2009-10 Adopted Budget - City of Hoquiam

History of HoquiamLong before Western Man appeared in the area we call Hoquiam, Native Americanpeople inhabited it and used this area for a variety of purposes. The Chehalis Tribeoccupied seven villages along the north and south sides of the Chehalis River.However, the entire area was used in common by a variety of tribes, particularly thosewho later became part of the Confederated Tribes of the Quinault Indian Nation.On May 7, 1792 British explorer Capt. Robert Gray entered the Chehalis River, sailedthrough the bar, into the bay, and named the area Bullfinch Harbor. Later explorers renamedthe area Grays Harbor after the Captain. At the turn of the century, fur tradingdeveloped in the region but competition among traders depleted the local otterpopulation and shortly afterwards the trade was abandoned.Though fur traders visited Hoquiam during this period, none of them settled here,because they found the bay's dense forests, marshes, and foggy atmosphere inhospitable. In 1857, a non-native settler, John R. James established a 160-acre claimthat included most of what is now the City of Hoquiam. When he moved on severalyears later, another settler, James Karr, took over his settlement and became the area'sfirst permanent white settler.Settlers soon began arriving and were grazing their cattle on the tide flats of theHoquiam River by the early 1850s. James Karr, who later helped found Cosmopolis,built his family's cabin in present day west Hoquiam. His brother Henry built on the eastside of the river along present day Riverside Avenue. There were farmers andcattlemen in Hoquiam long before the neighboring settlements in Cosmopolis andAberdeen began. A decade after the arrival of the Karrs, the Ed Campbell family (1860)and others began settling in Hoquiam.It was Campbell who worked to accurately spell and name this new town "Hoquiam"which means "hungry for wood," called so by the Indians for the vast amount of blowndowntimber found at the river's mouth.Hoquiam became the site of severallarge sawmills and shipyards. Manyships were built in Hoquiam includingthe Vigilant, a popular and beautifulfive masted lumber sailing schooner.This friendly, progressive city wasincorporated in 1890, about 40 yearsafter the first settlers arrived.By the turn of the century a number ofHoquiam residents were becomingsuccessful timber merchants. Theseincluded Robert and Joseph Lytle, who built their beautiful homes, next to each other, in6