Emerging Puget Sound

Archibald McDonald was sent from Fort Vancouver to Puget Sound to create the first permanent European settlement in the area. In 1833, he settled in beside the Sequlitchew creek in the Nisqually delta. There, a fort was created, and shortly after, the Hudson Bay Co.'s Agrucultural Co. established the Cowlitz Farm. The farm came into possession of Americans in 1859.

Fort Nisqually is currently part of Pierce Co. and now a "living" historical museum. We could go tour it!

The Nisqually Delta Association was formed in 1973 after Weyerhauser bought up much of the land and planned to put a full fledged saw/pulp mill docks and other equipment there. The Nisqually Delta was turned into a wildlife refuge in 1974 to protect migratory birds. In general terms, the region, protected for it's wilderness and historical context has been a topic of activism throughout it's history.

Blog #1

    We are just wrapping up our first field trip day. We motored on Professor Young's sailboat along Alki, past the shipyard got a narrated tour of the waterfront of Seattle. (Thanks to Alex of course.) Having a greater understanding of the background of the waterfront has been very interesting. Particularly, that there was such controversy over the way that ferry boats signal each other as they are leaving coming and going from the ferry terminals. This has been a great day seeing the piers from an alternate perspective. 

   Other random info, Bell Town used to be part of the slums. This made me laugh because now it is the place to go and there are clubs and lounges and things that are considered upscale.