Henderson Inlet is a small, southern inlet of

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Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...

, situated between Budd Inlet to the west and Nisqually Reach to the east. It is located in Thurston County and the nearest city is Olympia, the state capital. Henderson Inlet was named in 1841 by

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the ...

, commander of the

United States Exploring Expedition The United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–1842 was an exploring and surveying expedition of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding lands conducted by the United States. The original appointed commanding officer was Commodore Thomas ap Catesby ...

, after James Henderson, who served as quartermaster. A variant name is "South Bay".

History

The shores of Henderson Inlet were once inhabited by the Nisqually people, of whom one branch, the Noosehchatle, had a settlement named Tuts'e'tcaxt in the Woodard Bay area, on the western shore of the inlet. Tuts'e'tcaxt comprised two cedar plank houses measuring 30 by 100 feet, inhabited by about a dozen natives who lived there during the inclement winter months, according to an 1854 report by George Gibbs, an agent of the territorial governor. Archaeologists suspect the presence of many tribal burials along both shores of the inlet, where evidence of native use exists in the form of numerous shell middens. The first British garrison in the area, the fur trading post of Fort Nisqually (now part of

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

), was established by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

in 1833, some 10 miles east of Henderson Inlet.

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settlers arrived shortly thereafter, and in 1846, under the terms of the

Oregon Treaty The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to ...

, the area became part of the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. In 1854 a millwright named Harvey Rice Woodard made a claim to the land around the bay that still bears his name, Woodard Bay, which soon became the location of a thriving logging industry that survived, though much diminished in its final years, until 1984. In 1940 the 15th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, which had been based at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, since 1938, set up an Amphibious Training Camp on Henderson Inlet, north of Woodard Bay, with a pier, administrative buildings, barracks, and mess hall. The regiment operated this facility until 1942. Since 1987 a large section of the western shore of Henderson Inlet has been managed by the Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation Area, including the former property of the

Weyerhaeuser Timber Company Weyerhaeuser () is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company also manufactures wood products. It operates as a real ...

and, to its north, part of the historic Esterly Farm and its associated woodland, which according to local folklore, possibly deriving from native legends, is populated by

elves An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes ...

. The conservation area, now covering 600 acres, has expanded in stages by purchasing surrounding properties as they became available, and has developed into an important sanctuary for birds, bats, seals and otters.

References

External links

Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation AreaEsterly Farm
Bodies of water of Thurston County, Washington History of Olympia, Washington Geography of Olympia, Washington Inlets of Washington (state) {{ThurstonCountyWA-geo-stub

History

See also

References

External links