The night of February 16th, 1897 was dark and stormy on Stuart Island. Turn Point Lighthouse keeper, Edward Durgan, and his assistant keeper, Peter Christiansen, were spending the evening chatting with one another while on duty. The storm deterred…

In an era before sonar, radio and GPS, lighthouses were a vital safety measure to keep ships off the rock, and light house keepers served vital roles. Commission for a light station on Patos Island was recommended by the Lighthouse Board in…

Education proved a challenge on the remote San Juan Islands. The one-room schoolhouse on Orcas Island was opened in 1888, a year before Washington became a state. Peter Freshette donated 1.8 acres of land to the school district for the construction…

In the early days of white settlement in the San Juans, marriages and less formal arrangements between white men and native women were not uncommon. Though some ended sadly, others, like that of Anna and Christopher Rossler, were happy and lasting…