LA TIMES - ARTICLE BY STEVE CHAWKINS "CAVE OF POPULAR HEROINE FOUND AT LAST?
"By 1835, the few Nicoleños left were struggling. Whether motivated by compassion or a need to increase the ranks of mission laborers, Franciscan fathers from the mainland sent a ship for them. All but one made the trip to the mainland aboard the Peor es Nada, loosely translated as "Better than nothing."
The holdout came to be known as the Lone Woman. According to legend, she jumped overboard and swam for shore when she frantically realized that her baby had been left behind. Less romanticized theories hold that she told the captain she'd show up with her child but a sudden storm forced him to shove off without her.
What's known is that a solitary woman lived in the sand and fog of San Nicolas for the next 18 years. On the mainland, her legend grew. A time or two, fishermen reported seeing a fleeting figure on the deserted island. In 1850, a padre at the Santa Barbara Mission commissioned a sea captain to find her."
I read the book as an adult and found it to be a fascinating read. The story of a woman alone for 18 years on an island who was rescued and died 7 weeks later has captured my imagination.
