Euro-American History

Explorer Juan de Fuca likely sighted the Olympic Peninsula when he explored the northwest coast in 1592. Others followed in search of the fabled Northwest Passage, and English explorer Capt. John Mears gave Mt. Olympus its name in 1788. Prospectors arrived in search of gold in the late 1800s, and the peninsula and Olympic Mountains were explored by Lt. Joseph P. O'Neil in 1885. However, for years after Washington became a state in 1889, parts of the region remained a mystery. Homesteaders were awed by the peninsula's beauty, but scratching out a living was tough. Hunting and logging took their toll on the region, but conservation efforts took shape around the turn of the 20th century, and Olympic National Park was established in 1938.