Murder, Massacre, and Mayhem on the California Coast, 1814 –1815: Newly Translated Russian American Company Documents Reveal Company Concern Over Violent Clashes

The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, whose solitary 18‐year stay on an island off the coast of southern California was commemorated in Scott O’Dell’s novel, Island of the Blue Dolphins, has been of considerable interest since she was abandoned on the island in 1835 and brought to Santa Barbara in 1853. We examine one of the factors that may have contributed to the Lone Woman’s abandonment and discuss several newly‐translated Russian American Company (RAC) documents, one of which gives details of a long‐rumored deadly con ict between a Russian‐led crew of Alaskan native otter hunters and the San Nicolas Island natives (Nicoleno). All three documents contain important new information about the nature of the sometimes violent interactions between the Spanish, Russians, Americans, California Indians, and Alaskan natives in the early nineteenth century.