ISLA GUADALUPE GRAFFITI
Isla Guadalupe Grafitti
1807: “The discovery was made of a huge rock bearing the names of Samuel Chapman and others; below these was an American flag and the statement that Chapman had visited the island in 1807 and left the following year.” [Gordon, P. R. Filming the Sea Elephant in The Wide World Magazine 43:258 (485-491), October 1919]
On Sept. 9, 1807 the David Christy wrecked at Isla Guadalupe. Samuel Chapman was with the party and inscribed the year with his name and others on a rock building that was constructed for shelter. Although there were likely earlier visits by sealers, this inscription may be the earliest written record of someone ashore at the island. They spent a year on the island before they were rescued.
1824:
In the 1950s, Scripps Institution of Oceanography ichthyologist Carl L. Hubbs found a hut with ten inscriptions from 1834 through 1881
