Disputed Islands During the Civil War

Historian Boyd Pratt describes how settlement proceeded during the joint military occupation at the height of the American Civil War in a program scheduled at 7 p.m., Friday, August 2 at the San Juan Island Library.

In the brief two decades from the first EuroAmerican settlement by the Hudson’s Bay Company on San Juan Island in 1853 to the settlement of the international boundary dispute in 1872, a myriad of national, ethnic, and cultural groups occupied, settled, and lived off the San Juan archipelago, referred to at the time as “The Disputed Islands.”

The interaction among these various groups, as reflected in the cultural landscape, shows that the “Dispute” went beyond politics in the adaptation and conflict of peoples with their environment and each other.

The program is free. Call the park at 360-378-2240, ext. 2233, or the library at 360-378-2798 for more information.

Pratt’s talk is the third in the summer program series, Connections: The Far West and Civil War, which explores the relationships between the American Civil War, the San Juan Islands and Pacific Northwest. All programs are scheduled at the San Juan Island Library, except for the Life and Times of General George Pickett, which is next slated August 7 at the San Juan Community Theatre.

The three remaining library programs (scheduled at 7 p.m., August 3 (7:30 p.m.), 10 and 17) are free of charge, thanks to a $500 grant to the library from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

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