5056 in
1900. La Ensenada (pop. in 1906, about 1500), 65 m. by sea S. of San
Diego, Cal., is the only port for the northern part of the territory,
and supplies a district extending 250 m. along the coast and 60 m.
inland, including the mining camps of the north; it manufactures and
exports flour and leather.

By orders of Cortes the coast of Lower California was explored in 1539
by Francisco de Ulloa, but no settlement resulted. It was called
California, the name (according to E.E. Hale) being derived from a
popular Spanish romance of that time, entitled _Sergas de Esplandian_,
in which an island named California was mentioned and situated "on the
right hand of the Indies, very near the terrestrial paradise." The name
must have been given derisively, as the barren coasts of Lower
California could not have suggested the proximity of a "terrestrial
paradise." The exploration of the coast did not extend above the
peninsula until 1842. The name California was at first applied
exclusively to the peninsula; later, on the supposition that a strait
connected the Pacific with the head of the Gulf of California, the name
Islas Californias was frequently used. This erroneous theory was held as
late as 1721. The first settlement was made in 1597, but was abandoned.
From 1633 to 1683 five unsuccessful attempts were made to establish a
settlement at La Paz. Finally the Jesuits succeeded in founding a
mission at Loreto on the Gulf coast, in about 26 deg. N. lat., in 1697,
and at La Paz in 1720. At the time of their expulsion (1767) they had
sixteen missions which were either self-supporting or were maintained by
funds invested for that special purpose. The settlement of Upper
California began in 1769, after which the two provinces were
distinguished as California Baja or Antigua, and California Alta, the
seat of government remaining in the former for a short time. The two
provinces were separated in 1804, were united under one governor
residing in California Alta in 1825, and were then reunited in a single
department through the political changes of 1836, which lasted no later
than 1847. Lower California was only slightly disturbed by the struggle
for independence among the Spanish-American colonies, but in 1822
Admiral Lord Cochrane, who was in the service of the Chilean
revolutionists, appeared on the coas