Destruction Island (also known historically as Green Island and Isla de Dolores/Island of Sorrows) is a island located approximately off the

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

coast. Home to seabirds, shorebirds, and marine mammals, it is part of the

Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refuge Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex is an administrative grouping of six National Wildlife Refuges in Washington, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It includes: * Flattery Rocks National Wildlife Refuge (, ...

. Hoh native Americans used to frequent Destruction Island to capture

rhinoceros auklet The rhinoceros auklet (''Cerorhinca monocerata'') is a seabird and a close relative of the puffins. It is the only extant species of the genus ''Cerorhinca''. Given its close relationship with the puffins, the common name rhinoceros puffin has b ...

s. In recent years the population of rhinoceros auklets has been in decline as a result of habitat loss and eagle predation due to the presence of non-native European rabbits. Destruction Island's name is derived from two massacres which happened nearby. In 1775,

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

lieutenant

Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra (22 May 1743 – 26 March 1794) was a Hispano-Peruvian naval officer operating in the Americas. Assigned to the Pacific coast Spanish Naval Department base at San Blas, in Viceroyalty of New Spain (present ...

dispatched a crew of seven men to the mainland in order to gather wood and fresh water on the beach near

Point Grenville Point Grenville is a headland of Washington (state), Washington state. The point was named ''Punta de los Mártires'' ("Point of the Martyrs") during the 1775 expedition of Bruno de Heceta in response to an attack by the local Quinault (tribe), Q ...

, but they were attacked and killed by an estimated three hundred local Native Americans, leading him to name it Isla de Dolores (Island of Sorrows). Twelve years later, Captain Charles William Barkley, an independent English fur trader, arrived in the ship ''

Imperial Eagle The eagle is used in heraldry as a charge, as a supporter, and as a crest. Heraldic eagles can be found throughout world history like in the Achaemenid Empire or in the present Republic of Indonesia. The European post-classical symbolism of ...

'' and sent a party ashore from the island, to a similar fate. Barkley named the river where the second massacre took place the ''Destruction River''. Captain

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

later transferred the name to Isla de Dolores when the river was named after the tribe in the area, the

Hoh River The Hoh River is a river of the Pacific Northwest, located on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. About long, the Hoh River originates at the snout of Hoh Glacier on Mount Olympus (Washington), Mount Olym ...

. Three shipwrecks occurred at the island in 1889: ''Cassanora Adams'', ''Port Gordon'', and ''

Wide West ''Wide West'' was a steamboat that served in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It had a reputation as a luxury boat of its days. ''Wide West'' was built in 1877 in Portland, Oregon, by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. It was built ...

''. The

Destruction Island Lighthouse Destruction Island Lighthouse is a decommissioned lighthouse on Destruction Island, a rocky island that is part of the Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refuge lying about off the coast of Jefferson County, Washington, in the northwest of th ...

was built on Destruction Island in 1888–91. A US Coast Guard detachment operated the lighthouse from 1939 to the early 1970s. The light was automated in 1968, before it was shut off for good in April 2008.Destruction Island Lighthouse, Washington at Lighthousefriends.com
/ref> The island itself is accessible only by boat. On the mainland coast about 4 miles northeast is the popular

Ruby Beach Ruby Beach is the northernmost of the southern beaches in the coastal section of Olympic National Park in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located on U.S. Route 101, Highway 101, in Jefferson County, Washington, Jefferson ...

, from which both the island and the lighthouse are visible.

References

{{authority control Pacific islands of Washington (state) Landforms of Jefferson County, Washington Uninhabited islands of Washington (state) Protected areas of Jefferson County, Washington

See also

References