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Port Angeles - Washington - History |
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The explorer Juan Perez made the first officially reported sighting of the Peninsula on August 10, 1774. The first confirmed report of the Strait of Juan de Fuca were made in 1787 by Captain Charles Barkley, although a Greek named Apostolos Valerianus with a reputation for tall tales claimed to have found the Strait in 1592, the Greek called himself Juan de Fuca. An American, Captain John Kendrick, who visited the Strait in 1792 is credited with it's naming. It was the British naval officer Captain George Vancouver who was the first to refer to the peninsulas mountain range as the Olympic mountains after the tallest peak, Mount Olympus, named thus by John Meres in 1788. Port Angeles found it's way onto the map in 1791 when the Spanish explorer Lt. Francisco Eliza named the natural harbour El Puerto de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles. The Peninsula was generally left to the Indians until the boundary between Canada and the U.S, was established by treaty in 1846. At the time of the agreement there was not a white settlement anywhere on the peninsula.
Detailed exploration of the Peninsula was performed in the 1880's. Several expeditions including one in 1882 by soldiers from Fort Townsend, another military expedition in 1885, and a civilian expedition sponsored by a Seattle newspaper in 1889, contributed to the development of the peninsula and the Dungeness valley. The approximately 50 mile route of the latter of these is now a popular multi day hiking trip moving first up the Elwha River, crossing the mountains between Mount Seattle and Mount Christie, then descending down the Quinault River. The harbour that is the port of Port Angeles was first identified in 1791 by the Spanish explorer Lt. Francisco Eliza who named the natural harbour El Puerto de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles. The name was to formally remain such until June 6 1862 when it was changed to Port Angeles. In 1856, some ten years after the treaty which officially made the Olympic Peninsula part of the United States, Captain Alexander Sampson made the first land claim in the area staking a 320 acre Donation Claim to the West end of the Harbour. Due to the proximity and physical similarity to the New Dungeness Harbour to the East the area was often called "False Dungeness". The first post office was established on 28 February 1861 and the location was given the name "Cherburg". Confusion over names remained until June 6 1862 when the US Postal Service changed the listed name to Port Angeles. This date is now considered as the "start" of Port Angeles, although incorporation was not to come for some time. In 1862, among considerable controversy and drama, the U.S. Customs Office was moved from Port Townsend to Port Angeles by an act of Congress on June 18. The customs collector at the time was one Victor Smith. Mr. Smith was to play a significant role in the early history of the North Olympic Peninsula and particularly Port Angeles. While his manoeuvring were to bring significant growth to Port Angeles Smith was apparently very unpopular during his time and is regarded as quite the villain by a number of historians. On June 19 an executive order was signed that set aside 5 square miles for a town site and military reservation. Smith laid out the new town following the model of Cincinnati Ohio, even going so far as to name the streets the same. A large home and customs house was built for Smith at the bases of Valley Creek, a decision that was to prove deadly when in 1863 a flood destroyed the building and drowned two customs officers. Returning from one of his regular trips to Washington D.C. Victor Smith was drowned when the ship he was on sank on July 30 1865. The Customs House was returned to Port Townsend within a year and the fortunes of Port Angeles were to flounder for over 20 years. |
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The
first residents of the Olympic Peninsula were Indians, although how long
they were here before the first Europeans arrived is not known. It is
generally believed that the Indians arrived from Asia through Alaska. The
Indians mainly lived along the coast using the dense forests for hunting.
Settlers
began to arrive in the 1850's, brought by the rich timber resources and
the call of the last frontier in the lower 48 states. Timber was to remain
the driving force of the areas economy until quite recently when tourism
has begun to take prominence.
