The Jefferson County Historical Society hopes to draw locals to visit the wild, wild West End this weekend with storytellers, historic photographs and the chance for residents to record their stories for posterity.
A video exhibit of historic photographs for the society’s upcoming book, Images of America: Olympic Mountains, will be mounted and available for viewing in the Kalaloch Lodge library from 5 p.m. today through 10 a.m. Sunday.
Three presentations by storytellers are planned Saturday.
The lodge is at 157151 U.S. Highway 101, about 35 miles south of Forks.
“We like to say that history didn’t end sometime in the past,” said Bill Tennent, executive director of the historical society.
“The West End is an important part of our history. Even if people just get out there for the day, it will be a great experience.”
Tales and legends
The weekend’s first storyteller presentation will be at the Peak 6 Store, which is 4.6 miles up the Hoh River Road that leads to the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center.
Gary Peterson will tell tales of the upper Hoh River at the Peak 6 Store from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
He will describe the first recorded shipwreck along the Washington coast, the wreck of the Nikolai, which brought the first nonnative woman to the North Olympic Peninsula.
He also will share the history of his family, including Minnie Peterson, who ran horse-packing trips into the high Olympics from the family homestead for some 50 years.
Peterson is the author of Gods and Goblins: A Field Guide to Place Names of Olympic National Park and the co-author of High Divide: Minnie Peterson’s Olympic Mountain Adventures and Women to Reckon With: Untamed Women of the Olympic Wilderness.
At the lodge
The two other presentations Saturday will be in the Kalaloch Lodge library.
At 3 p.m., Ginger Nichols will tell lighthouse stories, describing her life in the Destruction Island Lighthouse in the 1960s and the challenges of raising a family on the isolated island.
A telescope will be set up for viewing of the lighthouse, which was constructed in 1888, Tennent said.
The beacon was switched off for good in 2008, Tennent said.
At 4 p.m., Jon Preston, lead interpretive officer for Olympic National Park, will present “Recipe for a Temperate Rain Forest.”
He will discuss all the elements necessary for a temperate rain forest to emerge.
Preston, who has spent his life on the Olympic Peninsula, has worked in the Hoh Rain Forest since 1993.
West End stories taped
In addition to the West End events, the historical society is recruiting people who live on the West End to tell their stories, Tennent said.
Residents also can have their stories recorded throughout the weekend.
The recordings will become part of the historical society’s countywide oral and video history collection.
“We are always looking for more people to participate in our oral history program,” he said.
Anyone who has lived on the West End is welcome to participate, he said.
To set up an interview or for more information about the collections, phone 360-385-1003.
To contact Kalaloch Lodge, phone 866-525-2562 or visit www.kalaloch.com.
Use promotion code “Westend10” when making reservations.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
