The Unprotected Sound
An editorial on the vulnerability of Puget Sound's defenses against foreign intervention.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The protection of the Strait of Fuca and the consequent protection of the Sound, against international fleets is a matter of real interest to our people. It is certain that to those north of the line it is a matter of no less concern, and it is more certain that our neighbors are in better condition for defense than we are. They are backed by the powerful and ever-present navy of England. A struggle between the two countries would perhaps be disastrous to us in the beginning, but in the end must result in our favor. While a war with England is possible, it is no more probable than a war with France, Spain, or any one of several other nations, all of whom we should to a certain extent guard against. An American gentleman who not long since visited Vancouver Island assures us that the British officer in command made a parade of his entire force for his benefit, and that it consisted of one orderly. Making proper allowance for the exaggeration necessary to give point to the story, it is still apparent that the British are in no position to defend Vancouver Island at present. Opposite it, on Puget Sound, we have the little garrison at Port Townsend, but neither English nor Americans are prepared to defend the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
“Neither English nor Americans are prepared to defend the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, for the protection of which dependence would necessarily be had on a naval force.”
In the 1880s, the Pacific Northwest felt vulnerable on the edge of the expanding British and American empires. Today, the strategic value of the Strait of Juan de Fuca remains constant, though the nature of regional defense has shifted from colonial naval posturing to the high-tech, integrated infrastructure of the modern Joint Base Lewis-McChord and regional naval installations.
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