Budd Inlet is an
inlet
An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea.
Overview
In ...
located at the southern end of
Puget Sound
Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...
in
Thurston County,
Washington. It is the southernmost arm of Puget Sound.
Etymology
Budd Inlet was named by
Charles Wilkes
Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and List of explorers, explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842).
During the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865 ...
during 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 ...
, to honor
Thomas A. Budd, who served as acting master of the ''Peacock'' and ''Vincennes''. A portion of the coast of
Antarctica
Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
,
Budd Coast, is also named for Thomas Budd.
History
Historically, the shores surrounding Budd Inlet were occupied by village sites of the Steh-Chass (or Stehchass),
Lushootseed-speaking peoples who became part of the post-treaty Squaxin Island Tribe.
Around 1850,
American settlers founded the city of
Olympia at the southern end of Budd Inlet.
Geography
Budd Inlet is long and has a maximum breadth of . The southern end of Budd Inlet is divided into two channels – West Bay and East Bay – by a peninsula that was
artificially broadened throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. The entrance to Budd Inlet is formed by two peninsulas:
Cooper Point, and
Boston Harbor, Washington.
The
Deschutes River empties into West Bay just north of
Tumwater Falls. The
mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...
s that existed here were dammed and submerged beneath
Capitol Lake in 1949.
A deepwater shipping channel was dredged in East Bay to provide deep water access to the
Port of Olympia.
See also
*
Mud Bay
*
Henderson Inlet
References
External links
Bodies of water of Thurston County, Washington
History of Olympia, Washington
Geography of Olympia, Washington
Inlets of Washington (state)
{{ThurstonCountyWA-geo-stub