The Dominicans were the last of the three Catholic orders to arrive in Baja California, following the Jesuits and the Franciscans. Nine Dominican missions were built in Baja California. The Descanso Mission, established in 1817 and now in ruins, is the northernmost of all the Baja California missions, also both ruins, were established in 1787 and 1834, respectively. The classic book on the the Dominican Missions in Baja California is The Dominican Mission Frontier by Peveril Meigs, III (University of California Press, 1935).

Ensenada's beautiful bay is named Todos Santos. Not to be confused with the Pacific Coast town in the Cape Region of Baja California of the same name.

Santa Catarina (also called Santa Catalina): "This mission was a very large adobe building. The surrounding walls and adjacent buildings formed a large rectangle, possibly covering about a city block. It has completely fallen but the fallen walls form easily descerned mounds. Nearby is an old cemetery. The bells and other mission furnishings are said to be still buried in the ruins, after it was destroyed by the Indians. This was the last of the Dominican missions founded in Baja California." Santo Tomas was established in 1791 and San Vicente in 1780. Today San Vicente is a prosperous agricultural district.