Mention of this Santa Rosa Island cave’s earliest use comes from pioneer otter hunter George Nidever’s recollections, The Life and Adventures of George Nidever (1802-1883). Nidever recounts using this cave to store gear and hide out from an attack by Aleut otter hunters in 1835. He described the cave as “so large inside that a hundred persons could occupy it with ease.”
Swedish zoologist Gustav Eisen visited the island in 1897 and wrote of the cave and its occupant:
"The strangest man of the few who live on Santa Rosa Island is Santiago Quintero. But Santiago might also be said to be one of the strangest men in the country. He is a hermit from choice and lives in a cave because he would rather live there than any other place in the world. Santiago is a man of some means and also earns some money from the estate, but he often spends months in his cave without seeing a person. He has a couple of dogs, who live in small caves near his, and together they are a happy family. Santiago’s cave is a natural hole in the rock, with the front boarded up and fixed with a door. He has a stove and plenty of good furniture, so that he is absolutely comfortable. He has lived alone in his cave for over thirty years." [Overland Monthly, 1893.]