Padilla Bay Reserve, Washington

Padilla Bay Reserve, Washington

Cultural History

Evidence exists of early Native American habitation in the general Padilla Bay-Skagit area for 5,000 years. Several prehistoric sites are found near Padilla Bay but none actually on the bay or bay margin. This is probably due to the extensive diking that occurred in the late 19th and early 20th century. Habitation by Indians elsewhere in Washington can be traced back some 12,000 to 15,000 years. The Noo-Wha-Ah and Swinomish were the primary tribes utilizing the resources of Padilla Bay.

Spanish explorers traveled through Skagit and Padilla Bay in the 1790's and Padilla Bay was named after the Viceroy of Mexico. Many of the islands and landforms in northern Puget Sound were named by the original Spanish explorers.

In the early 1800's many native American tribes were decimated by the diseases brought by trappers, traders and settlers. By the late 1800's many of the surviving native people relocated to the Swinomish Reservation just south of Padilla Bay along the Swinomish Channel. The Swinomish are the closest tribe to Padilla Bay, with their tribal center located in the southwest corner of the Swinomish Channel, adjacent to the town of LaConner. They have traditionally hunted and fished at Padilla Bay for hundreds of years.

The earliest nonnative settlers built log cabins on Fidalgo Island in 1858. In 1867, a trading post was erected on the Swinomish flats at LaConner, and shortly afterwards the agricultural and timber potential of the area was recognized. Also in 1867, a logging camp was established on Samish Island. In 1874 much of the area was served by a regular steamboat service as there were no roads in the area. Land access was limited to horse trails and short wooden plank roads.

Logging operations reached a peak between 1902 and 1909, when one of the state's largest companies bought or leased much of the land surrounding the bay. As settlers purchased and farmed the inexpensive "stump farms" and diking began in earnest, a strong agricultural movement began which thrives to this day. Today, Skagit Valley is one of the most fertile agricultural valleys in the world. It produces 25 percent of the nation's frozen peas and 85 percent of the cabbage and beet seeds. Fishing was and is an important part of the Padilla Bay scene. Crabbing and salmon harvesting occur on the bay's fringes but are not as productive as they were at the turn of the century.

On the western fringe of the reserve, intensive industry is highly evident. March Point harbors two large oil refineries. They refine crude oil into gasoline, stove oil, diesel and other products for use in the Northwest and elsewhere. Their waste waters are treated and the few minor spills they have experienced have been cleaned up without apparent impact. Near the highway at the southern end of the bay are fertilizer, seed and feed processing facilities that service the large agricultural valley.