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The Legend of Califa
For two centuries, Europeans believed California to be an island,
as seen on this 1610 map. The derivation of the name "California" was
a mystery until 1862, when scholars "discovered" a novel by the
Spanish writer Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo called "The Exploits of the
Very Powerful Cavalier Esplandian, Son of the Excellent King Amadis of
Gaul," written in either 1510 or 1521 - and in any case well in
advance of the 1533 discovery of Baja California by the Spanish. Ordonez's novel tells the legend of Queen Califa (alternately transcribed as Califia or Calafia). An excerpt from one of several different translations follows: "Know that to the right hand of the Indies was an island called California, very near to the region of the Terrestrial Paradise, which was populated by black women, without there being any men among them, that almost like the Amazons was their style of living. These were of vigorous bodies and strong and ardent hearts and of great strength; the island itself the strongest in steep rocks and great boulders that is found in the world; their arms were all of gold, and also the harnesses of the wild beasts on which, after having tamed them, they rode; that in all the island there was no other metal whatsoever. They dwelt in caves very well hewn; they had many ships in which they went out to other parts to make their forays, and the men they seized they took with them, giving them their deaths, as you will further hear. And some times when they had peace with their adversaries, they intermixed with all security one with another, and there were carnal unions from which many of them came out pregnant, and if they gave birth to a female they kept her, and if they gave birth to a male, then he was killed... "On this island, called California, there were also many griffins. In no other part of the world can they be found. ... And in the time that they had young, these women would ... take them to their caves, and there raise them. And ... they fattened them on those men and the boys that they had borne. ... Any male that entered the island was killed and eaten by them... "And there ruled over that island of California a queen of majestic proportions, more beautiful than all others, and in the very vigor of her womanhood. She was not petite, nor blond, nor golden- haired. She was large, and black as the ace of clubs. But the prejudice of color did not then exist even among the most brazen-faced or the most copper-headed. For, as you shall learn, she was reputed the most beautiful of women; and it was she, O Californias! who accomplished great deeds, she was valiant and courageous and ardent with a brave heart, and had ambitions to execute nobler actions than had been performed by any other ruler - Queen Califa." The name "California" was born in the mind of one Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo, a Spanish novelist who, in 1510, published a book called The Exploits of Esplandián. It was very popular at the time, read even by the great conquistador himself, Hernán Cortéz. In 1524 Cortez wrote his king that he expected to find the legendary island of the Amazons "a few days' sail to the northwest."
When Fortun Jiminez landed on the rocky coast of Baja California in
1533 and found pearls, it started a rush to find Queen Califa, her
voluptuous maidens and all of the gold, silver and gems mentioned in
the novel. It is not certain if Jiminez or Hernán Cortez himself
bestowed the name on the land, but maps showed the peninsula as an
island for the next two hundred years.
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