History of Prisoners Harbor
Prisoners’ Harbor, Santa Cruz Island is the main port of entry located on the island’s north shore. It is the site of a former large Chumash village mapped as Nimilala by Alfred Kroeber. The name Prisoners’ Harbor is derived from an episode in February of 1830 when the ship Maria Ester, under the command of Captain Andrew Christian Holmes, was sent to offload prisoners in San Diego from Acapulco, Mexico. Not allowed to land in San Diego, the ship came to Santa Barbara in March 1830. A sergeant and twelve soldiers were in charge of the convicts, today thought to have numbered between 77 and 83. Some were left in Santa Barbara as servants, but most were left on Santa Cruz Island with a small supply of food and livestock to fend for themselves. According to several accounts, the men constructed rafts and returned to the mainland. Angustias de la Guerra Ord recounted in her memoirs, Occurrences in Hispanic California
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