The Island of California

The Island of California. Felicity -- The Center of The World. , A 1533 expedition sent by Hernan Cortes discovered Baja California, leading to the name "California" and the belief that it was the famed Island of California which then appeared on maps of the era. , Exploration and Cartography , In 1539, Cortes's navigator Francisco de Ulloa reached the mouth of the Colorado River at the head of the Gulf, then sailed south around Baja California, then north along the California coast. No island. A 1596 map by Gerardus Mercator correctly showed California as a peninsula. , The Island of California Reappeared on a 1622 map by Michiel Colijn of Amsterdam which became the standard for many later maps through the 1600's. , The Island of California appeared on maps intermittently as late as the 1770’s. , The present Vancouver Island discovered in 1592 by Juan de Fuca may have caused confusion. , 1698-1706 expeditions by missionary cartographer Eusebio Francisco Kino revived the fact that Baja California was a peninsula. The 1774-1776 expeditions of Juan Bautista de Anza between Sonora and the west coast of California set the record straight. , The Island of California, now permanently off the maps, remains a romantic memory.