30-554: San Clemente Island ( Tongva : Kinkipar ; Spanish : Isla de San Clemente ) is the southernmost of the Channel Islands of California . It is owned and operated by the United States Navy , and is a part of Los Angeles County . It is administered by Naval Base Coronado . It is 21 miles (34 km) long and has 147.13 km (56.81 sq mi) of land. The 2018 census estimates 148 military and civilian personnel reside on
60-602: A training exercise off the island's northwest coast on July 30, 2020. One of eight marines died after being rescued from the vehicle. Names of all nine people killed were identified on August 3. Fifteen Marines and a sailor were on the AAV as it returned to USS Somerset . The USMC released a statement on 3 August 2020, saying the AAV had been found. The landing craft sank in nearly 400 feet of water. On 27 August 2020, two soldiers were killed and three were injured when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed on San Clemente Island. The island
90-474: Is a perennial herb coated densely in long gray hairs. The highly branching stem grows 40 to 60 centimeters tall and bears linear leaves each a few centimeters long. The inflorescence is made up of layers of bracts one to two centimeters long, gray-green in color at the bases and tipped with greenish yellow. Between the bracts emerge dull yellow pouched flowers. The fruit is a capsule about a centimeter long containing tiny seeds with netted surfaces. This species
120-457: Is an endangered species that the Navy is taking steps to protect. The San Clemente Island fox is an indigenous species. Feral goats roamed the island for centuries, reaching a population of 11,000 in 1972, when their effect on indigenous species was realized. By 1980, the population had been reduced to 4,000. The Fund for Animals blocked a plan for shooting the remaining goats in court, so
150-494: Is now at least one breeding pair of bald eagles and more than one pair of peregrine falcons . Island flora includes 300 native taxa and approximately 135 non-native taxa with distribution of at least 47 of the island’s native taxa being restricted to two or more of the California Islands, 15 plant taxa being only found on San Clemente Island, and one insular endemic of the island thought to be extinct . The flora of
180-619: Is owned and operated by the United States Navy , and is a part of Los Angeles County . It is administered by Naval Base Coronado . The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Avalon Station in Avalon , Santa Catalina Island , serving San Clemente Island. As of 2024, Robert Garcia (California politician) , (District 42) represents the island's inhabitants in the United States House of Representatives , Lena Gonzalez in
210-574: Is used for carrier training by the Navy. Other branches also use this airfield, including the United States Coast Guard . As of 2014, San Clemente is home to an auxiliary Air Force base responsible for locating Air Force fighter pilots near the California coast. The island has United States Navy SEALs training facilities. Seven marines and one Navy sailor were presumed to have died when their amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) sank during
240-615: The California State Senate (District 33), and Josh Lowenthal in the California State Assembly (District 69). Tongva language The Tongva language (also known as Gabrielino or Gabrieleño ) is an extinct Uto-Aztecan language formerly spoken by the Tongva , a Native American people who have lived in and around modern day Los Angeles for centuries. It has not been a language of everyday conversation since
270-494: The royal larkspur . Earthworms appear to have been introduced in 2008 in soil from the mainland used in a road construction project. In this earthworm-free region, the worms alter the soil and microbial communities , which allows non-native plants to change the island’s unique ecosystem and threaten biodiversity that exists there. Archaeologists have found traces of human occupation on San Clemente Island dating back 10,000 years. Later, inhabitants left trade materials from
300-521: The steam-schooner California , both anchored in Pyramid Cove, on the south side of San Clemente Island, to process blue , fin and humpback whales caught by their "killer boats" (steam-driven whale catchers)—the former between 1926 and 1930, and the latter between 1933 and 1937. In 1935, the Norwegian factory ship Esperanza caught blue whales as far north as San Clemente Island. The US Navy acquired
330-801: The 1940s. The Gabrielino people now speak English but a few are attempting to revive their language by using it in everyday conversation and ceremonial contexts. Presently, Gabrielino is also being used in language revitalization classes and in some public discussion regarding religious and environmental issues. Tongva is closely related to Serrano . The names of several cities and neighborhoods in Southern California are of Tongva origin, and include Pacoima , Tujunga , Topanga , Azusa , Cahuenga in Cahuenga Pass and Cucamonga in Rancho Cucamonga . The last fluent native speakers of Tongva lived in
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#1732855894228360-502: The 1970s have not been verified as having been fluent speakers. The minor planet 50000 Quaoar was named after the Tongva creator god . The Gabrielino language is a subgroup of Takic , a subfamily of Uto-Aztecan, which is usually divided into three subgoups: Serrano-Kitanemuk, Gabrielino (including the Fernandeño dialect) and Cupan. As of 2012, members of the contemporary Tongva (Gabrieleño) tribal council are attempting to revive
390-583: The Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival. Since then, she has taught monthly Tongva language classes in which adults and children practice pronunciation, master the use of grammatical particles , sing songs and play word games. She calls her work "a reclamation effort" for the language. Munro has compiled a Tongva dictionary of over 1,000 words, and also maintains a Tongva language Facebook page to which she posts Tongva words, phrases and songs. Munro says there are no audio recordings of people speaking
420-568: The Japanese. It is an active sonar base and has a $ 21 million simulated city for commando training. There is a US Navy rocket-test facility on San Clemente. Some Polaris -program test rockets were launched from San Clemente between 1957 and 1960. The SEALAB III project took place off San Clemente in February 1969. The US Navy uses the island as an auxiliary naval airfield, Naval Auxiliary Landing Field San Clemente Island . The main runway 24/06
450-518: The Tongva language, but that there are a few scratched wax cylinder recordings of Tongva songs. The following is a list of the consonants and vowels of the Tongva language as used by the Tongva Language Committee, based on linguist Pamela Munro 's interpretation of the fieldnotes of J. P. Harrington. In parentheses is the spelling of the specific sound. There are multiple orthographies for
480-837: The Tongva language. Consonants /b d f ɡ/ are used in loanwords. Tongva is an agglutinative language, where words use suffixes and multiple morphemes for a variety of purposes. (Merriam refers to them as the Tongvā) Taylor claims "they do not count farther than ten" The Lord's Prayer is called ʼEyoonak in Tongva. The following text was derived from old Mission records. ʼEyoonak ʼEyoonak, ʼeyooken tokuupangaʼe xaa; hoyuuykoy motwaanyan; moxariin mokiimen tokuupra; maay moʼwiishme meyii ʼooxor ʼeyaa tokuupar. Hamaare, ʼeyooneʼ maxaareʼ ʼwee taamet, koy ʼoovonreʼ ʼeyoomamaayntar momoohaysh, miyii ʼeyaare 'oovonax 'eyoohiino 'eyooyha'; koy xaareʼ maayn ʼiitam momoohaysh, koy xaa mohuuʼesh. ʼWee meneeʼ xaaʼe. The table below gives
510-500: The activity of the feral goats. Its populations has increased at least ten-fold since the removal of these non-native herbivores. The species has recovered so well through management programs by the Navy, it was recommended for downlisting during the last review conducted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Remaining threats include erosion, invasive grasses, and wildfire from military exercises . The species has
540-467: The early 20th century. The language is primarily documented in the unpublished field notes of John Peabody Harrington made during that time. The "J.P. Harrington Project", developed by The Smithsonian through University of California, Davis , approximately 6,000 pages of his notes on the Tongva language, were coded for documentation by a Tongva member, who took three years to accomplish the task. Alleged native speakers of Tongva who have died as late as in
570-474: The goats were removed with nets and helicopters. The San Clemente Island goat is a recognized breed of domestic goat. The coves around the island are visited by snorkelers attracted by the abundant marine life , including sea lions , spiny lobsters , hydrocoral and kelp forests . The island is also home to the endangered San Clemente Island sage sparrow . After decades with no breeding by raptors , because of DDT contamination and Naval activity, there
600-437: The habitat. Due to steep terrain of San Clemente Island the exact abundance of Castilleja grisea is not currently known. Recent surveys have discovered new populations of this species. Surveys in 2007 estimate more than 10,000 plants existing. This plant has been a federally listed endangered species since 1977, when it was one of the first species to be designated so. The plant's population had been drastically reduced by
630-412: The island in 1934. It is the Navy's only remaining ship-to-shore live firing range, and is the center of the integrated air/land/sea San Clemente Island Range Complex covering 2,620 nm (8,990 km). During World War II , the island was a training ground for amphibious landing craft. These small to mid-sized vessels were crucial to the island hopping that was required to attack the islands occupied by
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#1732855894228660-444: The island includes some plant species found nowhere else in the world. These endemic species include the wildflowers San Clemente Island brodiaea , San Clemente Island triteleia , San Clemente Island woodland star , and San Clemente Island Indian paintbrush , and the shrubs San Clemente Island bushmallow and Blair's wirelettuce . A unique subspecies of toyon , ssp. macrocarpa , also grows here, as do two rare subspecies of
690-586: The island was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542, who named it Victoria . It was renamed by Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno , who spotted it on November 23, 1602, Saint Clement 's feast day . It was used by ranchers, fishermen, and smugglers during the 19th century and into the 20th century. In 1835, the whaleship Elbe of Poughkeepsie, New York , under Captain Josiah B. Whippey (or Whipple), hunted sperm whales as far north as "St. Clements Island" (San Clemente Island). The American steamship Lansing , as well as
720-454: The island. The city of San Clemente in Orange County, California is named after the island. Geologically, the island is described as being "the upper part of a tilted and gently arched northwestward-trending block of the earth's crust that has a straight, steep northeastern slope and a more irregular and much gentler southwestern slope" that is composed primarily of volcanic rock , with
750-555: The language , by making use of written vocabularies, by comparison to better attested members of the Takic group to which Tongva belonged, and by offering classes. In 2004, Pamela Munro, now UCLA emeritus professor of linguistics, was asked to serve as a linguistic mentor to Tongva people who wanted to learn about their language at the Breath of Life Workshop, a biennial event in Berkeley staged by
780-511: The names of various missions in the Tongva language. Castilleja grisea Castilleja grisea is a rare species of Indian paintbrush known by the common name San Clemente Island Indian paintbrush . It is endemic to San Clemente Island , one of the Channel Islands of California . San Clemente Island is owned by the US Navy so the Navy is involved in a management program to recover this species. The San Clemente Island Indian paintbrush
810-504: The northeast boundary of the island having a large fault that parallels most of the major faults on the California mainland. San Clemente Island has some of the best examples of marine terraces and has trench-like canyons, streams, periodic waterfalls , and pools of fresh water. Its highest point is Mount Thirst, at 1965 feet in elevation. The elevation of the island's ridge can impact precipitation, as it can cause atmospheric moisture to condense and cause more intense precipitation. This
840-530: The northern islands and the mainland, including Coso obsidian from the California desert. It has not been established what tribe the recent inhabitants belonged to, although the Tongva , who are well attested from Santa Catalina Island , are the most likely candidates. The Chumash , who occupied the northern Channel Islands, may have influenced the inhabitants. Evidence of battles: 'the skeletons of dozens of men piled, one upon another' were also noted on San Clemente and San Nicolas . The first European to sight
870-501: Was a factor in the intense rainstorm that hit San Diego on January 22, 2024. This region experiences warm and dry summers and moderate mild falls and winters with no average monthly temperature above 21 °C (69.5 °F). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, San Clemente Island has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate , abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. The San Clemente Island loggerhead shrike
900-614: Was once considered to be "relatively common" on its home island. Since then the habitat has been severely degraded, mainly by feral goats which were introduced there. The island was also used for grazing sheep and cattle , and some feral pigs were present. The animals may have eaten the plant at times, but they mainly damaged the land by trampling the soil, which led to soil compaction , loss of topsoil , and erosion . The introduction of exotic plant species such as ripgut brome ( Bromus diandrus ), wild oat ( Avena barbata ), and red brome ( Bromus madritensis rubus ) also degraded
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