Haro Strait
Encyclopedia
Strait of Georgia
The Strait of Georgia or the Georgia Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is approximately long and varies in width from...
to the Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strait of Juan de Fuca
The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a large body of water about long that is the Salish Sea outlet to the Pacific Ocean...
, separating Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
and the Gulf Islands
Gulf Islands
The Gulf Islands are the islands in the Strait of Georgia , between Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, Canada....
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
from the San Juan Islands
San Juan Islands
The San Juan Islands are an archipelago in the northwest corner of the contiguous United States between the US mainland and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of the U.S...
of Washington state in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Haro Strait is a critical part of the route of the international boundary between Canada and the United States from the western terminus of the 49th parallel
49th parallel north
The 49th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 49 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....
segment of that boundary, and was chosen by the arbitrator in the San Juan Islands dispute (Pig War
Pig War
The Pig War was a confrontation in 1859 between the United States and the British Empire over the boundary between the US and British North America. The territory in dispute was the San Juan Islands, which lie between Vancouver Island and the North American mainland...
) over the other main candidate, Rosario Strait
Rosario Strait
Rosario Strait is a strait in northern Washington state, separating Island and San Juan Counties. It extends from the Strait of Juan de Fuca about north to the Strait of Georgia...
, which lies on the east side of the San Juans.
Definition
According to the USGSUnited States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
, Haro Strait's southern boundary with the Strait of Juan de Fuca is formed by a line between Discovery Island, just east of Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, to Cattle Point at the southern tip of San Juan Island
San Juan Island
San Juan Island is the second-largest and most populous of the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington, United States. It has a land area of 142.59 km² and a population of 6,822 as of the 2000 census....
. Haro Strait's northern boundary is defined by a line running from the north tip of the Saanich Peninsula
Saanich Peninsula
The Saanich Peninsula is located north of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is bounded by the Saanich Inlet on the west, and various straits of the Gulf of Georgia on the east, chiefly Haro Strait The exact southern boundary of what is referred to as the "Saanich Peninsula" is somewhat fluid...
through Piers Island
Piers Island
Piers Island is an island in British Columbia, Canada, located on the boundary of Discovery Passage, a waterway which with nearby Haro Strait forms the section of the United States-Canada border separating the Gulf Islands in British Columbia, of which Piers is a part, and the San Juan Islands of...
, Portland Island, and Moresby Island, then from Point Fairfax on Moresby Island to Turn Point on Stuart Island
Stuart Island (Washington)
Stuart Island is one of the San Juan Islands in Washington state, USA, north of San Juan Island and west of Waldron Island. The island is home to two communities of full and part-time residents, a state park, a one-room schoolhouse, and two airstrips .The 2000 census...
, then from the southern end of Stuart Island to McCracken Point at the north end of Henry Island
Henry Island (Washington)
Henry Island is one of the San Juan Islands of San Juan County, Washington, USA. It lies just off the northwest shore of San Juan Island. The small Pearl Island also lies between Henry Island and San Juan Island at its northern end. Just northwest of the northern tip of Henry Island lies Battleship...
, then to Mitchell Bay on San Juan Island
San Juan Island
San Juan Island is the second-largest and most populous of the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington, United States. It has a land area of 142.59 km² and a population of 6,822 as of the 2000 census....
. By this definition Haro Strait does not directly join with the Strait of Georgia. The main channel and international boundary runs from Haro Strait north through Boundary Pass
Boundary Pass
Boundary Pass is a strait that runs for about along the boundary between the U.S. state of Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia. It connects Haro Strait to the south with the Strait of Georgia to the north....
to reach the Strait of Georgia.
History
Haro Strait and other waters flanking the Gulf Islands and San Juans were the home of Straits Salish peoples including the LummiLummi
The Lummi , governed by the Lummi Nation, are a Native American tribe of the Coast Salish ethnolinguistic group in western Washington state in the United States...
, Saanich
Saanich
The Saanich or W̱SÁNEĆ are indigenous nations from the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, the Gulf and San Juan Islands, southern Vancouver Island and the southern edge of the Lower Mainland in British Columbia.*BOḰEĆEN – Pauquachin...
, and Klallam
Klallam
Klallam refers to four related indigenous Native American/First Nations communities from the Pacific Northwest of North America. The Klallam culture is classified ethnographically and linguistically in the Coast Salish subgroup...
, but the route's natural importance as a regional waterway made it also an important sea-route for raiding and also for regular trade for all marine peoples of the Northwest Coast.
Haro Strait was named in 1790 by Manuel Quimper
Manuel Quimper
Manuel Quimper Benítez del Pino was a Spanish Peruvian explorer, cartographer, naval officer, and colonial official. He participated in charting the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Sandwich Islands in the late 18th century. He was later appointed a colonial governor in his native Peru at the...
, commander of the Princesa Real, in honor of his pilot, Gonzalo López de Haro
Gonzalo López de Haro
Gonzalo López de Haro was a Spanish explorer, notable for his expeditions in the Pacific Northwest in the late 18th century....
. In 1791 Francisco de Eliza
Francisco de Eliza
Francisco de Eliza y Reventa was a Spanish naval officer, navigator, and explorer. He is remembered mainly for his work in the Pacific Northwest...
sent José María Narváez
José María Narváez
José María Narváez was a Spanish naval officer, explorer, and navigator notable for his work in the Pacific Northwest of present-day Canada. In 1791, as commander of the schooner Santa Saturnina, he led the first European exploration of the Strait of Georgia, including a landing on present-day...
far into the Strait of Georgia via Haro and Rosario Straits. In 1792 Haro Strait was explored and mapped by George Vancouver
George Vancouver
Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...
. An alternate theory about the naming was proposed by Edmond S. Meany
Edmond S. Meany
Edmond S. Meany was a professor of botany and history at the University of Washington and a UW alumnus, having graduated as the valedictorian of his class in 1885...
, who suggested that Haro Strait was named for Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta
Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta
Dr. Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta was archbishop of Mexico from September 12, 1772 to May 26, 1800, and viceroy of New Spain from May 8, 1787 to August 16, 1787.-Origins and education:Núñez de Haro was born in the diocese of Cuenca, Spain, probably on October 31, 1729, although some...
, Archbishop of Mexico
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico is a metropolitan diocese, responsible for the suffragan Dioceses of Atlacomulco, Cuernavaca, Toluca and Tenancingo. It was elevated on February 12, 1546....
from 1772 to 1800, and, for several months during 1787, Viceroy of New Spain.
Haro Strait's status as the location of the international boundary was not established until the resolution of the San Juan Islands dispute
Pig War
The Pig War was a confrontation in 1859 between the United States and the British Empire over the boundary between the US and British North America. The territory in dispute was the San Juan Islands, which lie between Vancouver Island and the North American mainland...
in 1870, when it was selected by an arbitrator, German Kaiser Wilhelm I, over Rosario Strait, on the eastern side of the San Juans, which was preferred by the British and would have made the San Juans part of British Columbia, as they were originally viewed to be by the British after the Oregon Treaty
Oregon Treaty
The Oregon Treaty is a treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States that was signed on June 15, 1846, in Washington, D.C. The treaty brought an end to the Oregon boundary dispute by settling competing American and British claims to the Oregon Country, which had been jointly occupied by...
of 1846.
Haro Strait is also an important location for the regional commercial fishery, as the bulk of the Fraser River
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
salmon run
Salmon run
The salmon run is the time at which salmon swim back up the rivers in which they were born to spawn. All Pacific salmon die after spawning. While most Atlantic salmon die after their first spawn, about 5-10% return to the sea to feed between spawnings. The annual run is a major event for sport...
uses the Haro Strait to enter that river.
D'Arcy Island
D'Arcy Island
D'Arcy Island is an 83-ha island in Haro Strait, south of Sidney Island and east of the Saanich Peninsula .The island was used as a leper colony for Chinese immigrants from 1894 to 1924, and ruins of the building built during that time are still visible...
on the Canadian side of the strait was a leper colony
Leper colony
A leper colony, leprosarium, or lazar house is a place to quarantine leprous people.-History:Leper colonies or houses became widespread in the Middle Ages, particularly in Europe and India, and often run by monastic orders...
for Chinese immigrants in the 19th century.
Navigation
Haro Strait is a major shipping channel. Haro Strait, along with Boundary Pass, is the westermost and most heavily used of the three main channels connecting the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Strait of Georgia. Haro Strait joins Boundary Pass at Turn Point on Stuart Island, where a major navigation beacon, Turn Point Light, is located. Heavy, dangerous rip tides occurs near Turn Point, as well as near the northern end of Boundary Pass, between Patos Island Light on Patos IslandPatos Island
Patos Island is a small island in the San Juan Islands of the U.S. state of Washington. Since 1893, it has been home to the Patos Island Lighthouse, guiding vessels through Boundary Pass between Canada and the United States....
and East Point on Saturna Island
Saturna Island
Saturna Island is a mountainous island, about 31 km² in size, in the Southern Gulf Islands chain of British Columbia. It is situated approximately midway between the Lower Mainland of B.C. and Vancouver Island, and is the most easterly of the Gulf Islands. It is surrounded on three sides by...
.
Much shorter than the Rosario Strait, though more difficult to navigate and less sheltered, the strait is the main shipping channel to the Port of Vancouver
Port of Vancouver
The Port of Vancouver was the name of the largest port in Canada, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, and the largest port on the West Coast of North America by metric tons of total cargo, with 76.5 million metric tons...
and other ports around the Gulf of Georgia from the open sea. Navigation through American waters in this stretch by Canadian vessels is sanctioned by the Oregon Treaty, which stipulated that commercial shipping south of the 49th Parallel in these waters would be unmolested.