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| Washington State |
| Neah Bay |
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Although US-101 takes a turn inland from Port Angeles to skirt the Olympic National Park, Hwy-112 clambers along the coast for seventy miles to NEAH BAY, the tiny, tattered fishing village that is home to the Makah Nation, a seagoing Native American people almost wiped out by a smallpox epidemic in 1850. “Makah,” a name given to the tribe by their neighbors, means “generous with food.” |
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1970, tidal erosion near Cape Alava uncovered an ancient Makah settlement
that had been buried, Pompeii-like, by a mudslide some 500 years ago. The
first witnesses encountered bizarre scenes of instantaneous ageing –
green alder leaves, lying where they had fallen centuries ago, shriveled
as soon as they were exposed. The Ozette Dig, one of the most significant
archeological finds in North America, uncovered thousands of artifacts:
harpoons, intricately carved seal clubs, watertight boxes made without the
use of metal, bowls, toys – all belonging to a period before trade with
Europeans. The site itself was reburied in 1981, but the finds are
displayed at Neah Bay’s Makah Museum (summer daily 10am–5pm;
rest of year Wed–Sun 10am–5pm; $4), a superbly curated center which
includes marine dioramas, dugout cedar canoes and a life-size replica of a
fifteenth-century Makah longhouse.
At the northern corner of the Makah Reservation is Cape Flattery, a remote headland accessible on an unpaved road from Neah Bay. From the road, a half-mile hike through the rainforest leads to the cape which once “flattered” Captain Cook with the hope of finding a harbor. It is the continental US’s northwesternmost point. Below the cape, the waves have worn caves into the sheer rock of the cliff face, while opposite, on Tatoosh Island, coastguards run a remote lighthouse. With only the drab motels of Neah Bay as competition. Van Riper’s Resort, on the corner of Front and Rice streets (tel 360/963-2334; $45–60), seventeen miles back east in SEKIU, a popular sports fishing town, can just about claim the best accommodation in the vicinity. A better selection can be found further south near Forks, or in Port Angeles. Clallam Transit buses connect Makah and Port Angeles. |
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