October 7 – Anniversary of the “Discovery” of Catalina Island

nPostednon October 7, 2014 n

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nLet’snget this very clear: Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo wasn’t the first humannto discover Catalina Island – which is the largest of the ChannelnIslands off the coast of Los Angeles.

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Onnthis date in 1542, when Cabrillo and the sailors he led reached thenisland we now call Santa Catalina Island, there were people living onnit who called the island Limu or Pimu. The crew of Cabrillo’s fleetncalled it “La Isla Capitana” (The Captain Island) or “Isla denJuan Rodriguez.” And Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo himself called it “SannSalvador” (Saint Savior).

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nUnfortunately,nit’s not clear what happened during the historical landing, becausenthe official log book was lost. Apparently there are some 70,000npages of ships’ logs, legal documents, and statements by Spaniards innthe New World that we get most of our information about this voyagenand other long-ago events…

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Andnfrom wading through all that morass of pages, historians determinednthe likely truth: Cabrillo and his men were greeted by a “greatncrowd of armed Indians,” but they later were able to “befriend”nthe islanders. However, when Cabrillo and his fleet later came backnto Catalina to overwinter and repair their ship, a shore party got inntrouble with the Tongva islanders. Cabrillo himself led a rescuenparty to shore, but while dealing with the surging surf and the rockynshore, Cabrillo broke his leg. Everyone made it back to the ship innone piece, apparently… but Cabrillo’s wound would later kill him.

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nOnnJanuary 3, 1593, Cabrillo died of infection and gangrene. He wasnburied on an island….but we aren’t positive which one. Manynhistorians think that Cabrillo was likely buried on Catalina Island,nbut there are some other theories as well.

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nAnynquestions?

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nWheren exactly on Catalina Island is Cabrillo buried? Can we see a memorialn or tombstone?

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nWendon’t actually know whether or not Cabrillo was buried on CatalinanIsland. There is no tombstone on that island, although there is anmonument for him on San Miguel Island, also rumored to be his burialnsite.

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nThen island isn’t called Limu,n Pimo,n Lan Isla Capitana,n Islan de Juan Rodriguez,n OR Sann Salvadorn now. So who named it Catalina?

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nAnothernSpanish explorer landed on the island in 1602. It was he who named itnSanta Catalina, for Saint Catherine of Alexandria.

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nWhatn is Catalina Island like?

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nChewingngum magnate William Wrigley bought controlling interest in CatalinanIsland and built a casino; he promoted the island by holding eventsnthere and using the island for spring training for his baseball team,nthe Chicago Cubs. Now many tourists go there—after all, the islandnis very close to the 16 million + people in the greater Los Angelesnarea.

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nThenisland is famous among locals for having some non-native animals suchnas American bison, mule deer, and feral cats (wild cats whosenancestors were pet cats). One of the coolest native animals is thenisland fox.

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nWhatn is the best thing about Catalina?

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nThenanswers to this question have to vary widely – as many answers asnanswerers, perhaps – but the thing I like best is the CatalinanIsland Marine Institute, an outdoor education camp for kids. All mynkids have attended the institute multiple times (I got to go, too, once!), and they loved snorkeling andnkayaking, hiking and going in “the maze,” doing dissections and othernhands-on labs, trawling for plankton and doing a glass-bottom-boatnride!