All Stories: 122
Stories
Deserters of San Juan Island
Soldiers don’t have the most glamorous job. Even today, soldiers work long hours in dangerous places for their pay. Even members of the military in less dangerous places will tell you that the hours worked are far from ideal. However, there was a…
World War One Memorial Monument – Honoring a Tiny Communities' Losses
In the year and a half that the United States participated in World War One 60,617 Washingtonians served in the United States military and of those 1,642 lost their lives. 124 men and two women enlisted or were drafted from the small San Juan County…
The Big Leaf Maple – Third Largest Big Leaf Maple Tree
Big Leaf Maple trees (Acer macrophyllum) are some of the oldest living organisms on the San Juan Islands, living to be well over two hundred years old. The English Camp Big Leaf Maples were standing on the Island long before the camp was built,…
Pickett House in Bellingham
Pickett House was the personal residence of Captain George E. Pickett while he oversaw the establishment of Fort Bellingham, the northernmost frontier outpost of the US Army. Pickett and 68 men of the Ninth Infantry, Company D, were transferred to…
Sandwith Orchard
In the late 19th century, San Juan Island was a desirable agricultural location for settlement. Once the Pig War – the nonviolent dispute between the Untied States and Great Britain over ownership rights to the San Juan Islands – was resolved in…
The Afterglow Vista – The McMillin Memorial Mausoleum
At first glance, the Afterglow Vista may look like something out of a fantasy novel; the Roman arches that lead to an open rotunda, a stone table surrounded by six limestone chairs, and the stairs leading up to the structure all resonate with an…
Esquimalt Harbour – Place of Gradually Shoaling Waters and Sudden Arrival of Empire
By the time Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) head James Douglas first scouted the harbor in 1843, Esquimalt already had a long human history. A corruption of the Coast Salish word “es-whoy-malth,” meaning “the place of gradually shoaling water,” The vast…
Chinese Cannery Workers in Friday Harbor
The late 19th century was a hostile era for Chinese immigrants in the United States. During this era, Chinese immigrants faced prejudice and hatred both from anti-immigrant politicians who thought that Chinese people went against American values and…
English Camp Blacksmith’s Shop – The Royal Marines’ Tool for Self-Sufficiency
The Royal Marines stationed on San Juan Island were effectively at the farthest end of the British Empire—which to them meant the end of civilization itself. Their supply line stretched for 4,750 miles across two oceans, and it took about six weeks…
The Commissary at English Camp – Feeding a hundred hungry soldiers at one of the far ends of the Earth was no easy matter
The phrase "An army marches on its stomach," variously attributed to Napoleon and Frederick the Great, was as true on San Juan Island as it was on the battlefields of Europe. At English Camp, the commissary building stored no only…
Northern Straits Indians: Resourceful Fishermen of the San Juan Islands – Salmon Drying Racks and Other Fishing Stories
The Northern Straits Indians developed an extensive fishing technology to harvest the abundant fish of the straits, particularly the many varieties of salmon.
Salmon was the most important staple of the Native diet and plentiful with five annual…
Rabbit Invasion on San Juan Island – How a Cute Invasive Species Caused Decades of Destruction on San Juan Island
Rabbits have a reputation in San Juan Island Historical National Park due to their population explosion. The European rabbits are a non-native, invasive species and accounts of their introduction differ, but generally agree they were first…
A Barely-Punished Murder – A pair of 1863 murders reveal a rickety system of justice during the Joint Occupation period
What are the consequences of murder? From 1860-1872, the justice system in the San Juan Islands depended on the corporation of the American and British military authorities. A murderer named William Andrew would pose a challenge to this…
British and Americans Made Their Own Fun During the Joint Occupation – How to pass the time in the 1860s? It depended on who you were.
The joint occupation of San Juan Island was a boring experience for Mary Allen, wife of Maj. Harvey Allen, commander of American Camp from 1867-8. After initial threats of war cooled, British and American troops settled into an uneventful occupation…
Obstruction Pass State Park – The hidden gem of Orcas Island
Orcas Island is well-known for Moran State Park, one of the largest state parks in Washington and home of the highest point in the San Juan Island chain. At 76-acres, Obstruction Pass is much smaller than Moran, but definitely worth the trip to…
Lopez Island Utopian Colony – Lies, Deception, and Meat
In 1911, a small group of individuals led by Thomas Hampton Gourley left their settlement in Ballard, Washington for Lopez Island. They believed that the world was coming to an end and only Lopez Island would be spared. It was here that he and his…
Garry Oaks of Jones Island
Like many other areas of North American, indigenous peoples of the San Juans once maintained the balance of ecosystems by setting small, controlled burns in order to keep the natural world healthy and thriving. On Jones Island, these controlled…
Roots of Fruit – Early American settlements on Orcas Island got their start as fruit farms
Today Orcas Island is known for scenic hiking, quaint artist studios, and farm-to-table dining, but the island wasn’t always best known for these features. While produce is still grown on the island, fruit farms used to dominate the landscape of…
The Island Marble – Butterfly back from the brink
In 1998, it was discovered that the once thought to be extinct Island Marble Butterfly was back within the San Juan Islands. The Island Marble (Euchloe ausonides insulanus) was only widespread throughout Vancouver Island and British Columbia but due…
The Strawberries That Saved Orcas – How a new crop brought wealth and prosperity to Orcas during the Great Depression.
Despite years of successful farming of apples, plums, and other fruit species regularly found in Washington, the Great Depression brought a challenge and then an innovative solution to Orcas Island.
The twenties and thirties on Orcas Island…
English Camp Monument
On October 21, 1872, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany issued his finding: The international boundary line between the United States and British Canada would follow Haro Strait, and the San Juan Islands belonged to the United States. Both parties accepted…
Fort Bellingham – The Army’s Northernmost Outpost in the Pacific Northwest
Fort Bellingham was established in 1856 by the US Army to be a northern outpost protecting the growing communities of Whatcom County. Constructed on a bluff overlooking Bellingham Bay and at the mouth of the Nooksack River, the fort was able to…
The English Camp Blockhouse – English Camp Fortifications
The English camp blockhouse is one of the most structurally unique buildings on the San Juan Islands.
With the odd geometric design, the building was primarily used as a guardhouse for the camp. The upper story was sometimes employed as a jail…
Royal Marine Colour Sergeant John Prettyjohns – The first Victoria Cross winner spent time on San Juan Island
One of the most highly-decorated Royal Marines of the 19th century, Colour Sgt John Prettyjohns, served his last tour of duty on San Juan Island.
Prettyjohns was born on June 11, 1823, in a small village in southwest England. Finding the life of…
Officer Quarters at American Camp – The Men of American Camp and A Look at How They Lived
American Camp was constructed at a strategic location on San Juan Island that allowed the American military to watch Griffin Bay and the Strait of Juan de Fuca for incoming English Navy vessels. While good for surveillance, the location of the camp…
Juan de Fuca – Myth or Man?
Extending eastward from the Pacific Ocean into the Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca is named for Greek explorer Juan de Fuca (Greek: Ioannis Phokas) a man whose accomplishments have been the subject of debate since he purportedly became the…
The Unknown Mrs. Pickett – The soon-to-be famous George Pickett married a Native woman in 1857--but we do not know a lot about her, not even her name
George Pickett arrived in the Pacific Northwest a widower, his first wife having died in childbirth when he was stationed in Texas. He was stationed at Fort Bellingham when, in 1857, he married the second Mrs. Pickett, a Haida teenager. Such a…
San Juan Town – The Pig War's raucous boomtown.
People like Israel Katz saw a business opportunity in the Pig War. Katz, born and raised in Germany, travelled across the world to join his brother Solomon and work at his grocery store in Port Townsend. Soon after, Israel crossed the Strait of Juan…
The CCC on Orcas Island – The national service crew working on Orcas Island today looks a little different than the crew that helped develop Moran State Park.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 5th, 1933. The New Deal program operated until 1942 and provided a source of work and income for hundreds of thousands of young,…
Sucia Island – Geological Phenomena of Sucia Island
On a small horseshoe-shaped island above Orcas Island, centuries of geological history and phenomena are being discovered. Sucia Island, which was once part of Baja California’s sea floor, is home to many archaeological, geological, and ecological…