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Show lilf "BUYS HISTOniG ISLE Santa Catalina, Sportsman's Paradise, Purchased by Chicago Millionaire. Field Museum Authority to Assist in Thoroughly Exploring Nooks. Special to Tho Tribune. SAN I'F.DItO, Cal., March 6. Hunters and llshcrnien of tho .south California coast, who for years havo caught big tuna In Calalina bay or .shot quail and wild Koala on Santa Catalina inland, are pleased with news of the purchase of the island by William Wrinley of Chicago. For several years the island has been practically closed to hunters. These same sportsmen arc. enjoying with Air. Wrlley his sensation of beins a twentieth twen-tieth century explorer and discoverer. They know tho alluring history of the llttlo Island, with lis coves and canyons and mountain peaks. The Iirst mention of Santa Catalina Is In the brief diary of ItodriKuez Cabrillo, according to a local historian, Herbert I'J. Holton. Cabrillo was the Iirst explorer of the 1'acillc coast north of Cerros island. Calu'lllo slopped at Santa Catalina Cata-lina and recorded the visit in his Interesting Inter-esting los. His record is the Iirst we have of contact between white men and 1 ho Indiana of Catalina. Cabrillo tells how the native women folk ran in fright when the explorers set foot on the Island, while their men laid down their bows and arrows and welcomed the Spaniards. Cabrillo's men later received much hospitality hos-pitality from tho natives. Vizcaino visited the island In 1602. He gave the Island Us present name. Vizcaino's Viz-caino's recorder was a prolific writer and leaves a comprehensive account of the visit to the charming island: Tells of Early Visit. "Wo continued our voyage, skirting filoner the const until the 24 th of the month, which was the eve of the feast or tho glorious Santa Catalina, when we discovered three large Islands. We approached ap-proached thorn with difilculty because of it head wind, and arrived at the middle one, which is more than twenty-live leagues around. 1 "On the 'J7th of the month, and before i casting anchor In a very good cove which j was found, a multitude of Indians came , out hi canoes of cedar and pine, made j of planks very well joined and calked, j each ono wtih eight oars and with four- I teen or fifteen Indians, who looked like j galley-slaves. Thoy came alongside i without the least fear and came on board i olir ships, mooring their own. They I showed great pleasure at seeing1 us, tell- I iiig us by signs that we must land, and j guiding us like pilots to the anchorage. ; The general (Yizcanlo) received them Tho general (Vizcaino) received them especially to the boys. We anchored and the admiral. Ensign Alarcon, Father i-Yay Antonio and Captain Peguero, with some soldiers, went ashore. Many Indians In-dians were on the beach, and the women treated us to roasted sardines, and a small fruit like sweet potatoes. Fresh water was found, although a long distance dis-tance from the beach. "The next day the general and the father commissary went ashore, a hut was built and mass was said. More than ono hundred . and fifty Indian men and women were present, and they marveled not a little at seeing the altar and the image of our Lord Jesus crucified, and listened attentively to tho saying of mass, asking by signs what it was about. They were told that It was about heaven, whereat they marveled more. When the divine service was ended the general went to their houses, where the women took him by the hand and led him in--slde, giving him some of the food which they had given him before. Ho brought to tho ship six Indian girls from eight to ten years old, whom their mothers willingly gave him, and he clothed them with chemises, petticoats and necklaces, and sent them ashore. The rest of the Women, seeing this, came with their-dh'nghters their-dh'nghters in canoes, asking for gifts. The result was that no one returned empty handed. Modest Women; Men Thieves. "The people go dressed in sealskins, tho women especially covering their loins, and their faces show them to be Ttunlest; but the men are thieves, for anything they saw unguarded thev took. Titey are a people given to trade and traffic and are fond of barter, for in return re-turn for old clothes they would give the soldiers skins, shells, nets and thread, and very well twisted rope, these in great quantities and resembling linen. They have dogs like those in Castile. "On the night of the eve of San Andres, An-dres, at 4 o'clock In the afternoon, we arrived at the place which the Indians had designated, they piloting us in their canoes into the port, which is all that could be drsired as to convenience and security. On the beach there was a pueblo and more than three hundred Indians, In-dians, men, women and children. The general and Ensign Alarcon went ashore and inspected it. The next dav the general gen-eral and many of the rest of us went ashore. The Indian men and women embraced em-braced him antf took him to their houses. These women "have good features. The -':neral gave them beads and regaled them, and they gave him prickly pears and a grain like- tin- golfio of the Canary islands in soiiiu willow La "!:; is viry w U mad.', and vaU:r in vi-sscis resembling, llask.s, wim-h wore like rattan irisidr.- and very thickly varnished outsid;. Tuey iiLtd ' acorns and some: very iarg; skins, apparently appar-ently of bears, v. .Hi heavy fur, inch thi.-y used f'jf Ha!,l:ets. "The general wi-ni. inland to see the opposite coast, fie. found on the way a level prairie, very eil ct'.trni, wntre the Indians were assembled to worsh.p an Idol whleh was t hei e. it res-Tnk' 1 a demon, -kav ing two horns, no head, a dog at iis feet and many eliikir-in painted paint-ed all around it. The Indians told 'the general not to go near it, but he approached ap-proached it and saw tne whole thing, and made a cross and piaeed Uie name of Jesus on the head of the daion, telling tho Indians that, was good and from heaven, but that the idol was the devil. At this Hie Indians marveled, and they will readily renounce it and receive our holy faith, for apparently they have good Intellects and are friendly and desirous of our friendship. Indians Feared Whites. "The general returned to the pueblo, and an Indian woman brought him two pieces of figured Chi na silk, in fragments, frag-ments, telling him that they had got them from people like ourselves, who had negroes; that they had come out of a ship which was driven by a strong wind to the coast and wrecked, and that it was farther on. The general endeavored endeav-ored to take two or three Indians with him that they might tell him where the. ship had been lost, promising to give them clothes. The Indians consented and went with him to the captain's ship, but as we were weighing anchor preparatory pre-paratory to leaving, the Indians said they wished to go ahead in their canoe and that they did not wish to go aboard the ship, fearing that we would abduct them, and the general, in order not to excite them, said 'Very well.' "Wo net sail, and on leaving the port a head-wind struck us, which prevented our going where tho Indians indicated; therefore we stood out to sea and the ! Indians returned to their pueblo. This! attempt was given up because we did ( not have the launch, which had gone to reconnolter another island, apparently belonging to the mainland, and because the admiral's ship was absent, as it could not make the said port, and because the fog was so very dense that we could not see each other, and also because there seemed to be many islands, keys and shoals, among which, in such weather, the pilots did not dare take the flagship; and so we continued our voyage. "The next day the admiral's ship and the frigate came up with us. for perhaps God willed It that we should be united. On being asked what he had found on the island, Knsign Melendez said that there were many- Indians, who told him by signs that upon it there were men who were bearded and clothed like ourselves. our-selves. Thinking them to be Spanish he sent them a note, and eight Indians came to him in a canoe, bearded and clothed in skins of animals, but they could learn nothing more. Accordingly the general ordered that we should continue our vovage without further delay, because our men were all becoming ill. leaving for the return any efforts to verify what the Indians of the island of Santa Calalina Cala-lina had told us bv signs, for, as we could not understand their language, all was confusion and there was little certainty as to what they said. "We left this said island of Santa Catalina and port of San Andres on Sun-dav, Sun-dav, December 1." In connection with his purchase of Catalina island. Mr. Wrlgley is planning to have complete studies made of its history. his-tory. Arrangements are now being made by "Dr. lleve, under the auspices of the Field museum of Chicago, of which Mr. Wriglcy is a director. |