Summer Days and Wild Claims on Orcas Island
A pair of Lynden men report on their six-week wilderness camp, navigating smokey skies and the quiet rhythms of the San Juan Islands.
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.
Sunday Aug. 23—Well today being Sunday we are taking things easy. We received a copy of the TRIBUNE and were glad to get it. I see by the papers that the political pot is boiling; better look out or it will flop over. The hard south wind last night cleared up the smoke somewhat, so much so we can see across to the mainland today, but have not seen a boat stirring. A large steamer is passing our camp at this time headed for Bellingham on her way from Vancouver, B.C., to San Francisco; it is a splendid sight to see a large steamer ploughing along through the seas. Yesterday afternoon the fast sailing yacht, 'Two Step', came up the Bay like a racehorse, sailing before the wind, but just off our camp they came to and took a reef in their sails. They had too much canvas and ran to the beach one mile to the westward of us and landed and went into camp. We have been working on the claim today and the outlook is encouraging. Will have to do a little fishing if the wind goes down, for the supply of salmon and trout is running rather low. Wednesday, Aug. 26—Working just the same, there doesn't seem to be any way out of it; if we hold a claim we have to do a certain amount of labor or cause the same to be done. We must take our medicine if it is a little bitter; we will soon finish the assessment work, then we may take a little cruise for a few days, then head for Birch Bay. We have now been out a few days over six weeks.
“I see by the papers that the political pot is boiling; better look out or it will flop over.”
While the San Juans have shifted from a frontier for prospectors and campers to a destination for tourism and conservation, the experience of 'taking things easy' by the water remains the island's primary industry. The letter captures the ephemeral nature of island life, where smoke from mainland forest fires—a precursor to modern wildfire seasons—dictated the mood of the camp.
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