Changing the channel — San Juan locals propose new name for waterway

If you take the ferry from Anacortes to the San Juan Islands, you pass through the Harney Channel. But the history behind the channel's namesake — William S. Harney — holds a gruesome legacy.

After discovering this history, two San Juan locals submitted a proposal to change the name to the Cayou Channel, after famed local Henry Cayou.

"There's a real mystery why it ended up with the name Harney Channel," said Ken Carrasco, whose backyard looks over the waterway.

Even after living on the channel for years, Carrasco wasn't aware of the history behind its name until he began reading a book on the Oregon Trail. In it there was mention of U.S. Army General William S. Harney, along with a ledger of brutal acts enacted by Harney while serving his post — including the deliberate killing of Native Americans, dozens of prisoners, and a slave.

"That was a real shock for me," Carrasco said.

Along with local Stephanie Buffum, Carrasco formally submitted a proposal to change the name from Harney to Cayou, after Henry Cayou.

Cayou came from mixed parentage, and was actively involved with Native American communities in the San Juan Islands. He was a successful commercial fisherman, operated a steamship to the mainland, and was a signatory on the founding charter of Friday Harbor.

"He was a bridge between cultures," Carrasco said.

The proposal has approval from the Washington state Committee on Geographic Names. Next, it will need approval from the Washington Board on Geographic Names, before getting final approval from the federal government.

You can hear more about Washington state's renaming process in Soundside's conversation with Sarah Palmer, the chair of the Washington state Committee on Geographic Names, and Mike Iyall, a Cowlitz Indian tribal member and elder who currently represents Native tribes on Washington state's Geographic Names Review Committee.

You can read more on the indigenous history of the San Juan Islands and the proposed name change in Richard Arlin Walker's article for Indian Country Today.