Steilacoom and Saltars Point Park

The Town of Steilacoom and their Parks Department is finalizing the rebuilding of the Saltars Point Park which has been a lengthy project. There is a new Train Trestle over the BNSF Railroad tracks, which will give access to the lower section of the park, an upper level parking lot, lighting, and an upper park with a bench for viewing Ketron, Anderson, Eagle and McNeil Islands. They are creating space for the Lt. Peter Puget Memorial Reader Board which will discuss the exploration routes of Lt Peter Puget and Captain George Vancouver who surveyed these waters in May, 1792 as part of the 4 year Voyage of Discovery.

Our design team had just finished another meeting, so we were excited to see their progress and test drive our template with the newly installed platform. The Eagle Boy Scouts had planted new plants, people were enjoying the view and walking their dogs. Hira Barbara Reid, Director of the Puget Memorial Project was very happy to see all this progress.

We ventured over the new trestle just in time for an Amtrak train to wiz past us, and then down to the beach and pavilion. We enjoyed a nice bite to eat. What a wonderful day.

Up Date on Steilacoom Projects

The Steilacoom Historical Museum Association prepared a grant for funding for their Informative Signage Project. This included The Peter Puget Memorial Project signage and other projects they are involved in.

The City signage at Pioneer Park and Saltars Point Park is moving along with the design team. Recently we went to Winsor Fireform in Tumwater and met with the owner Brian Stockdale. They design and fabricate porcelain enamel metal signage. He was very helpful with design and editing tips and showed us numerous styles and options we can choose.

Winsor Fireform Click on this link to view.

Steilacoom's Lt Peter Puget Memorial Project

Steilacoom is building a a large community support team to create possibly three historical reader boards along significant sites overlooking Balch Passage, Ketron Island and Carr Inlet. Mayor Ron Lucas, Nancy Henderson, City counsel and French Wetmore, President of the Steilacoom History Museum are the front runners on the project with Barbara Reid as a historical consultant. Steilacoom has four possible sites to choose from:
1, The Museum Patio over looking Carr Inlet
2. Pioneer Park overlooking Balch Passage
3. Saltars Point overlooking Ketron Island and Balch Passage
4. Sunnyside Park on the water overlooking Ketron to Fox Island.

Site locations will be decided, artistic design team and writing teams have been decided and many future meetings await us. This is very exciting. Nancy Covert has posted an article about the project in the Suburban Times Paper for Pierce County. Thank you Nancy Covert for your interest and support. The Suburban Times

For me, Barbara Reid, it is extremely exciting to have the towns of Steilacoom and Allyn wanting to create Memorials to Honor Lt Peter Puget's Exploration Party and interestingly, both locations had the rare exchange with not only the Puget Party plying their waters but Captain Vancouver also surveyed both areas and camped. Thank you all for helping bring my vision into reality. Most important is to Honor, Memorialize and to Celebrate these historic explorers and their accomplishments in May 1792.

Steilacoom History Museum, WA

Looking west through Balch Passage
Puget and his party transited from Pitt Passage thru  Balch
and arrived Ketron Island

 The sun was out in all its glory as Barbara Reid spoke to the Steilacoom History Museum yesterday. I was back on the "Friend Raising" trail to gather interested supporters for the Lt Peter Puget Memorial Project. Steilacoom and I have been in 48 year love relationship. It is a small town located on the eastern shore of Puget Sound south of the Tacoma Narrows. It overlooks Balch Passage, Anderson, Eagle, McNeil, Fox and Ketron Islands. You have breath taking views, ferry rides to Anderson and Ketron Islands, kayaking, fishing, bike riding and the list goes on and on. It is historic, beautifully maintained and a fun place to live and visit.

Friend Raising

It is filled with The Voyage of Discovery adventures as The Puget Expedition and the Vancouver Expedition plied these waters in May of 1792. I am calling Steilacoom, The Crossroads of the Voyage of Discovery now that I have had time to savor the historical tidbits that are continually being placed in my simmering and thickening soup that I am cooking. The Puget party crossed from Pitt Passage to Balch Passage to Ketron Island to get a noon sight and bearings up the Narrows for Mr. Whidbey. Lt Manby tried to shoot a bear and his double-barreled gun exploded. The sun dripped day resulted in lightening and thunder storms which forced them into Oro Bay on Anderson Island where they spent the night. Trading with the Nisqually Indians in the evening provided them with salmon, raspberries and a bear skin. The Vancouver Expedition also crossed through this area and camped on Ketron Island. That evening Puget's expedition returned from their southern exploration and passed Ketron making their way back to the HMS Discovery. They see a camp fire on shore and believe it to be Indian. Vancouver fires muskets upon seeing boats pass in the darkness of night. Since there was no return of muskets firing, they, too thought the boats were Indian.

The Steilacoom group was excited to hear this history, are most supportive, have become new "Friends of the Puget Memorial Project" and are eager to look at other possibilities of embracing the Puget Expedition into their projects list. I look forward to seeing them again in the near future. What a wonderful group of people. Stop by and visit the town and their beautiful history museum. Tell them Puget sent you.

http://www.steilacoomhistorical.org/

http://www.townofsteilacoom.com/