History
Fidalgo Island was originally inhabited by the Samish and Swinomish peoples.
Fidalgo Island is named for the Spanish explorer and cartographer Salvador Fidalgo who explored the area in 1790 with the fleet of Francisco de Eliza. Charles Wilkes discovered that it was an island rather than part of the mainland. He named it Perry Island in honor of Oliver Hazard Perry, the American commander who won the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812. Following this theme, Wilkes named the island's highest point Mount Erie. When Henry Kellett reorganized the official British Admiralty charts in 1847, he removed Wilkes' name Perry and bestowed the name Fidalgo to honor the Spanish explorer. The highest point retained the name Erie.
Settlement peaked in 1850s due to the Fraser River Gold Rush and in 1890 due to speculation that the area would become a terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Later the island became an important fishing and lumber center.
Read more about this topic: Fidalgo Island
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history is always the same the product is always different and the history interests more than the product. More, that is, more. Yes. But if the product was not different the history which is the same would not be more interesting.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“The history of men’s opposition to women’s emancipation is more interesting perhaps than the story of that emancipation itself.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“English history is all about men liking their fathers, and American history is all about men hating their fathers and trying to burn down everything they ever did.”
—Malcolm Bradbury (b. 1932)