The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-06-10
TIE LOST WOMAN OF SAN NICOLAS.


TIE LOST WOMAN OF SAN NICOLAS.
One of the Strange stories of Santa Bar.
bara, California,
Seventy miles from the shore is San Nico-
las Island, tia SIKH of the group that clus-
ter around the Bsy Of Santa Barbara. It Is
celebrated for having bean The residence for
nineteen years of The Lost Woman of San
Nicolas" as her name Is famous q d her
story hiss been told in romance I viii give
the bare iscts about her as found them to
be, without any added ornament and leave
the fiction to the pen OF the novelist.
The Island of San Nicolas was oncs
dersely populated, This is attested by the
skulls and bones and other evidences of hu-
man abode that are found there. The Alaska
Indians frequently visited the island to
hunt for the furs OF the ssa otter. They took
their women with them on these hunts, acd
en- returning after the hunt was over they
left them or the island TO their fate. By
order of the Government in 1855 the Indians
were removed from the island. Just before
they we're to embark and carry away every h1.
man inhabitant, IS It was supposed, viii. q
Indian woman begged for the privilege of
going sshore for her child, which was soji.
dentally left. she was gone long time IN
fruitless search for her onspIiug. The Tind
blew a gale, the water was shallow, there
was one who was seeking the lost one They
Get Sail, intending to return for the lost Wo.
man Of San Nicolas, bus the boat, becoming
unEsaEoIthy, sac was left to hsr fate. II
was generally known that there was a NO.
man abandoned on the island, bat no
atsempt was made for her deliveranee. As
the wolld soon foTgets, 80 the woman
Of San Nicolas was forgotten and toe
year PCS SD away. After lapse OF sixteen
years man who landed on the island found
thst It wac inhabited By some one. The
foot. prints Of q human being sunk deep in
the ground vas seen. The hardness Of the
ground was an indication tha. they had
been made long time. From their size
they evidently belonged to woman. Cir
cG!sr Enclosures made OF brush, six or seven
fest through, were seen, where some one
lad lived. Near the huts were STICKS driven
in the ground ard dUied blubbsr hanging on
them, ibus prepared for food.
In 1852 San Nicolas vas visited az lin,
and another hunt vas made for the l)Dg-
lost women. The huts were seen that he |
hssn ssen before. but the old biubber had
been taken away and new food OF the kind
hung IN its place. Wild dogs were found
hich ian away st the approach OK civilized
man. In 2 basket covered with seal-skins
that they found in bush hesp was dress
L are Of shsg skins, cut in square pisces,
q -cpe made Of sineW, and several smaller
articles, such as fish hooks aad bone needles.
The discoveries of these proofs that there
lived or that ISLAND = human being scattered
them on the ground, and on their return
they found them gathered together and
placed IN The basket sgain.
The Catholic Fathers Of tbs "Old Mission"
The foremost in every good word and work,
offered reward to any ons who would find
the Lost woman, and third effort was made
in 1858 to discover the prodigal about WHOM
there was such mystery, and In whom the
world OF this coast was beginning TO take 40
interest. Fresh tracks of the woman were
found. They belonged to very small fest,
and were like those that were seen IN the
first attempt to find the woman. Hnts made
OF whale ribs and covered with brush were
discovered. At length an object was seen
in the distance that appeared to be NOV
ing. Going toward it they saw the WON.
an that for eighteen years had reigned
Queen Of San Nicholas her subjects bsing
the wild animals, her robe a dress OF bird
skins she had made. aud her throne the hat
che had built. She was seated in an inclos.
ure, so that only her head and shoulders
could be seen. Two or three dogs we're about
her that disappeared at the command of
their sovereign. She was seated on some
grass that covered the ground and served her
as bed. Her dress wins neatly made of
bird skins, extending to her ankles, the feath-
eTs of which pointed downward. Her head
wss covered with q thick mat of yellewish
brown hair, and her shoulders were bare.
She was occupied in stripping blubber from
a piece OF sealskin which she held
across her knee. and using for that pur-
pose knife made of an Iron hoop. In her
hut was fire, beside which she sat talking
to herself and, occasionally shading her eyes
with her hand, looked at the mon that were
In search of her. She received them with
much courtesy; bowling, and smiling and
showing that this lost child Of nature had
much Of the politeness Of true woman. She
tcok some roots in the bag, roasted them in
the fire, and gave them 10 the men to eat.
She gathered up all her fosd which was her
chief concern, owing to the famines she hsd
experienced, washed herself at the spring,
| and followed the men cheerfuIly to the boat.
| On being taken to Santa Barbara she
manifested great delight On seeing the
| sights of civilization. She became a univsr-
| sal faVorite aEd Was presented with many
gifts. Passengers on tAe Panama steamer
| that landed there all wanted 10 sec the lost
| woman OF San Nicolas. she related by
signs her experience or the island, a. she
/ spike 2 language that none OF the Indians
| knew and none of the Spanish Fathers,
/ versed IN Indian dialects, could understand.
| Civilization, which pIOlongs the life OF some,
| shortened that Of the woman of San Nicolas.
An excessive love Of fruit led To her death
/ Ia C1utd DSfDA8 al lus dtb VI HAbg. O1e
/ WIS buried with the honors Of the Catholic
| Church by the Franciscan Fathers. aud her
dress AID trinkets were sent TO Rome I'D
| placed ia that receptacle Of the world
| curiositIes
The story Of the lost woman of Ban Nicolas
| will always remain q wonderment. Her in.
| genuitY is seen in the pals she made OF grass,
made % hold water by smearing them with
melted esphaltunl, and in her bird skin
i dresses, her bone needles, her knife OF iron
hoop, and the language she invented and
| spoke. It Is inexplicable to all who have
| learned her story how a woman could live
| eighteen years on an island around which
the waves were beating a requiem to hope,
| getting her food and cooking il with.
out even those facilities which are cJm'
mon to the savage, and making her
| dresses NEATLY without the aid Of needles ex-
cept what che carved out of bone. She laid
| ssiGe one dress for eighteen yeas TO be worn
| when the white men should come, of which
| sbe bad preeentimeDt- She built her o 8n
1