Maritime Olympia and  South Puget Sound
Mar 08, 2018
Les Eldridge and John Hough
Maritime Olympia and South Puget Sound

Our speakers will trace the evolution of Puget Sound from the provider of rich resources for the First Nations, through early British and American explorers and the Mosquito Fleet era, to the emergence of Olympia as an important international seaport.

Les Eldridge lectures widely in the Puget Sound region on its maritime history and taught general maritime history at the college level for 30 years.  He often narrates aboard the Mosquito Fleet steamer Virginia V, and the historic schooner Adventuress.   Eldridge is co-author of The Wilkes Expedition, Puget Sound and the Oregon Country, a history, and is the author of five maritime historical novels on the American Civil War at sea. He is President of South Sound Maritime Heritage Association, and chaired the Maritime Committee of the Washington State Centennial Commission

John Hough is a fourth generation Washingtonian and was raised in the Puget Sound region. He is a 25 plus year member of the Olympia Rotary Club. John has a life long interest in its maritime history. He is past president and long time board member of the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society and has published several articles on regional maritime history, including about Olympia’s historic tug Sand Man. He participates in the State Heritage Caucus and the Thurston County Historians Conference