I made this piece because I wanted to try my best to make a replica of what California looked like when people thought it was an island. From the mid-1500s to the late 1700s, there was great controversy surrounding the geography of California. For instance, a Spanish map from 1548 depicts California as a peninsula, while a 1622 Dutch map depicts it as an island. One reason why explorers thought California was an island was because it was difficult to explore. The eastern side was desert, and the Pacific side had no major river inlets. Additionally, the winds often pushed explorers' ships off shore.