A Memorial to Lt. Peter Puget

Shatoosh, Pashmina and Hira are continuing in the wake of Lt. Peter Puget. It seems his following sea has pushed us from traveling in his wake, to having an article written in Sea Magazine, and now to launching plans to create a memorial to honor his historic adventure.

It has been over 220 years that the HMS Discovery anchored off the shore of Blake Island in May of 1792 and Lt.Peter Puget, Lt. Thomas Manby, Joseph Whidbey and Archibald Menzies and their crew of 16 able bodied seamen plied the southern waters in 2 small  launches in search of the Northwest Passage. To this date, there are no known memorial plaques to honor their efforts in Puget Sound.

I, along with Skip Dreps, a dedicated advocate for military/veteran recognition, and bronze sculptor/artist, Gareth Curtiss will be undertaking the creation of three memorials to be placed along Puget's Exploration Route to commemorate his incredible Exploration.

We are looking at Blake Island to commemorate the launching of the expedition on 20 May 1792, Cutts Island to commemorate a breakfast site on day 2, where they shot crow to supplement their food supplies and Olympia, Budd Inlet, where on 26 May 1792, Joseph Whidbey took his noon sight of 47 degrees, 03 minutes and 00 seconds. Lt. Peter Puget determines that the southern waters have been explored and the infamous Northwest Passage did not exist in these waters. He orders the men to store the oars, step the masts and the southerly wind fills their sails, taking them back to their mother vessel, the HMS Discovery which was anchored behind Restoration Point on Bainbridge Island. Captain George Vancouver honors Lt Peter Puget by naming the southern waters, Puget's Sound.

Don't you think it is time the boating community of Puget Sound and the State of Washington honor, Lt. Peter Puget? Lets make this long, overdue memorial happen.

Please see Gareth's beautiful work on his website: www.garethcurtiss.com.Gareth Curtiss