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James Island

James Island, Lapush Washington
James Island, west of the Quileute village of Lapush at the mouth of the Quillayute River, is the largest of the group of sea stacks, called Los Frayles by Bruno Heceta in 1775. It wasn't an island until the Corps of Engineers rerouted the Quillayute River, isolating the sea stack from the village. Called Aka-lat (on top of the hill) by the Quileute Tribe, this precipitous horse shoe shaped rock, accessible only on the northeast (ocean) side by way of a steep, difficult path ascending to the 150-200 foot fir topped summit, was a secure fortress protecting the Quileutes from raids by the Makahs, who paddled down from Neah Bay seeking women and slaves.

The tribe would temporarily move its entire village of long houses to the top during sieges and build fires to heat stones that they put into waterfilled canoes. Attackers were greeted with cascades of hot water pouring off the steep cliffs, or by falling fir logs pushed from atop the island.

In garden plots on top of the island, the tribe grew 10-foot high nettles, which were harvested and twisted into twine to use in weaving fish nets. It was also the burial place of chiefs, whose bodies were wrapped in blankets woven from dog's hair and laid in cedar canoes.

According to stories, the island was named for Francis W. James, a custom's inspector who was the first white man to climb to the top of the spectacular sea stack in 1885. Another story has it named after a settler who built a house on top of the rock. According to "Origin of Washington Geographic Names," the prominence was named for the tribe's chief Jimmy.

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Text by George McCormick-Credits to the Forks Forum
Photo by Ross Hamilton Photography P.O. Box 179 Sequim Washington 98382