The Cordova daily times. [volume] (Cordova, Alaska) 1914-1947, 1919-07-11
FIND EVIDENCE
OF EXPLORERS
OF LONG AGO


been increased through discoveries
made on the island of Guadalupe, a
picturesque and rugged peak rising
out of the Pacific about three hundred
and fifty miles southwest of this port,
by a body Of Americans who sailed
from here and returned recently.
Not only did they find what is con-
sidered evidence of the presence there
of Americans more than a century ago,
but also discovered what appeared to
have been the last resting place of
some daring explorer of a far earlier
date. Much speculation has been
aroused as to whether leader of the
famed expedition of Juan Rodriguez
CabrillO, perhaps even that hardy Por
tuguese himself, may have been given
there the loneliest Of tOmbs.
The discoveries were made by the
merest chance. Members of the ex-
plOring party resting on the crown Of
a great rock, a few rods from the
shore, noticed what appeared to be
rude lettering on the side nearest the
sea.
The debris cast up about the rock
by the waves was removed with picks
and shovels and there was exposed
to view the record of a landing by the
crew of the ship Triumph in 1907
so reads the inscription
There are a score of names there,
also an American flag and an Ameri-
can shield. The names are thought
to be those Of New England whalers,
for they are such as were borne by
the Puritans. There is one name cut
larger than the resistant Chapman.
Another deeply engraved is David
Cristy. The Christian names are such
as Thaddeus, Theophilus, Ebenezer
and Jonathan, common in the last cen
fury.
The names are cut deep and are
legible in almost every case.
LANDED Sept. the A D. 1907" is
the record of their coming. Left the"
and there the grinding of the rocks
and sands of many tides has done its
work, and the rest is left to the imagi-
nation.
The loneliness Of the isle may be
judged from the fact that a party of
Americans, including several women,
survivors of a wrecked ship, were ma
rooned there for seven months about
three years ago. They were rescued
by an American cruiser which nosed
by chance into the snug harbor on the
east coast.
The coast line is almost all cliffs,
perpendicular walls of rock 1000 or
more feet in height in many places.
There is hardly spot except the har-
Dor where a landing is easy. A can
yon runs back from the harbor and
we'll up in this canyon is a spring,
thought to be the only fresh water on
the island There are thousands of
goats on the island.
It is on a little ledge jutting out
from a cliff, probably 500 feet above
the waves that crash about the Jagged
shore rocks, members of the party be-
lieve, some sea rover of an earlier
age may have found a granite couch.
Whether there is a small cave back
of the ledge the party could not be
certain of from their boat, which could
not be driven close to the dangerous
shore.
But above may be plainly seen a
large cross cut in the cliff and what
looks like a word in Latin.
Certainly the man or men who cut
the cross were bold, and must have
had a strong impelling reason
whether or not it was to make forever
secure the body of loved commander.
No man could have scaled the cliff
from below. Those who reached the
ledge must have been lowered hun
dreds of feet from the towering pla-
teau. The descent was not prompted
by mere love of the hazardous.
1t has been generally supposed for
many years that the bones of Cabrillo
lie in some cave of the Santa Barbara
channel islands, and there have been
many unsuccessful searches for them
there. The records of the navigator
who sailed along the California coast
in 1912 and 1913 are fragmentary.