Staking a Claim
Two-hundred and fifty years ago this week, on July 12, 1775, Bruno de Hezeta landed on what is now Granville Bay and claimed the Pacific Northwest for Spain, despite a less than friendly welcome by the locals. For the 15 years Spain had a virtual monopoly on settlement and trade throughout the region but ceded its claims when it signed the Nootka Convention with Great Britain in 1790.
British explorers initially charted the coast and Puget Sound, but didn't claim the inland region until July 8, 1811, when Canadian explorer David Thompson planted the British flag at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. During his travels, Thompson was the first white man to contact and record descriptions of the Kalispel, Sanpoil, Nespelem, Methow, Sinkayuse, and Wanapum tribes.
Thompson's claim did not stand. After traveling down the lower Columbia River, he met up with agents of John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company. They had already established a post at the mouth of the river, thereby strengthening America's claim to the Columbia region. After the War of 1812, Great Britain and the United States agreed to a joint occupation. This lasted until 1846, when the Treaty of Oregon gave all land below the 49th parallel, except the southern tip of Vancouver Island, to America.
A County's New Name
On July 13, 1857, Kitsap County got its present name. Originally named Slaughter County, after a U.S. Army Lieutenant slain by Native Americans in King County, Kitsap County was renamed in honor of the Suquamish war chief who defeated marauding Haida Indians on Bainbridge Island. This wouldn't be the only time Lieutenant Slaughter's name disappeared from maps. In 1893, the King County town of Slaughter changed its name to Auburn.
For millennia the future Kitsap County was home to the Suquamish, S'Klallam, and Skokomish tribes or their ancestors. Non-Native settlers began arriving in the 1850s and got along well with the area's original inhabitants. Even after being removed to nearby reservations following the implementation of the Point Elliott and Point No Point treaties, many tribal people found work in lumber mills at Port Gamble and Port Orchard.
In 1890, Sidney (later renamed Port Orchard) became the first town to incorporate in Kitsap County, and was later followed by communities in Bremerton, Poulsbo, and Winslow, which has since been named Bainbridge Island. Beginning in 1891, Bremerton solidified its status as the county's business hub when it became home to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. And because Kitsap County is a peninsula with extensive access to the waters of Puget Sound, it has 12 of the Washington's 75 public port districts, more than any other county in the state.
