In 1788, Capt. John Meares, an English trader, saw the mountain which Perez had named 14 years earlier. Not knowing of the earlier discovery, he christened the peak “Mount Olympus.”
THE INDIAN VILLAGE TRAIL THROUGH A SWAMP.
Juan Francisco de Eliza, a Spanish captain, entered Juan de Fuca Strait in 1791 and named the harbor, where present Port Angeles is situated, “Puerto de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles,” which means “Port of Our Lady of the Angels.” In the following year the Spaniards established a fort and settlement at Neah Bay. The members of this colony, which existed for only 5 months, were the first white settlers to touch the soil of the Olympic Peninsula and, indeed, of the State of Washington.
In 1792, Capt. Robert Grey, an American trader, discovered the harbor at the southern margin of the Olympic Peninsula which was later named in his honor. Of all the explorers who came by sea, George Vancouver, the English navigator, left the greatest mark in northwest Washington. He explored Puget Sound waters in 1792 and named numerous geographic features, including Port Townsend and Discovery Bay, on the Olympic Peninsula.
EXPLORATION BY LAND
At the same time that maritime traders and explorers were making known the features of the coast, other adventuresome men were opening overland trails into the Northwest. By 1810, fur traders following in the wake of Alexander Mackenzie, David Thompson, and Lewis and Clark were well established in the present British Columbia and in the Columbia River drainage basin. After 1821, the British-controlled Hudson’s Bay Company dominated the fur trade of the Pacific Northwest and for a number of years virtually excluded rivals from the area.
During the 1830’s and 1840’s, however, American traders, missionaries, and settlers in ever-increasing numbers pushed into the Northwest. British influence declined as the American population grew, until, in 1846, Great Britain bowed to the inevitable and gave up her hopes of owning the region as far south as the Columbia River. In that year the 49th parallel was established as the boundary between American and British territory west of the Rockies.
Up to this time few American settlers had established homes on the north side of the Columbia River. Following the adjustment of the boundary dispute, pioneers rapidly pushed into the Puget Sound basin. A few of these newcomers established themselves at Port Townsend in 1851.
Although Port Townsend was the first permanent settlement on the Peninsula, two trappers named John Sutherland and John Everett had crossed the strait from Victoria in 1849 and had operated traplines on the two large lakes west of Port Angeles. One lake still bears the name of Sutherland. The other, first named Lake Everett, is now known as Lake Crescent. The first permanent settlers in the Port Angeles area did not take up claims until 1857.