The Joy of Writing: Catalina Island Fact Sheet

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Catalina Island CaliforniaThe Catalina Island Conservancy manages a herd of about 200 bison. A film company brought 14 bison to the island for a movie and left them to roam, and procreate.

Actress Marilyn Monroe lived on Catalina Island with her husband James Dougherty, a Merchant Marine, during WWII.

The Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel was built in 1924 by author Zane Grey. The rooms are named for his books: Riders of the Purple Sage and The Vanishing American along with others.

The Chicago Cubs trained there from 1921 to 1951.

Former U. S. presidents visiting the island included Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, visited Catalina in 1923.

In 1929, Winston Churchill visited Catalina Island and caught a marlin.

Between 1894 and 1898 there was a pigeon mail service between the island and Los Angeles.