Puget Sound Postings

Merry Christmas Everyone,

Artwork by Marsha Matta

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I have spent quite a bit of time creating a Power Point Presentation to promote our project of placing 3 Peter Puget Memorials along his route in Puget Sound. I am pleased with it. We are looking towards May, 2014 for installations.

Printed Version

After visiting the Browns Point Lighthouse this month I am turning my research focus on Captain Vancouver's Exploration of the Southern Waters  26-29 May 1792. After reading several books by different authors they have made different interpretations of his route. I learned from the Browns Point Lighthouse curator that Vancouver landed on the Point and had a meal with Indians, took a noon sight and then began to explore Commencement Bay. We know he landed on Long Island or Ketron Island the night of 26 May, as he watched his young Lieutenant with 2 launches return from the south and head toward the anchorage of the HMS Discovery.

I am reading an ebook by Edmund S. Meany, Vancouver's Discovery of Puget Sound, 1907. I am awaiting my copy to arrive in the mail to tackle this phase. From Ketron Island it gets very difficult to read and follow his journal even with a chart in front of me. Did Vancouver get to Budd Inlet, there is a note stating he took a noon sight of 47 degrees and 3 minutes or did he just use Whidbey's latitude, which is Olympia, did he go into Case Inlet and camp on Herron Island as Puget did?  Most of his latitudes that I have plotted do not match up with known islands/points. His sight at Browns Point was 3 minutes off and his latitude of Ketron Island was considerably off when you compare it to his  Browns Point latitude.

I have my work cut out for me, but it will be fun to find answers to my questions. If you know of any references that you have used, please let me know. There is a copy of Vancouver's log in the Tacoma Library. I will have to make an appointment to view it. Meany's book give comparative pages in the log which will make it easier to locate pages.

Lets make the 2013 Boating Season a great one with lots of sun.