Juliana Island

By 1839, in his first military action, Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian revolutionary, expelled from his home country, led the takeover of Santa Catarina by taking its capital, Laguna. With this action, the Juliana Republic was proclaimed. Garibaldi would later be credited with the unification of Italy. The Juliana Republic was only independent for four months, but this was long enough to produce an offspring, Juliana Island.

The Juliana island is 8 miles long and 5 to 7 miles wide with a total land area of around 40 square miles. Today the population stands at about 400. Juliana was the perfect hiding place for the crew. The island was certainly large enough to graze cattle in very good quantity and the soil, in areas, was substantial enough to grow the food the population needed. The east end of the island offered a cut deep enough for a large vessel and offered protection from stormy seas. Best of all, the protective strip of land prevented any vessel at sea from viewing these protective waters. Several streams provided an ample clean water supply. Even the makeup of the island with it’s mixture of valleys and hills provided a safe spot for the community where prying eyes would not see.