Canoe Island (Washington)
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Canoe Island is a 47-acre island located in the center of the
San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...
, an archipelago in the Northwest region of Washington State. Situated within the Upright Channel, Canoe Island lies between
Shaw Shaw may refer to: Places Australia *Shaw, Queensland Canada *Shaw Street, a street in Toronto England *Shaw, Berkshire, a village *Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton *Shaw, Swindon, a List of United Kingdom ...
and Lopez Islands. The Island's maximum elevation is 127.7 feet and its surface is mostly forested with second-growth cedar, fir, hemlock, and madrona. The island also has some old-growth trees. The rocky shoreline of Canoe Island is bordered by dense forests of bull kelp. Canoe Island is only accessible by boat, though several
Washington State Ferry Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a government agency that operates automobile and passenger ferry service in the U.S. state of Washington as part of the Washington State Department of Transportation. It runs ten routes serving 20 terminals lo ...
Routes pass between the Southern tip of the island and Flat Point on
Lopez Island Lopez Island is the third largest of the San Juan Islands and an unincorporated town in San Juan County, Washington, United States. Lopez Island is in land area. The 2000 census population was 2,177, though the population swells in the summer, ...
. Canoe Island is privately owned by Canoe Island French Camp, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs an overnight summer camp for children.


History


Indigenous Presence

Prior to European settlement, Canoe Island may have been occupied or visited by Indigenous
Coast Salish The Coast Salish is a group of ethnically and linguistically related Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, living in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. They speak one of the Coas ...
peoples. Specifically, Canoe Island may have been part of the territory of the Lhaq'temish (
Lummi The Lummi ( ; Lummi: ''Xwlemi'' ; also known as Lhaq'temish (), or ''People of the Sea''), governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group. They are based in the coastal area of the Pacific No ...
),
Tulalip The Tulalip Tribes of Washington (, lut, dxʷlilap), formerly known as the Tulalip Tribes of the Tulalip Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Duwamish, Snohomish, Snoqualmie, Skagit, Suiattle, Samish, and Stillaguamish people. The ...
,
S'Klallam Klallam (also Clallam, although the spelling with "K" is preferred in all four modern Klallam communities) refers to four related indigenous Native American/First Nations communities from the Pacific Northwest of North America. The Klallam cul ...
, and
Samish The Samish are a Native American people who live in the U.S. state of Washington. They are a Central Coast Salish people. Through the years, they were assigned to reservations dominated by other Tribes, for instance, the Swinomish Indians of the ...
Nations. The Samish name for the island is Skwsá7 snéxwlh. The island has several
shell middens A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofac ...
from this era.


Early European Exploration

The name Canoe Island first appears on the British Admiralty Chart 2840, Richards, 1858–1860. Additional surveys by Captain George Henry in the 1850s and 1860s describe the channel surrounding Canoe Island as a safe passage with mild tides.


Military Reserve

In 1872, the San Juan Islands were declared property of the U.S. following the Pig War. Shortly thereafter, the U.S. government sent a team of Army Engineers under the command of General Nathaniel Michler to determine the most favorable sites for military fortifications within the San Juan Islands. By September 1874, Michler and his team had selected the locations of seven large government military reservations, one of which was located on Canoe Island. The other reserves were located on
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
, Lopez, and
Shaw Shaw may refer to: Places Australia *Shaw, Queensland Canada *Shaw Street, a street in Toronto England *Shaw, Berkshire, a village *Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton *Shaw, Swindon, a List of United Kingdom ...
Islands. In 1902, the ''
San Juan Islander The ''San Juan Islander'' (originally the ''Islander'') was a weekly newspaper published every Thursday that covered the San Juan Islands community in Friday Harbor, Washington Friday Harbor is a town in San Juan County, Washington, United Stat ...
'' critiqued this use of land for military purposes, arguing that less than 1/10th of the land in military reserves would ever be needed by the U.S. government. It's unclear exactly why these reserves were so large, though it's possible that the government overestimated the value of the islands for military defense. The ''San Juan Islander'' also reported that the military reserves presented a barrier to settlement in the county.''The San Juan islander. Volume XII.'' (Friday Harbor, Wash.), 26 June 1902. ''Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers''. Lib. of Congress. <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085190/1902-06-26/ed-1/seq-1/> During this era, individuals could obtain leases of the military reservations in the archipelago. In 1898, I. J. Lichtenberg obtained the lease of Canoe Island for $1, with the stipulation that he be prepared to leave the reserve at any time the government deemed it necessary for military operations. Lichtenberg also held the lease for the military reservation on the North end of Lopez Island. Ultimately, the military reserves in the San Juan Islands were never used; artillery was never mounted on the sites, no military buildings were constructed, nor were troops ever housed on the reserves.


1913 Manhunt

In 1913, Canoe Island briefly became the location of a manhunt that involved a criminal chase across multiple islands. The search began on Orcas, where two men arrived by skiff before boarding a ship for Bellingham. When their boat was found adrift, a search turned up a pocketbook with several documents related to bank robberies and other crimes committed in Canada. The sheriff and deputy summoned the British authorities, who confirmed that the two men were wanted for several crimes. A few days later, one of the men returned to Orcas Island seeking his pocketbook on the boat. The sheriff was notified of man's return and a shootout on the porch of the Orcas Hotel ensued. The criminal escaped to the woods and later that night he escaped unharmed from an additional exchange of shots. The following morning, the criminal, under the disguise of a carefree fisherman, stole a boat and departed for Shaw Island. The man ate breakfast there before stealing another boat to escape Shaw. This boat was later found on Canoe Island, though the outlaw was nowhere to be found.In the following days, rumors spread that the man was eating his meals on Shaw. The authorities failed to capture the man despite a $1500 reward, though his camp on Shaw was found and it contained bloody bandages. The sheriff and Canadian authorities eventually gave up after a two-week search, believing that the man was still hiding on Shaw and receiving help from local residents.


French Camp

In 1965, Dr. Warren and Florence Heath “Bunny” Horton Austin purchased Canoe Island for $95,000. Bunny Austin was the daughter of Horace E. Horton, founder of the
Chicago Bridge & Iron Company CB&I is a large engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company with its administrative headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas. CB&I specializes in projects for oil and gas companies. CB&I employs more than 32,000 people worldwide. In May ...
. Three years after purchasing the island, the Austins established the “Institut Francile” and Canoe Island Camps, Inc. with help from Le Lycée Francais de Los Angeles. At first, the camp operated on Orcas Island at the Madrona Inn in Eastsound.The Austins chose to establish a French camp because no other French camp existed on the West coast at the time, and they sought to create one for their daughter, Dorothy Austin. Dr. Austin held a deep appreciation for French language and culture that sparked when he was a child. He also served in France with General Patton's Third Army in the 49th Field Hospital during World War II. The Austins continued to hold the camp on Orcas while developing buildings and infrastructure on Canoe Island. Architect Paul Gray of California oversaw the building plans. When the buildings were completed in 1975, all camp operations moved to Canoe Island. In 1992, Dr. Austin established the camp as a 501(c)(3) non-profit and renamed the organization Canoe Island French Camp. This change also established a board of directors, who continue to run the camp today in conjunction with the camp directors.


Canoe Island French Camp

Currently, the camp welcomes 200 children each summer and additionally hosts school and family programs. Programming emphasizes French language and culture, as well as outdoor education. French language classes are offered, and campers participate in other activities including art, archery, fencing, kayaking, and theater. The curriculum promotes youth development, intercultural understanding, and environmental stewardship. Canoe Island French Camp seeks to give campers the tools they need to lead meaningful and successful lives resulting in positive impacts on their communities and the world. Canoe Island French Camp is one of four overnight camps for children in the San Juan Islands; the others include
YMCA Camp Orkila Camp Orkila is on the northwest shoulder of Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands of Washington, overlooking Presidents Channel, and the Canadian Gulf Islands. It has been in operation since 1906. It is operated by the Greater Seattle Area's YMC ...
, Camp Nor’Wester, and Camp Four Winds Westward Ho. Canoe Island French Camp is accredited by the American Camp Association and is a member of the Western Association of Independent Camps, which means that it meets the highest standards of camp excellence.


In fiction

Canoe Island is a locale in the novel, ''The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them''. The fictional story follows a teenager growing of age using life experiences, including those drawn from a visit to Canoe Island.


Notes


External links


Canoe Island French Camp

Aerial Views of Canoe IslandOfficial Guide to the San Juan Islands
{{Coord, 48.556082, -122.927495, display=title San Juan Islands Summer camps