The Hidden Trade in Willapa Harbor
While boosters brag about new ports, illicit opium and seal poaching thrive just down the coast.
Recent events show very clearly that smuggling is being carried on in the waters of Willapa Harbor. It is a well-established fact that numerous plungers have made trips up the coast for the purpose of seal hunting, as is stated by the participants. However, upon their return, no seal skins were ever seen, but money was spent very freely by the parties. The barkentine North Bend, on board of which smuggled opium was found by San Francisco custom-house officers, had sailed from Sunshine ten days ago. Facts go to show that sixteen Chinese men were landed at Sea Haven, a mile below here, last Saturday night. There is work here for a custom-house officer.
“There is work here for a custom-house officer.”
The illicit smuggling of goods and people described in 1891 reflects the persistent challenge of patrolling the vast, rugged, and porous coastline of the Pacific Northwest. Today, these same waterways are central to legal commerce and conservation, yet the ghost of 19th-century maritime smuggling remains a foundational, if dark, thread in Grays Harbor history.
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