As is nearly the case with every western town, Bellingham, Washington, is no exception to towns built of colorful history in our state. And like most areas in our state, the Bellingham area was initially home to American Indians; the Lummi, Nooksack and Semiahoo American Indian Tribes settled there. Then outside folks started exploring and the town culture grew.
The initial discovery of what is now Bellingham was in 1791 by Spanish explorer, Francisco Eliza. He named the town Seno de Gaston, according to Spanish charts. Then that discovery was followed by Joseph Whidby, who Captain George Vancouver sent with a search party; he and his men arrived in 1792. Whidbey notified Vancouver of their find and Vancouver named the town Bellingham Bay in honor of Sir William Bellingham.
The next notable bit of history on the town was in 1855-1856. Indian unrest reared its head. Settlers armed themselves with a small blockhouse to protect themselves from an ongoing feud between British Columbia and Alaska Indians Vs the Bellingham Bay Indians at Bellingham Bay (both claimed the town). When colonists saw they were losing ground against the fray they sent for federal aid. Under the command of Captain George Pickett (who later led the Confederate charge at Gettysburg) the reinforcements settled the score. The 30 or so settlers survived and were able to keep their town intact.
While there providing assistance, Pickett's troops built Fort Bellingham and a bridge across Whatcom Creek. The road they built between the fort and the village helped bring peace to the Territory. Pickett's deeds were entrenched in town history which continued to be colorful.
Bellingham Bay later became a Fraser River gold rush "replenishing and departure site" when the word "gold" got out in the San Francisco Examiner in 1857. Every entrepreneur around assisted the effort to expand the town as Bellingham Bay quickly became a roaring tent city to serve the wayfaring gold miners. Merchants made a "haul" as gold fever struck.
To give a picture of what the area must have been like at that time, the local newspaper editor of the Northern Light printed a piece that said the boat he arrived on held around 1,000 passengers. Some lots in town, it was reported, sold for $500 at that time.
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