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History of Sequim & the Dungeness Valley |
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The history of the Valley stems from the River. Ensign Manuel Quimper, exploring the Strait of Juan de Fuca for Spain, sighted New Dungeness on July 4, 1790. The following day he spent trading with the Indians and replenishing the ship's water supply from the Dungeness River. He named the bluff behind the Dungeness Spit "Punta de Santa cruz" and the bay, "Puerto de Quimper." On July 8, 1790, he took formal possession and planted a Holy Cross close to a pine tree on which another cross was cut in the bark. At the foot of the tree the "bottle of possession" was buried. The bay and the port were named Quimper. Two years later, Capt. George Vancouver made the first thorough exploration of the Strait and Puget Sound. On April 30, 1792, he sailed into the bay, to anchor for the night, and named its sheltering sandspit New Dungeness, after its great resemblance to Dungeness in the British Channel. Captain Vancouver sailed away and it was many years before white men again achored in the bay. One of the country's last frontiers, the Valley until 1850 knew only Indian's footstep. Its only trails were made by wild animals. Heavy forests reached from the foothills to the shore, and the Dungeness River from its headwaters high among the snowcapped peaks of the Olympics, flowed unhampered to the strait. In the 1850s the first settlers came to the Dungeness, to cut down the thick stands of timber and float logs down the River; to take up donation claims; to clear land and plant crops. They came on sailing ships around the Horn, from the gold fields of California, across the plains by covered wagon. Men came from many parts of the world to this remote valley, along with pioneers from New England, the South and Midwest. Early farmers grew fabulous crops in the bottomlands of the River. When irrigation ditches were built, the River furnished water for rich pasturelands, and the Valley became one of the top dairying spots in the country. For years the Valley remained a dairying and farming community, then change came as the area gradually became famous for its unusual climate, and rainfall less than 17 inches per year. The low rainfall, averaging 16.81 inches, is caused by what climatologists and meterologists term a "rainshadow effect." The Valley lies win the westerly wind belt which encircles the earth at these middle latitudes in both hemispheres. The wind flow is from the Pacific Ocean onto the Olympic Peninsula most of the time. The air is forced up the Olympic Mountains and then flows down the eastern or leeward side. Rising air expands, cools, condenses, and precipitates. Upon descending, it compresses and warms, and can hold more moisture. Usually precipitation does not occur because of the increased moistureholding capacity of the air. When this air descends the eastern side of the Olympics it is warmed and a "dry-belt" is created in the Sequim-Dungeness area. Attracted by its climate, living conditions, outdoor recreation and scenic beauty, an increasing number of retired people have come to build homes. Farmland is being broken up and sold as homesites, and the Valley has become a retirement community. The River no longer flows unhampered to the Strait. It plunges down the mountains to join the Greywolf at Two Forks, and hurries on through the canyon south of the Dungeness Fish Hatchery. There it is diverted to the hatchery intake, into nine irrigation ditches, and the reservoir intake for the town of Sequim. Depleted, it flows on to the bay, its pools and shallows providing spawning grounds for salmon and a mecca for fisherman. Sometimes in winter or early spring, with heavy rain, or a warm Chinook wind melting the snow, the River rebels. In flood, it hurtles uprooted trees downstream, batters at headgates or irrigation ditches, washes away banks, and defies man-made barriers to spread across low-lying fields, and stains muddy brown the blue waters to the bay. Newcomers to the Valley of the Dungeness pay tribute to the River as did the pioneers, as they join in the Irrigation Festival each spring, the oldest community celebration in the state of Washington.
Virginia Keeting, Editor History UpdateThe past 20 years have brought significant changes to Sequim and the Dungeness Valley. The retirees are still moving here, and as a result the business community now includes several corporate chains such as Costco, Ernst, and Payless; and fast-food outlets such as MacDonalds, Burger King, and KFC. Sequim now boasts of the largest Safeway store in western Washington, and another large grocery store, QFC, recently opened its doors.Real estate development has kept up with the demand for homes for the newcomers, with a variety of lifestyle choices; in town for convenience, a wooded spot in the hills for seclusion, a fertile garden spot in the valley, a condo on the golf course, or a mobile in a care-free park. The views of the snow-capped Olympics are breathtaking, or overlook the waters of Sequim Bay or the shipping lanes of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The enthusiasm of the new residents has formed a perfect blend with the history and experience of the "oldtimers" to make Sequim an active and caring community with a friendly small-town flavor. Rural, but only a short distance from the culture of Seattle, the shopping in Silverdale, and the old-world flavor of Victoria, B. C. By Dianne Kirst |
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Alfalfa Cottage • 71 Falfa Lane, Sequim, WA, 98382 • (360) 683-5625
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