When engineer and
native Parisian Gaston Eugenio Rene Flourie Sablayrolles arrived in
Santa Rosalia, Baja, he marveled at the wonders he saw and the mysteries
found on this beautiful peninsula. His countless expeditions through
Baja took him to the most interesting places along this vast stretch of
land. Traveling at times on
foot or by mules, he encountered mountains and deserts, oceans and
beaches. He discovered
Indian art in the form of rupestrian paintings, ornate candles, ranches
and ruins of missionaries, dating back for centuries, and beautiful
landscapes comprised of cactus forests, palms, streams and rivers, and
indigenous plants and animals, all found under the beautiful Baja desert
sky.
His eagerness to know
the history of Baja California made him an avid investigator of the life
of the Jesuit Missionaries of Baja.
The Jesuits settled down in this land during the period between
1697 to 1767, until they were expelled by King Carlos III of Spain.
At that time they hid their documents, books and objects of value
to save these great works from the King.
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The young engineer increased his
explorations and investigations to look for that place departed by the
missionaries, known as The Lost Mission of Santa Isabel.
In 1957 he participated in a scientific expedition organized by
the University of Boston, in an effort to find the Lost Mission of Santa
Isabel. The object of that
expedition was more than to recover the objects left behind by the
missionaries. The object was to find the books of the Jesuits that the
University had valued for their historical content, which they saw as
priceless from a historical viewpoint.
The mission was never found, but the
Engineer Eugenio Gaston Flourie wanted to do something to remember the
missionaries and the Lost Mission of Santa Isabel.
In that remembrance of the missionaries and the 30-year
expedition to find their mysterious mission, written documents, and way
of life, Eugenio Flourie designed and built the Mission Santa Isabel
Hotel in Ensenada, Baja California, in May of 1951.
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