San Nicolas Island

San Nicolas Island (sometimes shortened as San Nic or SNI) is the most remote of California's Channel Islands. It is part of Ventura County. The 14,562 acre (58.93 km² or 22.753 sq mi) island is currently controlled by the United States Navy and is used as a weapons testing and training facility. The uninhabited island is defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block Group 9, Census Tract 36.04 of Ventura County, California. Block Group 9, Census Tract 36.04, Ventura County United States Census Bureau

History

San Nicolas was originally the home of the Nicoleño people, who were probably related to the Tongva of the mainland and Santa Catalina Island. It was named for Saint Nicholas by Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno after he sighted the island on St. Nick's feast day (December 6) in 1602. The Nicoleños were evacuated in the early 19th century by the padres of the California mission system after a series of conflicts with Aleutian and Russian hunter-traders. Within a few years of their removal from the island, the Nicoleño people and their unique language became extinct.

Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island

The most famous resident of San Nicolas Island was the "Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island", called Juana Maria; her real name was never known to anyone on the mainland. She was left behind (explanations for this vary) when the rest of the Nicoleños were moved to the mainland. She resided on the barren island alone for 18 years before she was found by Captain George Nidever in 1853 and brought back to the Santa Barbara Mission. She died within weeks, her system unprepared for the different nutritional and environmental conditions in central California.

Her story was the basis for Scott O'Dell's Newbery Medal-winning 1961 novel Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Rocket experiments

Between 1957 and 1973 several U.S. military research rockets were launched from San Nicolas Island. The launchpad was situated at . It remains part of the Pacific Missile Range.

Biota

San Nicolas Island was heavily grazed by sheep until they were removed in the 1930s. Overgrazing and erosion have removed much of the topsoil from the island. Despite the degradation, three endemic plants are found on the island and nowhere else: Astragalus traskiae, Eriogonum grande ssp. tamorum, and Lomatium insulare.

External links

References

Channel Islands of California | Ventura County, California