Page 7 Wednesday, November 10, 2010 • The Whidbey Examiner Welcome C O U P E V I L L E M/V CHETZEMOKA CHETZEMOKA By Toni Grove Examiner Staff Writer D ependability. That’s what many in the Coupe- ville community are looking forward to when the 64-vehicle Chetzemoka – the first of the Kwa-di Tabil class ferries to come out of Todd Pa- cific Shipyard in Seattle – makes its inaugural sail- ing this Sunday between Whidbey Island and Port Townsend. “I think the best part is that we will have more reliable service,” Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard said. She pointed out that the new boat should per- form well in rough weather – a quality that should re- duce the frequency of weather-related cancellations on the notoriously stormy route. Conard said she hopes improved reliability will encourage more people to visit Coupeville. Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson agreed the addition of the first new ferry in Washing- ton since 1999 will benefit communities on both ends of the route. Improving the predictability of the ferry route will help the regional economy, she said. “I think it’s going to have a positive impact,” Johnson said. Todd Pacific Shipyards subcontracted with Nich- ols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland to build the superstructure for the Chetzemoka and her two sister ships, the Salish and the Kennewick. Matt Nichols, managing director for business de- velopment at Nichols Brothers, said the superstruc- ture for the second vessel, the Salish, is complete and has been delivered to Todd. The superstructure for the Kennewick is about 30 percent complete. “It’s kept 150 workers pretty busy for the last year Ferries: A look back 1851 Col. Isaac Ebey is the first to file a claim in CentralWhidbey. Ebey’s Landing becomes a stopping point for travelers. PortTownsend becomes a settlement. 1853 Coupeville is settled; Washington Territory is established. 1857 Chief Chetzemoka in Port Townsend preserves peace between settlers and tribes. On Central Whidbey, pioneer Isaac Ebey is beheaded during an attack by northern Indians. 1860 On Jan. 24, the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington grants Capt.Thomas Coupe the exclusive right to carry paying passengers, freight and livestock on a steam ferry between Whidbey Island and PortTownsend for 10 years. Maria, a 20-foot sailing sloop commissioned by Capt. Coupe and built by Thomas Smithfield of PortTownsend, begins serving the route in July. After Maria is in service for a year, the Island County commissioners set fare at 50 cents per person; $1 to transport a hog. Isaac Ebey’s brotherWinfield Ebey builds the Ebey Inn (now known as the Ferry House), a modest hotel and tavern for travelers,to provide income for Isaac’s three orphaned children.The inn continued to operate until the early 1900s. Chetzemoka arrives at Whidbey See Ferries, page 9 Chetzemoka’s superstructure was built at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland. and a half, Nichols said. “It’s been a great job.” The Kwa-di Tabil class ferries have the same ve- hicle capacity as the 80-year-old Steel Electric ves- sels that were pulled from service in 2007 after it was discovered that hull corrosion was worse than previ- ously thought. At first, the route had passenger-only ferry service. Later, Washington State Ferries leased the 50-car Steilacoom II from Pierce County in order to restore vehicle ferry service. Initially, legisla- tors had wanted to build three small fer- ries modeled after the Steilacoom II. But when it became clear that design wasn’t a good fit for the stormy Admiral- ty Inlet crossing, lo- cal business leaders pushed for larger fer- ries that would better match the route. Mary Alice Ster- ling, past president of the Coupeville Historic Wa- terfront Association, described how dogged determi- nation in the Coupeville business community helped push for quick action on replacement of the ferries with new ones based on the Island Home, which serves Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. “We formed a partnership with the Cham- ber, and The Whidbey Examiner helped with it,” Sterling said of a team effort that pulled together members of the Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce and the businesses
Transcript
Page 7Wednesday, November 10, 2010 • The Whidbey Examiner
Welcome COUPEVILLE
M/V CHETZEMOKA
CHETZEMOKABy Toni GroveExaminer Staff Writer
Dependability. That’s what many in the Coupe-ville community are looking forward to when the 64-vehicle Chetzemoka – the first of the
Kwa-di Tabil class ferries to come out of Todd Pa-cific Shipyard in Seattle – makes its inaugural sail-ing this Sunday between Whidbey Island and Port Townsend.
“I think the best part is that we will have more reliable service,” Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard said. She pointed out that the new boat should per-form well in rough weather – a quality that should re-duce the frequency of weather-related cancellations on the notoriously stormy route.
Conard said she hopes improved reliability will encourage more people to visit Coupeville.
Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson agreed the addition of the first new ferry in Washing-ton since 1999 will benefit communities on both ends of the route. Improving the predictability of the ferry route will help the regional economy, she said.
“I think it’s going to have a positive impact,” Johnson said.
Todd Pacific Shipyards subcontracted with Nich-ols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland to build the superstructure for the Chetzemoka and her two sister ships, the Salish and the Kennewick.
Matt Nichols, managing director for business de-velopment at Nichols Brothers, said the superstruc-ture for the second vessel, the Salish, is complete and has been delivered to Todd. The superstructure for the Kennewick is about 30 percent complete.
“It’s kept 150 workers pretty busy for the last year
Ferries: A look back1851 Col.IsaacEbeyisthefirsttofile
Chetzemoka’s superstructure was built at Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland.
and a half, Nichols said. “It’s been a great job.”The Kwa-di Tabil class ferries have the same ve-
hicle capacity as the 80-year-old Steel Electric ves-sels that were pulled from service in 2007 after it was discovered that hull corrosion was worse than previ-ously thought. At first, the route had passenger-only ferry service. Later, Washington State Ferries leased the 50-car Steilacoom II from Pierce County in order to restore vehicle ferry service.
Initially, legisla-tors had wanted to build three small fer-ries modeled after the Steilacoom II. But when it became clear that design wasn’t a good fit for the stormy Admiral-ty Inlet crossing, lo-cal business leaders pushed for larger fer-ries that would better match the route.
Mary Alice Ster-ling, past president of the Coupeville Historic Wa-terfront Association, described how dogged determi-nation in the Coupeville business community helped push for quick action on replacement of the ferries with new ones based on the Island Home, which serves Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
“We formed a partnership with the Cham-ber, and The Whidbey Examiner helped with it,” Sterling said of a team effort that pulled together members of the Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce and the businesses
Page 8 The Whidbey Examiner • Wednesday, November 10, 2010 Page 9Wednesday, November 10, 2010 • The Whidbey Examiner
The Ferry House (Ebey Inn), built in 1860, served travelers arriving from Port Townsend.
Chetzemoka, left, and
Rhododendron at
Columbia Beach in
Clinton, sometime in
the 1960s.
We would like to thank everyone involved in helping to restore reliable ferry service
to Central Whidbey.
Welcome,Chetzemoka!
Mayor Nancy Conard& Council Members Diane Binder, Bob Clay, Ann Dannhauer, Molly Hughes & Tom Tack
Celebrate the arrival of the
CHETZEMOKA!
Keystone Café • 360-678-5396 - Across from the Keystone Ferry
with our ......COMMEMORATIVE CUPSand special ...... CHETZEMOKA MOCHA!
Art by:Emily Ritchie
Born in 1808 at the village of Kah Tai near Port Townsend, Chetzemoka, or Cheech-Ma-Ham, was 40 years old when the first white settlers arrived. The son of S’Klallam Chief Lach-Ka Nam, Chetzemoka was recognized as chief in 1854 by the Su-perintendent of Indian Affairs, who held him responsible for the “good behavior” of this people.
At Point No Point in 1855, Chief Chetzemoka signed a treaty giv-ing up all S’Klallam land for a reservation to be shared with another tribe. Such treaties, pushed by Gov. Isaac Stevens and largely mis-understood by the Indians, provoked the Indian Wars of 1855-56.
During the wars, a number of S’Klallam held a secret meet-ing to decide whether or not to kill the whites in Port Townsend. The S’Klallam deliberated for nine days, during which Cheech-Ma-Ham sent a daily signal of “danger.” On the 10th day, the S’Klallam had given up, and Chetzemoka’s message from Signal Rock was “danger is passed.”
Chetzemoka was considered a hero by the settlers in Port Townsend, and a bronze plaque honoring him was eventually placed at Signal Rock. In Port Townsend, a waterfront park that looks across Admiralty Inlet to Whidbey Island also bears his name.
Chetzemoka died in 1888 and was buried at Laurel Grove, the white pioneers’ cemetery in Port Townsend.
that make up Coupeville’s his-toric downtown waterfront area.
“We even got the Navy in-volved,” Sterling said, noting that Navy officials were strong advo-cates of dependable travel on the route because of the large vol-ume of military personnel traffic
traveling between the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Oak Harbor and other Navy bases on the Olympic Peninsula.
Sterling explained they built momentum by going down to Olympia on several occasions to meet directly with legisla-tors to talk about the issue. The goal was to keep the issue on the
front burner, Sterling said.They also did their home-
work. The group collected data on tax revenues and the eco-nomic impact of ferry traffic on the community, which helped illustrate the importance of the marine highway link.
Sterling pointed out that traffic coming from Canada and Northwest Washington travels across Deception Pass Bridge and down Whidbey Island en route to and from the Olympic Peninsula. She used an example of visi-tors to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival deciding to head over to Olympic Na-tional Park.
Others, she said, drive up from the south, travel around the peninsula and then across on the ferry to Whidbey Island before heading north or south. Still others come across on the Mukilteo/Clinton route and spend time on Whidbey be-fore heading to Port Townsend.
On all of these routes, Coupe-ville and Central Whidbey are
right in the middle. The historic waterfront town is a big draw for people, she said.
“It’s cute, the island’s beauti-ful and it’s a great place to spend the night and to shop,” she said. “It does affect us not to have a
reliable ferry.”Sarah Richards, past presi-
dent of the Central Whidbey Chamber of Commerce, said the group worked hard to be an effective lobby for small busi-nesses on Whidbey Island.
“We wrote letters and editori-als,” she said. “We tried to keep
in everyone’s mind that the ferry has two terminals, not just Port Townsend.”
Richards said she’s glad she had the opportunity to work with Sterling, Mayor Nancy Conard, Coupeville Town Councilman
Bob Clay and others to do what they could for both Coupeville and Whidbey Island.
While visiting her mother on Martha’s Vine-yard, Richards said she had the opportunity to ride the Island Home, the boat the Chetzemoka was modeled after. She said she remembers thinking to herself, “This is a nice boat.”
Richards said, “I’m happy we got a boat that
will serve us well.”Local residents, business
leaders, elected officials, repre-sentatives from Todd Shipyards and Nichols Brothers and many others will take part in the offi-cial christening celebration set for 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 14.
Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, who as chairwoman of the Sen-ate Transportation Committee played an instrumental role in getting the Chetzemoka built, said she is looking forward to the celebration.
“I’m very excited about it,” she said. “Anytime we have a new boat in the fleet it’s exciting.”
Haugen also touched on the need for dependable transporta-tion between Whidbey Island and Port Townsend. At times, she said, “It’s been a nightmare.”
The second of the Kwa-di Tabil ferries – the Salish – is slated for delivery in the spring of 2011. Originally intended to team up with the Chetzemoka
Ferry celebration setGov. Chris Gregoire will be on hand at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Nov.
14 to help celebrate the arrival of the Chetzemoka at Keystone
Harbor. The Northwest Regional Navy Band will perform, and
light refreshments will be available. Also performing will be stu-
dent musicians from Coupeville High School. The public is wel-
come. The Chetzemoka sails at 11:20 a.m. for Port Townsend,
where a S’Klallam tribal blessing is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
Chetzemoka honored for promoting peace
We’re proud of our role in building Whidbey Island’s new ferry,
This undated map shows the original Keystone ter-minal at what is now Admirals Cove, as well as the present Keystone Harbor before it was dredged.
As soon as we get to Whidbey,
I’m headed straight to Lavender Wind Farm!
Gifts, treats, body products & more, all made with lavender from our farm.
www.lavenderwind.com2530 Darst Road, Coupeville I 360.678.0919
Ferries: A look backfrom page 7
The first Chetzemoka served the Clinton route from 1948 to the early 70s.
Defiance at Keystone,
ca. 1962; Fort Casey
Army dock at
Keystone, ca. 1940.
Whidbey Examiner photo
Brandon Moser collection
Steven J. Pickens collection
Steven J. Pickens collection
Steven J. Pickens collection
Ferry; from page 7
See Ferry, page 10
Photo: Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe Archive
See Timeline, page 10
Page 10 The Whidbey Examiner • Wednesday, November 10, 2010
On behalf of the entire Central Whidbey business community, we would like to thank our elected officials, local business leaders, WSF staff and the workers who built the Chetzemoka.
23 NW Front St., Coupeville • 360-678-5434CentralWhidbeyChamber.com
Welcome, Chetzemoka!
District 10 is represented by Rep. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, Rep. Norma Smith, R-Clinton, and Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island
Happy Sailing, Chetzemoka!Thank you from your Island County Commissioners:
during the high volume summer season, Washington State Fer-ries announced last week it may send the Salish to the San Juan Islands route instead – a boat shuffle aimed at saving the ferry system over $10 million.
That proposal has prompted local business leaders and elect-ed officials to begin girding for another lobbying campaign to ensure the Salish joins the Port Townsend route as planned.
Nichols said he appreciated Haugen’s dogged effort in push-ing to make the new ferry con-tract a reality. Haugen works hard for the 10th District, he said.
“I give Mary Margaret a lot of credit,” Nichols said.
We Chetzemoka!Artwork by Oliana Stange, 4th grade, Coupeville Elementary School
The Whidbey
ExaminerWhidbey Island’s only locally owned, independent newspaper
On behalf of the entire Whidbey Island community, we would like to extend our appreciation to the business leaders,
elected officials, shipyard workers and many others whose vision and hard work brought our new ferry to our shore.
Hauling cars between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island on a barge pulled by the fish-trap tender Salmonero, 1921.Jefferson County Historical Society photo
Timeline developed by The Port Townsend Leader, with contributions by The Whidbey Examiner. To read a more complete version, visit whidbeyexaminer.com. A
