Historic Sheep Ranching on San Nicolas Island

Summary

This report documents the historical development of sheep ranching on San Nicolas Island, the most distant of the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. Sheep ranching commenced in the mid-1800s and was terminated during the 1940s. During this period, local sheep ranching was oriented around three different loci. The first was a ranch operation established by Martin Kimberly and situated around Corral Harbor. Ranching at this site lasted from the 1850s to around 1890. During the Corral Harbor operation, the island was seriously overgrazed and the west half was particularly denuded. Because of overgrazing, the second locus was established at the extreme east end of the island. Though not particularly successful, ranching continued here from the 1890s to 1919. At that time, sheep ranching shifted to a location near the center of the north shore. This third locus, in use between 1919 and the 1940s, was later the center of military use that has monopolized the island since World War 11.

The objective of this project was to conduct archival research and to prepare a technical report on the historic sheep ranching conducted on San Nicolas Island, which is a part of Ventura County, California. The island is now administered by the United States Navy, and is part of the Naval Air Weapons Station at Point Mugu. The technical report will be used by the Navy to facilitate future project planning on the island (Scope of Work 1991). The work was conducted under contract with the Los Angeles District Corps of Engineers (Contract No. DACA-09-90-D-0027, Delivery Order 11).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SRI Press

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): SRI Press

Landowner(s): U.S. Navy

Sponsor(s): U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District

Prepared By(s): Statistical Research, Inc.

Submitted To(s): Naval Air Weapons Station, Point Mugu

Record Identifiers

Delivery Order(s): 11

Contract No.(s): DACA-09-90-D-0027

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