In our previous post, we mentioned we are on Fildago Island. It is the eastern most island in the San Juan Island chain. The second week we were here, we took a ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on the Island of San Juan. It is the western most island in the chain. This small island almost started the third war between the U. S. and Great Britain.
The U. S. and the English had established the border between the Oregon Territory and British Columbia. Somehow, in the negotiations the San Juan Islands were not accounted for. Both countries laid claim. The Hudson Bay Company established a sheep farm on the island. Many American pioneers had also settled on the Island. One American squatted on a piece of land said to be owned by Hudson Bay. He complained about pigs getting into his garden to the Hudson Bay manager, but since the manager considered that part of his domain, he did not make any effort to stop the animals. The farmer shot one of the pigs, and then approached the manager to make a financial arrangement. The manager made a ridiculous price for the dead animal. The farmer refused to pay, thus started a series of events that brought the governments to send soldiers to the island. After a lot of arguing, the sides each made an encampment on opposite sides of the island. To learn more, look up the “Pig War”.
The U. S. and the English had established the border between the Oregon Territory and British Columbia. Somehow, in the negotiations the San Juan Islands were not accounted for. Both countries laid claim. The Hudson Bay Company established a sheep farm on the island. Many American pioneers had also settled on the Island. One American squatted on a piece of land said to be owned by Hudson Bay. He complained about pigs getting into his garden to the Hudson Bay manager, but since the manager considered that part of his domain, he did not make any effort to stop the animals. The farmer shot one of the pigs, and then approached the manager to make a financial arrangement. The manager made a ridiculous price for the dead animal. The farmer refused to pay, thus started a series of events that brought the governments to send soldiers to the island. After a lot of arguing, the sides each made an encampment on opposite sides of the island. To learn more, look up the “Pig War”.
The Pig War
Alpaca Farm
SJI has a state park, Lime Kiln that is a good view point of the Olympic Peninsula and mountains. The island is surrounded by two oceanic straits. With this natural water flow, the island is in a very good position to view water wild life. Lime Kiln is a prime area to watch sea life. It is also a good spot for watching whales travel up and down the strait in the west side of the island. We ventured over the island on Wednesday, stopping at the English Camp. The hosts there told us the route to Lime Kiln and said the host there would know if and when the whales would be there that day. We had missed them on Wednesday. They had come by about 6 am. So we decided we would get up early on Thursday. So, troopers that we are, we hit the road before 6 am, parked on a high overlook and watched. We had been there about an hour when we spotted dark animals swimming. They had dorsal fins and were spouting. We quickly headed down to Lime Kiln, only to learn we had seen harbor dolphins. We waited and watched patiently until the host came down to the lighthouse at the park. It was now about 8 am. He said others would be in a while who would await word about any whale pod sightings. About 9:30 the first Orca was spotted. After that, there was a steady stream of sightings lasting until about 10:30. The whales got closer to the low cliffs as the pod moved. We were probably within 40 or 50 feet Killer Whales. It was incredible. If you get a chance to go whale watching, our advice is to take it.
Orca Tail Slap
Family of 3
Mom & Calf
Close-up view
We know this is a lot of detail, but we had a great time on our short visit to San Juan Island. (What? You can’t tell by our blubbering.) We even saw the top of Mt. Baker from the ferry on our return trip. It was a wonderful “weekend”.
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