Mugu Lagoon

Mugu Lagoon from the Mugu Peak Trail

Mugu Lagoon (/muːˈɡuː/; Chumash: Muwu, meaning "Beach")[1] is a salt marsh located within the Naval Base Ventura County at the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains in Ventura County, California.[2] The lagoon extends for 4.3 miles parallel to a narrow barrier beach.[3][4] The first European to come ashore here was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo on October 10, 1542. Cabrillo was the first European to visit present-day California, and he named the lagoon Mugu after Muwu, which is Chumash meaning "beach" or "seashore".[5] When the Europeans first discovered the lagoon, it functioned as the capital village of the Chumash Indians settled around Point Mugu.[6]

  1. ^ McCall, Lynne; Perry, Rosalind (2002). California’s Chumash Indians : a project of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Education Center (Revised ed.). San Luis Obispo, Calif: EZ Nature Books. ISBN 0936784156.
  2. ^ Grossinger, Robin; Stein, Eric D.; Cayce, Kristen; Askevold, Ruth; Dark, Shawna; Whipple, Alison. "Historical Wetlands of the Southern California Coast: An Atlas of US Coast Survey T-sheets, 1851-1889" (PDF). California State Coastal Conservancy, San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI), Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP), California State University Northridge (CSUN). Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  3. ^ Patrick, Ruth (1994). Rivers of the United States, Volume I: Estuaries. John Wiley & Sons. Page 126. ISBN 9780471303459.
  4. ^ Lentz, Joan Easton (2006). Introduction to Birds of the Southern California Coast. University of California Press. Page 249. ISBN 9780520243217.
  5. ^ Nichols, Gina (2011). The Navy at Point Mugu. Arcadia Publishing. Page 7. ISBN 9780738575322.
  6. ^ Skaarup, Harold A. (2002). California Warbird Survivors 2002: A Handbook on Where to Find Them. iUniverse. Page 118. ISBN 9780595236442.