Glidden's Archaeological Archives Uncovered!

Unearthing Catalina History Using Skeleton Clues

This story appeared in the LA Times today about Ralph Glidden, an archaeologist/huckster who lived on the island in the first half of the 20th century.

One of Glidden's notebooks
(Photo by Christina House, from LA Times story)

John Boraggina, the recent curator of the Catalina Island Museum found Glidden's archives in a storage room at the Museum. He was shocked to find that the records point to the locations where Glidden's archaeological finds were made.

Archaeologists have long been troubled by Glidden's collection because he was not above supplementing bona fide artifacts and human remains from Catalina from those he purchased elsewhere. This complicates the historical interpretation of his finds. He operated a "museum" on the island until 1950 and tried to sell the collection after his business closed. The pieces were eventually purchased by the Wrigley Family who in turn donated them to the Catalina Island Museum. The Museum has since placed some of the more important artifacts and remains with the Fowler Museum at UCLA.

Glidden's Catalina Museum of Island Indians
(Photo from tongvapeople.com)

Full citation:
Sagahun, Louis. 1 April 2012. Unearthing Catalina history using skeleton clues. Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-catalina-bones-20120402,0,5531466.story?

Photo credits:
House, Christina -- photo included in the LA Times story.
http://www.tongvapeople.com/island-of-indians.html

Catalina's Foxes are Back!

A radiocollared Catalina Island Fox
(Urocyon littoralis catalinae)

The first year I lived on Catalina, I rarely saw a Catalina Island Fox -- we felt very lucky when we came across one. But all that has changed. These days we see foxes regularly, even on short trips around the Isthmus. These sightings are exciting – after all, just seven years ago this species was listed as endangered by the US Federal Government.

Anecdotes like ours, in and of themselves, are not convincing evidence that fox populations have recovered on Catalina Island. But our impression that foxes are more abundant is borne out by population estimates made by the Catalina Island Conservancy.  According to a January 19, 2012 LA Times story, there are now 1542 foxes on the island. The Catalina Island fox is back!