In 1863, following the incident of the Confederate privateer, J. M. Chapman, a military reservation and harbor defenses were proposed here to keep it from being used by a hostile power.
[1] On December 21, 1863, General Wright proposed the island be made into an Indian reservation for the tribes the Volunteers were fighting in northwestern California, in the Humboldt Military District.
[2] Company C, 4th California Infantry under Captain West, occupied Santa Catalina Island January 1, 1864, and established the camp January 2, and no new settlers were permitted on the island.
[3] The camp was abandoned after peace was made with the Indians in the northwest in August 1864 and a reservation was established there.
Also the need for a port fortification receded, the danger of privateers preying on West Coast commerce or foreign intervention having faded.