Santa Catalina is invitingly located off the coast of California. This island is 22 miles long and at its greatest width, 8 miles. It is rocky island rich in quartz. Excavations have shown it to have been inhabited since the year 7000 B.C., truly an island full of history!
Native American people known as the Tongva inhabited the island before Europeans arrived. They became very acclaimed miners and tradesmen. Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claimed the island for Spain in 1542 and then Sebastian Vizcaino rediscovered it in 1602 on the eve of Saint Catherine’s day, renaming it in honor of the saint.
Hunters, smugglers (including illegal Chinese immigrants), and fishermen, were among the many visitors that made Catalina Island their base of operations for a few hundred years. Pirates found the many hidden coves to be advantageous in their criminal activities. Some of these visitors brought diseases for which the indigenous people had no immunity, which led to their death.
Catalina Island was subjected to land grants, was sold and bought, and invaded by “gold rush” settlers (though very little was found). In 1864, the federal government put an end to the gold rush and ordered everyone off the island to discourage anyone from helping or contributing toward the Confederacy. A small military post was stationed there and the barracks still stand. Each ship could hold more than 1,500 people.
By the late 1800’s very few inhabited the island. Through the years it was again bought and sold and attempts to fashion it into a resort were met by difficulties and disaster. Chewing gum tycoon William Wrigley Jr. bought shares in the island and worked hard to develop it and promote tourism. For a time, there were only two steamships that provided travel between Catalina Island and the Mainland. Wrigley purchased another steamship and ambitiously oversaw the design of another one.
During the World War II tourism slowed and the island was used for military training. Eventually Philip Wrigley gave the Wrigley shares to the Catalina Island Conservatory (which he helped create) and to this day, the organization oversees 88% of land management. Their mission is to keep the land nature-friendly and free of industrial development as much as possible.
To this day, you can still see many animals roaming the island, including the Island fox, the shrew, the ground squirrel, and many bison. This is the result of a wonderful campaign by the Wrigley family to keep the island looking like early California!
