Exploration by Europeans brought smallpox to the area by the 1770s. The name "San Juan" was given to the islands by the Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza, who charted the islands in 1791, naming them Isla y Archiepelago de San Juan.
In 1790, Spanish explorer Manuel Quimper traded copper sheets for sea otter pelts at Discovery Bay, for live sea otters captured north of the bay in the "interior" of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Exploration by Europeans brought smallpox to the area by the 1770s. The name "San Juan" was given to the islands by the Spanish explorer Francisco de Eliza, who charted the islands in 1791, naming them Isla y Archiepelago de San Juan.
José María Narváez, one of Eliza's pilots, also helped explore the San Juans in 1791, and went on to become the first European to explore the Strait of Georgia. In 1792 the British Vancouver Expedition under George Vancouver explored the area.
José María Narváez, one of Eliza's pilots, also helped explore the San Juans in 1791, and went on to become the first European to explore the Strait of Georgia. In 1792 the British Vancouver Expedition under George Vancouver explored the area.
The names that Wilkes gave tended to be patriotically American (heroes of the War of 1812 for example), or to honor members of his crew. In 1847, due to the confusion of multiple names on different charts, the British Admiralty reorganized the official charts of the region.
Shortly after leaving the San Juans the British and Spanish ships met and cooperated in exploring areas to the north. In 1841 the United States Exploring Expedition under Charles Wilkes further explored the region. Vancouver's expedition occurred within a year of Eliza's, and Vancouver encountered other Spanish ships and traded information.
Wilkes, sailing in 1841, had some British charts, but may not have been aware of the Spanish names and charts.
Some of his names survived the editing of Kellett, such as Chauncey, Shaw, Decatur, Jones, Blakely, Perry, Sinclair, Lawrence, Gordon, and Percival, all named after American naval officers. ===Border dispute=== In 1843, the Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Camosun at nearby Vancouver Island.
The 1846 Oregon Treaty established the 49th parallel as the boundary between Canada and the U.S.
The names that Wilkes gave tended to be patriotically American (heroes of the War of 1812 for example), or to honor members of his crew. In 1847, due to the confusion of multiple names on different charts, the British Admiralty reorganized the official charts of the region.
This dispute, though simmering immediately in the wake of the treaty, escalated in the 1850s.
Also, there is a specimen of elk in the Slater Museum of Natural History at the University of Puget Sound that was collected on Orcas Island, and old-timers report finding elk antlers on both Lopez and Orcas Islands. Before 1850, most of the freshwater on the islands was held in beaver (Castor canadensis) ponds, although the aquatic mammal was extirpated by Hudson's Bay Company fur stations at Fort Langley and San Juan Island.
In 1852 the Territory of Oregon created Island County, defined to include the San Juan Islands (or "Haro Archipelago").
In 1853 Island County became part of the newly created Washington Territory.
Washington Territory's legislature created Whatcom County out of parts of Island County in March 1854, including the San Juan Islands.
The islands were finally split off Whatcom County into present day San Juan County on October 31, 1873. In 1855, Washington Territory levied a property tax on properties of the Hudson's Bay Company on San Juan Island, which the HBC refused to pay.
Kennerly, surgeon and naturalist, collected a wolf specimen on Lopez Island, which is now in the National Museum of Natural History, probably during the Northwest Boundary Survey from 1857 to 1861.
The escalating dispute led to the Pig War in 1859 and the resulting San Juan Dispute, which was a protracted diplomatic confrontation.
Other marine mammals include river otters (Lontra canadensis), Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), common minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), Dall's porpoises (Phocoenoides dalli) and other cetaceans. Columbia black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) are the largest mammals on the San Juan Islands, which are unusual in their historic absence of large carnivores, except for wolves (Canis lupus) which were extirpated in the 1860s.
Kennerly, surgeon and naturalist, collected a wolf specimen on Lopez Island, which is now in the National Museum of Natural History, probably during the Northwest Boundary Survey from 1857 to 1861.
Effectively a stalemate, with no clear legal arguments, it continued until the boundary issue was eventually placed in the hands of Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany for arbitration in 1871.
The border, through Haro Strait, was finally established in 1872. ===Post-border dispute=== The surrounding bodies of water, including Puget Sound and the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, were recognized collectively as the Salish Sea, by the United States in 2009 and by Canada in 2010. ==Ecology== The islands were heavily logged in the nineteenth century, but now have an extensive second-growth coast Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var.
The islands were finally split off Whatcom County into present day San Juan County on October 31, 1873. In 1855, Washington Territory levied a property tax on properties of the Hudson's Bay Company on San Juan Island, which the HBC refused to pay.
Although the historical numbers of sea otter in the San Juan Islands is not known, the habitat for them may have once been ideal. In the 1890s non-native European rabbits, an exotic invasive species, began to infest the islands as the result of the release of domestic rabbits on Smith Island.
Although historical records of sea otter in the San Juan Islands are sparse, there is a sea otter specimen collected in 1897 in the "Strait of Fuca" in the National Museum of Natural History.
When the sea otter finally received federal protection in 1911, Washington's sea otter had been hunted to extinction, and although a small remnant population still existed in British Columbia, it soon died out.
Fifty-nine sea otters were re-introduced to the Washington coast from Amchitka Island, Alaska, in the summers of 1969 and 1970, and these have expanded by 8% per year, mainly along the outer west and northwest coast of the Olympic Peninsula.
Fifty-nine sea otters were re-introduced to the Washington coast from Amchitka Island, Alaska, in the summers of 1969 and 1970, and these have expanded by 8% per year, mainly along the outer west and northwest coast of the Olympic Peninsula.
Professional marine mammal biologists verified a single sea otter observed near Cattle Point, San Juan Island, in October 1996.
The border, through Haro Strait, was finally established in 1872. ===Post-border dispute=== The surrounding bodies of water, including Puget Sound and the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, were recognized collectively as the Salish Sea, by the United States in 2009 and by Canada in 2010. ==Ecology== The islands were heavily logged in the nineteenth century, but now have an extensive second-growth coast Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var.
The border, through Haro Strait, was finally established in 1872. ===Post-border dispute=== The surrounding bodies of water, including Puget Sound and the Straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, were recognized collectively as the Salish Sea, by the United States in 2009 and by Canada in 2010. ==Ecology== The islands were heavily logged in the nineteenth century, but now have an extensive second-growth coast Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var.
In spring 2011 a pair of beaver appeared at Killebrew Lake on Orcas Island, but were killed to avoid flooding a phone company switch box buried under Dolphin Bay Road.
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