Qualla: Cedros Island

Cedros Island: Introduction

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. In 2017, archaeologists on Cedros Island announced a discovery that challenged everything we thought we knew about the peopling of the Americas. The shell fishhooks they unearthed dated to 11,000 years before present, the oldest found anywhere in the New World, crafted by people who were fishing deepwater species from boats. This fog-shrouded island off Baja California, where Monterey pines cling to misty highlands and endemic deer browse among unique cacti, may hold clues to one of prehistory's greatest migrations.

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Image: Public domain

Cedros Island: The Island of Fogs

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit user:Vizcarra,, Public domain. Cold Pacific currents wrap Cedros Island in frequent fog, especially during spring and summer. This marine layer creates what scientists call "fog oases," pockets where plants extract moisture directly from the air. On the island's northern and western slopes, Monterey pines grow...

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Image: user:Vizcarra, | Public domain

Cedros Island: First Peoples

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY 4.0. Human remains on Cedros Island predate the Clovis culture, long considered the earliest evidence of people in the Americas. The island's rich marine environment and relative abundance of fresh water made it a natural stop for coastal migrants. Ancient spear points and shell fishh...

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Image: CC BY 4.0

Cedros Island: Spanish Arrival and Island Life

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit WCCasey, CC BY-SA 4.0. When Francisco de Ulloa's expedition landed in 1539, they found villages with populations in the hundreds. Jesuit missionaries eventually relocated these indigenous people to mainland missions in 1732. Seal and sea otter hunters worked the island between 1790 and 1850. Gold and c...

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Image: WCCasey | CC BY-SA 4.0

Cedros Island: Evolution's Laboratory

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit WCCasey, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cedros Island harbors an extraordinary concentration of endemic species. The Cedros Island mule deer, brush rabbit, and cactus mouse exist nowhere else on Earth. A unique subspecies of side-blotched lizard evolved here. The botanical list runs longer: Cedros Island sage, Cedros I...

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Image: WCCasey | CC BY-SA 4.0

Cedros Island: Modern Cedros

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit WCCasey, CC BY-SA 4.0. About 1,350 people live on Cedros Island today, scattered across several settlements. The town of Cedros serves as the administrative seat, with a population of 747 in 2010. Air service connects to Ensenada on Mondays and Wednesdays, landing at an airstrip near the company town. ...

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Image: WCCasey | CC BY-SA 4.0