–by Cara Russell —
[metaslider id=37075]
History is best told as a story, and the new exhibit at the Orcas Historical Museum reveals some fascinating stories. On Saturday, May 23rd, from 5-10PM, the Orcas Island Historical Museum held their opening season gala, where they displayed and celebrated their newest exhibit ‘Smuggling on the Salish Sea.’
The exhibit focuses on the illegal smuggling of goods on our waters in our not-so-distant past. It’s hard to imagine that these islands were once the setting for illegal trafficking of everything from whiskey to Ch,inese immigrants. It was because of the blurring water borders between the US and Canada, and convenient caves to hide a stash, that lawmen and outlaws, and everyone caught up in between became part of the story of the mad dash for financial profit.
On Saturday night, guests of the gala dressed up as gansters, smugglers, and flappers. All the guests, as well as volunteers and Museum Staff, enjoyed the exhibit and the fun speakeasy setting–sipping a Gin Rickey or Mint Julep, and nibbling on tasty appetizers. Longtime Orcas Island resident Harry Patton was more than willing to share his island stories from “back in the day.”
Clark McAbee, Curator and Acting Director of the Museum, gave a special thank you to Maggie Vinson, Carla Stanley, Jerry Smith, and John Fletcher. He then cited the many others, a long list of individuals, businesses, and organizations that all contributed to piecing the exhibit together:
Asian American Comparative Collection University of Idaho, Priscilla Wegars, Ph.D.
British Columbia Provincial Archives web
Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest
DCS Films, Dan Warter
Friends of Chief Skughaid, David Cobb
Gerald Grellet-Tinner, Ph.D.
HistoryLink.org
Jefferson County Historical Society, Marsha Moratti
Library of Congress Chronicling America loc.gov
Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society, Alicia Barnes
Washington State Historical Society
Smuggler’s Villa Resort, Mike Stolmeier
Turtle Back Farm B&B, Susan Fletcher
Madrona Point Insurance, Michelle Wiley
Island Hardware & Supply, Paul Garwood & Marce Holmes
Rosario Resort, Christopher Peacock
US Coast Guard Auxiliary, Orcas Island
Salt Water People Historical Society, Cherie Christensen
Orcas Hotel, Laura & Doug Tidwell
Harry Patton
Dr. Bruce Culver
John Willis
Jim Biddick
Bill Buchan
Boyd Pratt
Jerry & Joanne Smith
Dave Tribolet
Edrie Vinson
Maggie Vinson
Audrey Wells
Orcas Island Distillery, Charlie West
Mike Wiley
Salt Spring Island Wools
Smugglers’ boats had to be fast in those days to outrun the law. And smuggling became even more lucrative once prohibition came into effect. It was a constant evolution of faster boats, and better hiding places, as smugglers had to continuously keep ahead of their pursuers.
What would you do if you lived during the days of prohibition in the San Juan Islands? Would you have been a smuggler? A lawman? A farmer? What if you came across a smuggler’s stash? With eggs selling for 15 cents a dozen, a $16 quart of whiskey might have felt like discovering bars of gold.
History is not merely a list of dates, facts, and old relics of another time. Exhibits like ‘Smuggling on the Salish Sea’ create a connection to our living past; they are the stories of people similar to ourselves, their emotions, differing moral perspectives, and the choices and actions they ultimately made, that contribute to our collective human history.
The volunteers and staff at the Orcas Historical Museum are preserving that local history and perspective. You can see ‘Smuggling on the Salish Sea’ right now at the Historical Museum, and throughout summer and fall.
“It is our hope to see the exhibit travel,” said McAbee. “We have only just scratched the surface.”
If you would like to visit, donate, or volunteer, the Orcas Historical Museum is located on 181 N Beach Rd, Eastsound, WA 98245. You can also reach them at (360) 376-4849 or online.
Our congratulations go out to Curator Clark McAbee, Orcas Historical Museum, and his research staff, for the excellent visual exhibit on display, covering smuggling and rumrunning through the San Juans during the Prohibition period.
Much time and effort was expended gathering data and pictures from the 33 references listed above, to provide us with an accurate and factual historical picture of events which occurred during that period.
And once again, I remind my ‘friends’ at the ‘Lower’, that my father, Joe Patton, was NOT a rumrunner, but, shall we say, was only a ‘facilitator’, who provided the high-speed inboard engines which went into Rumrunner Roy Olmstead’s speedboats, built by N. J. Blanchard.