Both islands were inhabited when discovered by Cabrillo in 1542, and undoubtedly for ages supported a large and vigorous population of savage seafarers who were skilled in all the rude arts of the fisherman and the sea.
How long these islands have been occupied, and who were the original settlers, are questions difficult to answer; but on Santa
Fig. 2.—Skeleton found at San Clemente Island, California.
Catalina the writer has identified a number of residence sites, shell mounds, caves, and tumuli, all of which show evidence of ancient occupation.
On the island of San Clemente we began work on the north end, at what is known as the Isthmus. Here for several hundred acres the sand has covered the soil and is gradually flowing up over the island, driven by the wind. For some reason this appears to have been a favorite location for the aborigines, as in every direction traces of previous occupation were found; but as the sand has been blowing for centuries, a greater portion of the material has been covered by it. The evidence was in the shape of shell mounds—piles of abalones, brought from the ocean, half a mile distant; heaps of the bones of fishes, seals, and various animals, among which were found stone implements, well-molded scraping stones, grinders and broken mortars.
A day was spent in digging in these sand dunes with poor success, but the following morning, on the west shore of the island, another sand stretch was discovered which had evidently been occupied for years. In one place we found human bones uncovered by the sand, in such numbers that the impression was given that here was an old battlefield where bodies had been left as they fell. As far as the eye could see down the coast the sand dunes
