U.S. Open (Golf) Fan Guide 2015

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FAMOUS NAMES
FROM THE AREA
If you’re not from around here, you might not
have heard about University Place. But you
probably have heard about Tacoma. Here’s a
few reasons why.
Ivan: A gorilla kept for years at the B&I
Shopping Center in Lakewood, near Tacoma. He
was later moved to Zoo Atlanta.
Harold LeMay: Known before his death to
Guinness World Records as the owner of the
world’s largest private collection of automobiles.
He is now immortalized in Tacoma with
LeMay-America’s Car Museum.
Dr. Gordon Klatt: Tacoma surgeon who, three
decades ago, walked alone for 24 hours around
the University of Puget Sound track to raise
money for the American Cancer Society. That
effort led to the Relay For Life, a worldwide
fundraising effort that has raised billions of
dollars for cancer research.
Ted Bundy: Serial killer born and raised in
Tacoma; died in a Florida gas chamber.
Bing Crosby: Born here; moved to Spokane.
Tugboat Annie: Movie heroine fashioned
after Tacoma’s tugboat pioneer, Thea Foss.
Narrows Bridge(s): The first one blew down
and a replacement was built. A second bridge
was later added.
Almond Roca: Brown & Haley makes it daily
in Tacoma. (Incidentally, Frank Mars founded
the candymaker Mars in Tacoma in 1911 with
butter cream. Having gone broke, he moved
elsewhere.)
Weyerhaeuser: The timber giant was born in
Tacoma and later moved to Federal Way and
converted to a REIT.
The Sonics, The Fabulous Wailers, the Ventures:
Garage rock began in Tacoma long before
Kurt Cobain played here.
Tacoma claims golfing great Ken Still and
bowler extraordinaire Earl Anthony. Richard
Brautigan (author), Dale Chihuly (glass artist),
Frank Herbert (“Dune”), Pappy Boyington
(World War II Marine Corps ace fighter pilot),
Gary Larson (“Far Side” cartoonist), Ron Cey
(baseball great), Sugar Ray Seales (1972 Olympic
Gold Medal boxer): All were either born here
or raised here.
John Ehrlichman (Watergate felon), Yaphet
Koto (actor), Linda Evans (actor), Darrin McGavin
(actor), all lived here. Adam West (Batman)
attended the University of Puget Sound. Irv
Robbins (Baskin & Robbins) started his career
in ice cream downtown.
Frank Stojack, former Pierce County Sheriff
and member of the Tacoma City Council, as a
professional wrestler he invented the airplane
spin.
c.r.roberts@thenewstribune.com
DEAN J. KOEPFLER Staff photographer
An aerial view of Chambers Bay golf course with views of, from left, Anderson Island, McNeil Island and Longbranch peninsula.
A guide to the South Sound
BY C.R. ROBERTS
Staff writer
What mountains are those on the
western horizon? How do you
pronounce “Steilacoom”? What’s that
green bush with the pretty yellow
flowers?
If you’re from out of town, you might
have some random questions.
We have some random answers.
Question: OK, what mountains are
those on the western horizon?
Answer: They’re called the
Olympics, named for the highest peak,
Mount Olympus. Sighted by Spanish
sailor Juan Perez in 1774, they were first
called El Cerro de la Santa Rosalia. It
was the British Captain John Meares
who sighted the peak in 1788 and called
it Olympus.
Q: Chambers Creek, Chambers Bay.
So who was Chambers?
A: Located at the mouth of Chambers
Creek, which also was known as the
Chudley River, Byrd Creek, Steilacoom
River and Heath Creek, Chambers Bay
isn’t much of a bay after all. The estuary
between the creek and Puget Sound was
once home to a lumber mill, and there
were later dreams, unfulfilled, for a flour
milling center that made sense in 1908
as the “Imperial Waterfront.” Also, a
planned steel mill, blast furnace and
foundry never materialized.
The creek, and later the bay, were
named for Thomas Chambers, who built
the sawmill.
Q: There seem to be a lot of little
towns around Tacoma. Anything
interesting to talk about there?
A: Ruston, near Point Defiance Park,
was named for W.R. Rust, president of
the Tacoma Smelting Co., which
operated a waterfront copper smelter
near Point Defiance. Fircrest, adjoining
University Place, was established in part
by Edward “Major” Bowes, he of
“Amateur Hour” fame. Steilacoom
(pronounced STILL-uh-kum), just south
of the course, was the state’s first
incorporated town, established in 1854.
(Actually Washington was once a part of
the Oregon Territory and wouldn’t earn
statehood until 1889.)
Q: Thanks for the pronunciation
guide. Now what about “Puyallup” and
“Nisqually”?
A: Puyallup: PEW (as in church) and
allup (rhymes with gallop); Nisqually:
nis-QUALL-ee. You’re on your own with
Stillaguamish, Quillayute, Dosewallips,
Deschutes, Humptulips, Pysht and
Bogachiel.
Q: I see a lot of islands. What do you
call them?
A: Looking west, and from south to
north (or left to right) there’s Ketron,
Anderson, McNeil, Fox and Day Islands.
Q: Any stories there?
A: Lots. A developer once touted
Ketron as a potential suburban paradise
complete with shopping center and high
school. Never happened. At the last
census, 17 people lived there. Anderson
has a lake. McNeil has housed a state or
federal prison since 1875, and once
hosted the likes of Alvin Karpis, Mickey
Cohen, Charles Manson and a fledgling
Birdman who ended up in Alcatraz. The
island town of Gertrude has long been
abandoned.
Then comes Fox Island, named for J.L.
Fox, an assistant surgeon with the
Wilkes Expedition in 1841. The island
was not named for the USGA’s signature
See GUIDE, 32
Friday, June 12, 2015 • Thenewstribune.com/Entertainment