Its land area is nominally 53 acres (210,000 square meters), but may vary significantly as lake levels rise and fall.
It is 500 feet (150 meters) offshore from the north shore of the eastern arm of Clear Lake, the site of the Elem Indian Colony.
There is evidence of Native American activity on the island,[2] possibly dating back as much as 8,000 years, although little archaeological work has been conducted.
Due to a controversial 1949 U.S. court decision, the Elem Pomo tribe lost legal control of 80,000 acres (32,375 hectares) of its ancestral land, including the island.
John Parker, a local archaeologist, petitioned the federal government to add the island to the National Register of Historical Places.