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The San Francisco Sunday Call
HUNTING THE GRAVE
OF THE
DISCOVERER
OF
CALIFORNIA
S. E. Ufford
DURING the past summer a party
of Spanish scientists has been
making a careful examination
of the Islands of San Clemente
and Santa Catalina, and their move
ments attracted attention, as It was
supposed by the few men who were
taken as guides' that they were hunt-
Ang for some buried treasure. It Is
known — that is, by scientists — that
among the old and musty volumes In.
. ene of the libraries of Spain several
years ago the log of Cabrfllo's voyage
•was found; a document written either
by Torquemada In 1543. or Ferrello, the
pilot. Be this as it may, the log is at
tested an(J Is the best account we have
of the first trip up the coast of the
famous captain, Cabrillo", who wa« the
. real discoverer of California.
It is very natural that there 6hould
be some discrepancy in the account;
or rather some confusion, as to what
ports and bays were meant. It is
evident that the Spanish scientists had
come definite data, and it Is supposed
that they dlsco\*ered In the library in
Spain, where the log was found, some,
extra data relating to the island where
Cabrillo, It Is supposed, died. Accord-
Ing to the log he died at the Island
•at which his ship wixftered — San
Miguel. The port of San Miguel has,
in" the memory of the white men, filled
at various times, and the Island Is
most Inhospitable, while Santa Catalina
has, opposite the town of Cabrillo, a
perfect land locked harbor. Here,
doubtless, *the Spanish scientists sup
posed that the great explorer wintered
In 1542 and aied, leaving the ship In
the charge of Ferrello. his second In
command.
The Investigators made a careful ex
amination of the latter island. They
found the Indian townsite at what Is
now known as Cabrillo, and they ex
cavated there. They then went down
the coast and examined a town site at
Little Harbor. From here they went
to Ban Clemente island and then sailed
In a small schooner for the south. It Is
raid to trace the various localities given
In the log and identify them for the
government. It is known * that they
took the remains of several men with
them, and by some it Is thought that
they may have found the bones of the
great discoverer, and the next heard
of them may be from Madrid. If this
is so, the state of California will doubt
less claim them.
• In the last SO years several definite
expeditions have been formed and car
ried out with the object of finding the
remains of the great captain. One of
the first was by the government of
Germany. A party of men' was sent
\u2666o Santa Catalina when the island was
#wned by the Lick estate. They hired
«.s guide a man named Felice Jose Pre
siador who had lived on the island
from the time of Plo Pico. They were
In search of the grave of Cabrillo and
the temple on this Island described by
Vlscaino In 1600. Preslado knew the
location of every Indian town of the
time of Cabrillo, the facts, it is said,
being handed down. But this wasfnot
necessary, as 30 years ago these spots
could be seen from a vessel a mile
off shore as they were as black as ink.
The hotel at Avalon on this island was
built on such a townsite, and here
I^rcsiado began a series of excavations,
tqff 'result of which may be seen In
German museums In the display of
almost every object used by . the an
cients. But no claim was made of the
discovery of Cabrillo's grave, and it Is
rot known what Information the Ger
mans had, as the old log was supposed
to be unknown then.
There was no reason why the Ger
mans should not have known of it, as
some one might easily have Jearned of
the existence of Cabrlllo's log years .
ago.
Preslado said that these investigators
were particularly anxious to find human
remains associated with some Spanish
Insignia, but of great age. .Hundreds
of stone implements were taken from
Avalon, but nothing of this kind.
At Cabrillo, 17 miles -north of Ava
lon, so named because it was thought
that Cabrillo might have been buried
there, some very fnter#sting objects
were discovered. One grave was opened
in which were a number of old Spanish
buttons and Implement of iron, but no
vestige of a, coffin. In the Avalon
canyon the remains of some important
persons were found/but no evidence of
a legal character proving anything.
Ten years later, or In about 1878, the
United States government- made an
elaborate series of investigations, act
ing on some facts obtained by a consul
in Madrid, and, as a result, tons of In
dian Implements were found. • What-
ever means of information the govern^
ment had they were exact, . as ; the re
sults were that in this excavation, at
least, 10,000 natives were uncovered and
20 townsites located. The Investiga
tors started at Santa Catalina and took
hundreds of objects from"" the site of
the present Hotel Metropole. V Ten
tons was the estimate and the govern
ment was -greatly enriched.- Professor
Schumacher of the. Smithsonian Insti
tution at Washington was in charge of
this expedition, and he opened up graves
all along the Santa Barbara coast from
Carpenteria, north .and south, also "on
the various islands of Santa Barbara;
Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa and . Ban
Miguel. /• V <\u25a0
Soon after, this another -expedition
was sent out from Paris. It wasjln
charge of -Professor Armand L'oti.ilt
also was supposed to have some secret
information, ,as the .. men they 1 em
ployed were sworn to secrecy, but dis- j
closed the object- after Professor «Loti
left, when In their cups. They went to
San Nicolas, an island whlßh lies';
about 120 miles from San Pedro. It is
a desolate wind-swept region, yet had,
years ago, a. large Indian population.
The investigat&rs found no harbor heae
• where a vessel could lie, but discovered
the only bodies in coffins found on any
of the islands. One of these contained
the remains of a uniform with much
tinsel, but nothing to Indicate that it
belonged to an officer, nor is It known
that Cabrillo wore the uniform of the
Spanish navy; possibly he was a civil
ian. So\.far at Cabrillo's grave, was
concerned, the expedition was a'failnre,
but they took from San Nicolas alone
over three tons of Implements .from
a mound at least a mile long and ten,
feet deep. •
San Nicolas \u25a0 has a- most dangerous *
coast, no harbors, almost no lee,, and'
it Is Impossible that Cabrillo could
have wintered there without bis~ ves
sels being wrecked by some of the
storms. 'At San Clemente # this expedl-'
tion made a careful. lnves'tigatlon, but
without results. Some few years later
a. subscription was raised and * an ,
attempt made under [ the lead .pf 'Frank
- Polley, ..- late professor, of history : : at
Stanford, and on* time district attorney
of Los Angeles county. He also made
San Clemente his objective point Some
of his : party ; had ; a--'a '-' copy, of ; Ferrello'g
log. of the: voyage of i Cabrillo,' and;sup
posed ? they ; had " located \u25a0' the « place of
burial. ; They uncovered some; very.^^ in
teresting remainsronVwhat^ must - have
been! a battlefield, as they, found the
remains of over^ so 'warriors } ln a heap.
Legs, arms and skulls : were all beaten
In by .clubs, while some .skullsvhad
In^them, and; as 1 the; men c dug
the sand away ; they found " the t skele
tons just as they; hadffallen;: the wind'
had covered - them up, ;' effacing v the'
whole story. ' i : - .;
"The most Interesting discoveries were
made In the caves of ; the 'island,* in "the
shape of dog mummies.' 'The bodies had
been wrapped \ in cloth'. made; of , kelpTor
sea weed, and this S had ,-evl-'
dently - lined the , walls hof *- the ,; caves.
In which the - island ; abounds -\u25a0 to a ' re
Roroatit^ Santa Cruz awl
m, San Miguel i Islands WhicK Have Found the Tombs of Every
-body but Brave Captain Gbrillo
iharkablei degree. .There are ; literally
hundreds?, of • -; them, . of ;. all r slzes '\u25a0; from
great sea.;, caves' ranging \u25a0; from : 50 to
100; feet to countless "small 'ones, onUhe
side ; of •''the* mountains/", It v has been* a
theory that ': the crew of Cabrillo,' rather,
than s? bury . Y; their/ .commander v y in . the
drifting j .sand, v.wbuld \ have placed 4the
body.' In - a *• cavel where ; it ".would • always
remain: jOve* 500 caves wef e \u25a0 examined ;
some : high up in ? the ] canyons,-, some \u25a0 at
the' water's 'edge. » A vast ; quantity < of
shells v and debris was ; unearthed,-: but
nothing • that - Indicated --"an > Important
burial.-, j-- '^ \u25a0•:',/;. -v\ l -:'~v-. .-; .'fx-i^ •
.. rA v > year r after i this J. \ Neal > Plumb -of
New,/ York, ;. well', known . as; the , host of
President^/Arthur % theU day", after the
death of • President Garfleld,; in company
with « at number.'; of :V professional . men
madeTah ,; examination \u25a0 of fth ej San \u25a0 Cle
mente iduries '.near' the ..northwest-har
bor. - He*. took Felice Preslado, who had
lived o.n the Island '\u25a0 14 j years ; sod knei*
" It : from I ? one' end jJtoHhe 'other. V On the
second \u25a0 day - they ? found .; the 5 remains "of
some man of undoubted/ prominence.
: Preslado f ound \u25a0a ; flat - stone on \u25a0 tha sur
face," which,'-, he" -said,.- Indicated r -the
.burial'of.some one.. A trench .was made
and \u25a0'-\u25a0 four feet " f vom^ the "{surface ' was
found 'f the /skeleton \ of ' & : , large man.
Over "it "had been > placed ,the ; large flat
stone and a fine Indian flute r 6f bone in
laid with "pearl. T At- the foot of the body
was f ; another;' flute; made ; of -the ' leg of
a deer, and covered .with beautiful; frag- \u25a0
t ments lof pearly abalone ) fastened^ on'
withipltchW-lasphaltum; > which' washes
ashore ' everywhere ' here. At ? the * head
0f ,..' the*'. man 1 was; another ; flute-f-in . all
four or ; five iwere found. ,; The"! body was
that •; of ' a chief,'? 1 a', native. Sousa, ; but -It
was not ; that of .Cabrillo. .; The skeleton, '
\ flutes, ietc;, iWere^ sent jUo';* the j; Smith
sonian, Iristitutlon.iTrenches:,were'm
in i tha * dunes ;lrii. various 1 directions and
'the : bodies Tof natives .were found In un
limited numbers. BBStiSttSBS
\u25a0 # Another' expedition .was made . some
years K after this to v San 1 Nicolas * and sf .
systematic' investigation. 'made of ; the r
large 7 mounds.'O Hundreds r"of "skeletons.:
: were* f oiind.*~i Many 4 graves , were" marked .
by .^whalebones'* pushed : * into vthe": sand, *
forming ian arch.' This party;' remained
on the Island, several months, fighting
the 'winds, .vwhlch threatened to blow
.the island into the sea- — a terrifying ex
perience. - Even . the r lone herder — -a
•Basque^— f eared the winds and had the
top of his shanty covered with bowlders
to hold it down. He.woujd not give the
hunters«any Information, as he said the
winds ? blew v so ; hard because.- men had
robbed the graves on* the island so
many times.
Jin this year a discovery was made at
Santa Catalina In 'the form' of a cava on
a ridge of Mount Black Jack, 1.000 feet
above -the sea and 20 minutes' walk
from ;, Eagle's Nest. • From -a . distance
the "cave'appeared like a huge rock, and
doubtless . it : had been passed .. by , for - a
century,; as the entrance was so choked
by cactus that no one had seen it. Some
curious :\u25a0\u25a0 hunter; cut the \ growth ' away
and found what had < doubtless been - th«
home of a family two or more centuries
back. It was half filled with debris and
had ,Been . occupied * by ; wild ; goats." In
front of the entrance was a pile of aba
lone, shells weighing possibly , two tons
which had been carried ; here ; from the
sea, a . distance of several' miles, tho
meat eaten and the shells tossedout to
form a mound, that had gradually rolled
down tha hill. On the side of (jtha en
trance waa a cross,* thought ; by some to
bo i the ' * Imprint Tof ', the ; palm of r a. 4 hand
stained and pressed upon r lt : In red
paint, which' was I traced to * 'ledge at
a, sea • cave * near^the town of " Cabrillo.
The exact shape" of . this ; sign . could ' not
be determined, I but ; . It .was ; supposed to
beaiVwelcome'slgn." ,
\ : " In the same i ledga was a smaller
cave, used ; as ; a ; kitchen, - and the stain
of - smpks ' could still \u25a0• bo seen on ' tha
0 \u25a0 :\u25a0
rock. This cava was dug into an<J half
its contents taken out.. Only the typ
ical objects were found on the surface
from the cave down hill to the stream,
200 yards or more. In this vicinity,
just over : the divide, is Co ttonwocd '
canyon, in which , are various curious
things. Steatite crops "out here, and on
many of the pieces are portions ot '
mortars, left; by "aborigines. Over the
divide Is a large deposit,' part of which
Is covered with cores of mortars ;. it Is '-
known that here was an important.
olla- manufactory. Preslado pointed out \u25a0
to a government expedition a number
of graves, which were opened with sat
isfactory results.
About this time well diggers In ex
cavating in Grand canyon, Santa Cata
lina, found a grave which . evidently
had been occupied by a foreigner. In
the soil was an bid Spanish sword hilt.
Spanish" brass buttons, a. buckle* and
'objects' showing- that the owner
_ was a man •of Importance. This . haa
been claimed as the grave of Cabrillo.
His name 'has been given to the great
mountain range -of the island, aa well
as to" the 1 tow]l" at the north end.
Historians have claimed that Cabrillo
fell at San Miguel. He broke his arm
while wintering there and died there,
being burled at Cuylers' harbor. At
least 20 expeditions have searched this
harbor and dug In every foot of It, but
no trace of the great captain has ever
been discovered and the. search has been
abandoned. A few years ago, the an- \u25a0
nlversary of his discovery of California.
San Diego had a splendid celebration
of the event. It has been particularly
desired that the grave should be found,
as the state of California would doubt
less honor.lt with a statuer in fact, a
movement la on foot in Los Angeles to
placs In one of the parks of the city
a \u25a0 heroio statue of the ; cr eat com
rhand>r» —
