San Nicolas Island
Naval Air Station Point Mugu, California
A stranded woman lived alone on this remote island for 18 years, inspiring the great children's novel "Island of the Blue Dolphins."
"...she was...a very happy & pleasant person. Around 50 years old & in good health when she was brought to Santa Barbara Mission... She could not communicate directly because no one was left who spoke her language. Her tribe had died out by that point [from being forced to leave their homes]...
Sadly, she only lasted 7 weeks at the mission, the change in diet having resulted in her contracting dysentery. She was christened Juana Maria shortly before she died, and buried in the Nidever family plot at the mission cemetery. Her dress and other belongings she brought with her from the island have been lost..."
This was one of my absolute childhood favorites. I'm sorry to hear her fate at the hands of christians - "change in diet" here means "unsanitary conditions."
Good question. I'm pretty sure I read it in 5th or 6th grade. Maybe fourth, but I don't remember. But I reread it for several years afterward. So it was interesting to me even to my early teens.
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