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Writer's pictureStephanie Maher

The Insight into the Secret: Charles Holder is Andrew Bolton

Updated: Sep 13, 2022



Click here to main web page: The Secret of the Torqua Cave


Charles Holder’s archaeological discoveries and theories that he describes in his publications are largely disregarded, which has caused the oversight of the compelling possibility that a vast amount of Spanish Treasure is buried nearby the Torqua Cave.


The article Spanish Gold Lures Them explains that Andrew Bolton is a “fictious name meant to conceal the identity of a well-known Los Angeles man.” Finding out the identity of Andrew Bolton gave me an insight into the mystery of the article. After doing a bit of research, I realized that Andrew Bolton is Charles Fredrick Holder. I figured this out by researching the “cave” where John Ryan had found part of buried treasure of the two Spanish Galleons described in the article Spanish Gold Lures Them. In doing so, I realized that part of the treasure was buried inside the Torqua Cave, which is also known as Holder’s Cave, after Charles Holder because he was the first to excavate and write about the site. He mentions the Torqua Cave in the books he wrote describing Santa Catalina Island[1]. I further investigated the way Charles Holder describes the Torqua Cave and I realized that Charles Holder is indeed Andrew Bolton because the excerpts and words in his books legitimizes the article Spanish Gold Lures Them.


Charles Holder (1851-1915) was an indeed a famous “Angelino” or Los Angeles man like the article describes. Charles Holder lived in Pasadena, but occasionally lived on Santa Catalina to study the environment, partake in “line and reel” fishing and documented historical ancient townsites and artifacts of the Pimu’gnans, the Native Americans that once occupied Santa Catalina Island. He was born in Massachusetts to a wealthy Quaker family. He became assistant curator of zoology at the American Museum of Natural History for four years between 1871-1875. After being diagnosed with a lung condition he moved to Pasadena in 1885 with his wife at the age of 34. He is known for writing many books and articles about evolution, “line and reel” fishing, and the diverse animal life and environment of the Channel Islands. He and was one of the first to excavate, and document archaeological sites on the Channel Islands. He found and excavated over 40 townsites and numerous stone implements and soapstone “ollas” or bowls, and human remains on Santa Catalina and San Clemente[2]. He documented his archaeological findings in his books “The Isle of Summer” (1901) and in “The Channel Islands” (1910).


However, Charles Holder did not ask the permission of the descendants of the Pimu’gnans, the Gabrielino/Tongva, to document the ancient sites and because of this he is seen as one of the naturalists who disrespected their culture and his books and views are disregarded. California archaeologists working with the Gabrielino/Tongva discredit Charles Holder because of his alternative views [3].


Early California anthropologists and naturalists that stumbled across Native American artifacts rarely spoke with the descants themselves. They would make their own assumptions about the cultures, and in turn has hurt the ability for the Gabrielino/Tongva to repatriate artifacts under NAGPRA laws in some cases. Some of the early anthropologists and naturalists that confused Gabrlieno/Tongva occupation includes Alfred Kroeber and Ralph Glidden, and Charles Holder is lumped into this category and labeled a “pseudoscientist”, because in his writings, he suggests the possibility that the Pimu’gnans could have been influenced by other ancient seafaring cultures before the Spanish had arrived in the 16th century[4], and that the Pimu’gnans were lighter in skin tone[5] and their physical appearance had been more robust, taller and distinct than their neighbors[6], based on accounts from early Spanish explorers[7] and his own archaeological discoveries.


Charles Holder’s archaeological discoveries and theories that he describes in his publications are largely disregarded, which has caused the oversight of the compelling possibility that a vast amount of Spanish Treasure is buried nearby the Torqua Cave.



Click here to main web page: The Secret of the Torqua Cave

[1] Holder, Charles F., The Channel Islands, 1910. [2] Holder, Charles. Adventures of Torqua p.37 side note. 1902. [3] Curators Choice Mystical Romanticism: Youtube [4] Holder, Charles F. An Isle of Summer. 1901. Page 18 [5] Holder, Charles F. An Isle of Summer. 1901 page 11 [6] Holder, Charles F. An Isle of Summer. 1901 page 14 [7] McCawley, William, The First Angelinos, Malki Museum Press/Ballena Press cooperative publication, 1996, page 6.

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