A New Frontier Near Neah Bay
Surveyor R.P. Shotts reports on the opening of a new township, promising a flourishing settlement for hardy pioneers.
Last Saturday a call was made on this office by Mr. R. P. Shotts, who has just completed the survey of Township 31 N., R. 11 West. This township is situated something over 20 miles east of Neah Bay, and on either side of the Pysht River. It is sparsely settled, there being but 14 claims taken. In addition to the occupied lands, quite a number of very good claims remain vacant. A petition has been sent to the Postal Department asking to have a post office established there; and as the people are mostly live, energetic men, the prospect is that a flourishing settlement will speedily grow up around it. The fact that their post office will be on the route of the Neah Bay mail line would seem to remove all doubt as to its creation. There is a fair pack trail leading from the mouth of the river to the Quillayute prairies, also one leading to Neah Bay; and no doubt all necessary roads will be made in due course of time. The country abounds with elk, deer, bear and other wild game, the streams furnish plenty of salmon and trout, and many attractive features invite emigrants. Ho for the great North West!
“The country abounds with elk, deer, bear and other wild game, the streams furnish plenty of salmon and trout, and many attractive features invite emigrants.”
This report captures the classic 19th-century boosterism that defined the settlement of the Olympic Peninsula. Today, the Pysht River valley remains a sparsely populated, rugged landscape, reflecting the tension between the era's 'frontier' expansionism and the modern reality of preserving these remote, ecologically sensitive areas.
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