Boyd Pratt debuts new book that features our Pig War and more

||| FROM MICHELLE HASSEBROCK for ORCAS HISTORICAL MUSEUMS |||

Neither island newcomers nor old-timers will want to miss Boyd Pratt’s upcoming presentation at the Historical Museums’ log cabin campus on Friday, May 10 at 4:00 pm.

A labor of love involving decades of research and much thoughtful writing, the Friday Harbor author’s latest work is the most comprehensive compendium of historic data about the San Juans in the 19th century yet to be published. As the subtitle tells us, the book explores “ordinary life in extraordinary times” here in the San Juan Islands from the years 1850 to 1874. And what was so special about that quarter century? Besides the feted “Pig War” and Kaiser Wilhelm’s settlement of the Northern Boundary of Washington State and Canada, Pratt presents a highly detailed narrative that brings much into the foreground that history has overlooked or (in some cases) misrepresented.

Foremost is the Indigenous presence–including Hawaiians–and their engagement with the newcomers–fur trappers, farmers, and soldiers–with much information about daily life, farming, reef netting and boundary issues. Pratt’s broad and unbiased narrative affords a welcome window into the complexity of a time and a group of people about which too little is known.  

The book is organized for ease of reading and subsequent referral by the inclusion of detailed subheads under each chapter heading, which include descriptions of Indigenous villages and encampments, cross-cultural settlements, and significant details about the various forms of work that our multi-ethnic communities performed.  Pratt generously shares his sources in extensive appendices that history buffs will likely pore over.  

He’ll happily sign books at the May 10th event. Admission is $10, free to Museum members.