San Juan Island National Historical Park: An environmental history

Avery, Christine

The purpose of this study is to rethink the history of San Juan Island in a way that takes into account the interactions between humans and the natural environment of the island. Most of the books and studies written about San Juan Island focus on the nineteenth century boundary dispute between the United States and Great Britain. No one has fully investigated the history of the interactions between the natural environment and the peoples—Northern Straits Indians, the Hudson’s Bay Company, British and American armies, early homesteaders and twentieth century island residents—that have inhabited the island. An environmental history can further our understanding of how humans have affected their natural environment, and how the natural environment has shaped human history. This type of study includes information about the functions of ecosystems, the interactions between nature and social and economic systems as well as ideas and sentiments about the natural environment. To different people at different times, San Juan Island has been a valuable military instillation, a farmer’s dream, and a tourist’s paradise. Though twenty-first century visitors may view the island as a peaceful, rural hideaway, a refuge from urban life situated among spectacular scenery, the island’s history shows us that this view is a cultural invention. Each group of island inhabitants has imagined San Juan Island in different ways, creating different sets of expectations that have affected the natural world.