One of the most famous misconceptions in cartographic history is of California as an island. The origin of this error is Las Sergas de Esplandian, a romantic novel written in 1510 by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo, stating
“that on the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California very close to the side of the Terrestrial Paradise; and it is peopled by black women, without any man among them, for they live in the manner of the Amazons.”
This idealised view of California as a kind of Garden of Eden at the edge of the known world was negated by Father Eusebio Kino’s expedition from 1698 to 1701. Kino proved that Baja California, the (currently Mexican) peninsula which runs parallel to the mainland for hundreds of miles, is connected to it in the north.
Doubts remained, however, and the issue was finally laid to rest only with the expeditions of Juan Bautista de Anza (1774-1776).
It is somehow fitting that California, now home to the entertainment industry in general and Hollywood in particular, itself should be named after a fictional place first mentioned in a novel. Baja California was discovered in 1533 by a mutineer from Hernan Cortes‘ expedition into Mexico, followed by a trip by Cortes himself to that area (near present-day La Paz, on the southern tip of the peninsula). The lay of the land led him to believe this to be the island of ‘California’ from Montalvo’s novel.
Expeditions in 1539 and later seemed to indicate California was a peninsula, and at first it was thus shown on maps, including some by Mercator and Ortelius. Nevertheless, the idea of an insular California was revived, probably in part by the fictional accounts of Juan de Fuca. He claimed to have found a large opening in the western coast of North America, possibly the legendary Northwest Passage.
Further inspiration was the overland expedition by Juan de Oñate who descended the Colorado River (1604-1605) and believed he saw the Gulf of California continuing off to the northwest. California reappeared on the map as an island for the first time in 1622 in a map by Michiel Colijn of Amsterdam and this image would endure far into the 18th Century.
This map by Johannes Vingboons (1639) taken from the Library of Congress at this page.
What’s with the semi-random red text?
Comment by Paul Tomblin — February 6, 2007 @ 3:25 pm
Dunno – I made it in Word, copied and pasted it into the blog. Trying to fix it…
Comment by strangemaps — February 6, 2007 @ 4:05 pm
Fixed… this should be a bit easier on the eyes.
Comment by strangemaps — February 6, 2007 @ 4:12 pm
That’s actually prophetical. California *will* be an island (not just Baja, but everything coastal up to Frisco and beyond).
You just have to wait a couple million years…
Comment by Jorge — February 6, 2007 @ 4:37 pm
The Isle of California
Strange Maps has the back story on this map
Trackback by Platial News and Neogeography — February 6, 2007 @ 10:16 pm
Just think of all the extra beachfront property.
Comment by Mitch McDad — February 6, 2007 @ 10:36 pm
Wow, that’s strange. How would they think California as an island? The shore is only on the west side and it’s just land to the east… How do you think people can travel from east to west without need of water transportation?
Comment by Matthias — February 7, 2007 @ 5:49 am
[...] piece on ancient California at Strange Maps. Chuck posted this on Wednesday, February 7, 2007 at 9:23 am. It is filed in Fun News, [...]
Pingback by Howling Point | Doing our best to stay caffeinated and chlorinated. — February 7, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
this is weird! where did they come up with California in 1510…Columbus had just discovered the new world…hmmm..interesting
Comment by superali620 — February 7, 2007 @ 10:13 pm
[...] 71 – The Island of California « strange maps When Alta California tumbles into the sea, that’ll be the day I go back to Annandale. (tags: california history maps) [...]
Pingback by ArtLung Blog » Daily Links — February 8, 2007 @ 7:25 am
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Comment by teknsik — February 8, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
In many ways, Baja California IS an island in relation to the rest of Mexico. The only roads to Baja are through the U.S.
Like Alta California, Baja has attracted economic migrants for farm work, mostly from Oaxaca. The majority of the development that has occurred has been American driven (and encouraged by the Mexican government).
Finally, though the native Californios are not ‘black’ by American understanding of the word, they have a dark coffee complexion that sets them a little bit apart from the indios on the mainland. As time goes on, though, Baja looks to become more heterogeneous like Alta, particularly in the south.
Comment by ElamBend — February 8, 2007 @ 6:50 pm
[...] Las Sergas de Esplandian, a romantic novel written in 1510 by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo.” { Continue reading [...]
Pingback by the new shelton wet/dry — February 20, 2007 @ 10:09 am
[...] Strange Maps discusses California’s history as an island, possibly home to the Garden of [...]
Pingback by Carnivalesque #24 « The Long Eighteenth — February 24, 2007 @ 6:53 pm
This is the Californian’s view of the world AFTER the Big One hits, but BEFORE the rest of America sinks into the Atlantic Ocean.
Comment by Geoff — May 1, 2007 @ 3:50 pm
Does anyone know of an English language translation of “Las Sergas de Esplandian”, either in dead tree edition or on line? I’d settle for a decent synopsis. So far the only references I’ve been able to find have to do with the naming of California, with a little detail on Queen Califia’s amazons.
I need this because I’m doing research on “Lost Island” legends in general, and “Isla de California” in particular, for a possible fantasy novel. So far I’ve been unable to unearth the primary text.
I’m particularly interested in whether there was any form of magic in the story, (other than the carnivorous griffins the amazons rode), and if so, how it worked (spells, artifacts, pagan deities, etc.)
If anyone has a clue for me, please contact me at rjo_getalife@hotmail.com.
Thanks.
Comment by RJO — May 2, 2007 @ 6:10 pm
Does anyone know of an English language translation of “Las Sergas de Esplandian”, either in dead tree edition or on line? I’d settle for a decent synopsis. So far the only references I’ve been able to find have to do with the naming of California, with a little detail on Queen Califia’s amazons.
I need this because I’m doing research on “Lost Island” legends in general, and “Isla de California” in particular, for a possible fantasy novel. So far I’ve been unable to unearth the primary text.
I’m particularly interested in whether there was any form of magic in the story, (other than the carnivorous griffins the amazons rode), and if so, how it worked (spells, artifacts, pagan deities, etc.)
If anyone has a clue for me, please contact me at rjo_getalife@hotmail.com
Thanks.
Comment by RJO — May 2, 2007 @ 6:20 pm
Oops. Double Post. Sorry. Please use the link on the second post, as it eliminates a typo.
Thanks again.
Comment by RJO — May 2, 2007 @ 6:24 pm
[...] a kiváló strange maps cikke, amiben felfedeztem Kalifornia szigetét; Mythical Geography: California as an Island [...]
Pingback by madzag » Kalifornia, a fantomsziget — May 2, 2007 @ 11:43 pm
[...] peninsula, but also from a literary tradition of an island called California,way out west (see post #71 on this blog on that very [...]
Pingback by 156 - China’s 1418 World Map « strange maps — July 28, 2007 @ 9:10 pm
ElamBend, I don’t know where you got that idea, but Baja California is *not* disconected form the rest of Mexico. Look at http://dgp.sct.gob.mx/fileadmin/Atlas/bajacalifornian.pdf to see a map of the state, where you can see that the peninsula is joined to Mexico by a strip about 70Km wide at its narrowest, with a road going thru it, just south of the border. It might be a crappy road (I used it about 15 years ago, I have no idea what condition it’s in, now) but it’s a road.
BTW, what’s with the “currently mexican” comment on the main post? Planning a take over or what?
Comment by Rodrigo Gallardo — July 30, 2007 @ 6:23 pm
Well, I believe that California
once was an island and after possible
several hundred years it moved into
the mainland. I am in California now and here is a high mountain
along the east side of California
about 8000 feet high which might be
created by the clashing of two
pieces of lands.
It also seem to me that the earth
is
moving north.
Comment by zdg — August 9, 2007 @ 4:42 am
Hi,
Here seems some evidences of what I
just said:
1A. Zheng He’s map has a latitute
37 degree somehow SOUTH of todays map.
B. The southern cross stars in
the southern sky could be seen in Europe but not
anymore.
C. The tip of south America,
south africa, and india looks more
like some tailing evidences.
D. The four islands in the north pole disappeared.
E. There seems some historical events some leaders did not aware
the coming of the cold winter
and lose lot of troops possibly
because of that part of earth moving north from the middle of
the earth.
F. By comparing the maps of
1400 and 2000, it seems that the earth is moving north.
G. According to the thery of moving plates, long long ago
the land had only one piece called pangaea near the south pole.
2. I just found two passages in the
Bible which support my observation:
A. Genesis 10:25, the earth was divided.
B. Genesis 2:11 to 14. The first
river was east of California
with gold and precious red stones
(see also Genesis 10:29).
The second river was in Egypt.
The third and the fourth river
are still both in the middle east.
C. One could also have
Genesis 1:9.
Comment by zdg — August 9, 2007 @ 5:17 am
Also, a rarely mentioned quirk about california is is that much of central california (from bakersfield up to the bay area) was once a seasonal lake, less than 200 years ago. Anyone who has lived in the “valley” knows that there are mountains to the east, mountains to the west and a vast flat plain in the middle with silty soils, very similar to that of a lake bottom. This Valley, the San Joaquin Valley is 300 x 100 miles at it’s largest points. The seasonal snow meltage from the neighboring high sierras supposedly filled the valley. I’ve heard it said that a paddle boat could travel from southern to northern california on this body of water.
Comment by Matt — August 27, 2007 @ 7:07 pm
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Comment by Ashley — September 19, 2007 @ 11:43 pm
yeahi agree with you zdg i do believe that california was an island before but i just dont see how it was ..i mean it must have been a huge island…. i mean i know i sound dumb but i am just typing down what i am thinking in my head.. well i dont know because i think that north america was always the same but there may have been earthquakes that have happened to make it move but then over time it must have go to its homeland.. do understand what i am saying.
Comment by Ashley — September 19, 2007 @ 11:47 pm
Great blog, great map, but some not-so-great comments. Oh well.
So why did early Euro explorers think California was an island?
1) Because the novel said so. Never underestimate the power of popular fiction to frame perceptions of reality.
2) Because fog common along the northern coast COULD have shrouded and obscured a passage (SF Bay was hidden from explorers for 200 years).
3) Because the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of Calif) and the spring-flooded San Joaquin Valley (mentioned above) sure make the mountainous coastal realm SEEM like an island, absent further exploration.
Biologically and geographically, the state is isolated from North America, as described in the seminal ecological study AN ISLAND CALLED CALIFORNIA by Elna Bakker. [Similarly, volcanic Lake County (north of San Francisco) is like an isolated island within the California ecolosphere.] And yes, tectonic motion will eventually make the area west of the San Andreas Fault a real physical island, but not in the manner described by Curt Gentry in his wonderful THE LAST DAYS OF THE LATE GREAT STATE OF CALIFORNIA. Not with a bang, but a whimper…
Yes, Baja California IS connected to mainland Mexico, but only by a narrow band of shallow Colorado River sediments. (A major highway parallels the US border now.) With the effective blockage of the Colorado, those sediments are no longer deposited west of Yuma. Global warming and rising sea levels could well see the erosion and drowning of that connecting strip, as the Gulf once more extends up to Palm Springs.
The same sea-level rise will also drown the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. The coastal Californias will then consist of a) a Northern Peninsula from Sausalito up to Whiskeytown, and b) the Longhorn Peninsulas from San Francisco down to Cabo San Lucas, connected to the mainland by the Transverse Ranges from Lompoc east to Las Vegas. From Redding to Sacramento to Fresno to Bakersfield, and the low Los Angeles basin, most of the major metro areas will drown. New ports will arise in the foothills. I can hardly wait. Heh heh.
Oh yeah, the writers of biblical texts had no idea of the existence or nature of California (or even of the Americas, Australia, etc) so biblical citations aren’t really applicable here.
Comment by Ric0 — October 1, 2007 @ 9:06 pm
california map
Maybe it can get a little complicated if used in a different way.
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Geologically speaking, parts of California’s geology are in fact island chains smashed onto the North American Continent as the Farallon plate slid under the North American plate. The current mountain rainges are mostly due to uplift within the last 5 million years.
Ecologically speaking, California *is* an island in terms of species endemism. It’s probably only surpassed by Hawaii.
Comment by Oxytone — January 31, 2008 @ 6:30 am
Matthias (#7) – the “California” in question here is actually Baja California, not the area that forms the current U.S. state. Baja was discovered first, and only later did the name “California” also come to apply to the regions to the north.
Given that Baja California is an extremely long peninsula, it’s not unreasonable that explorers might think it was an island.
Comment by James — June 18, 2008 @ 3:32 am
i cant wait for this to happen i got alot of land in western arizona haha lots of sand
Comment by Go GIANTS! — September 17, 2008 @ 3:31 pm
thanks alot
Comment by Tony — May 4, 2009 @ 2:33 am
thanks for this map.
good
luck
Comment by Solomon — May 11, 2009 @ 7:20 am
merci
Comment by aspicco . — May 17, 2009 @ 5:10 am
teşekkür ederim
Comment by yory — June 12, 2009 @ 8:46 pm