Last updated: September 4, 2021
Place
Pickett House (Officers' Quarters)
NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
Friday Harbor, WA
This small but elegant home with its gracious porch was one of several cottages built for officers stationed at American Camp during its existence from 1859-1874. Captain George Pickett constructed this building at the beginning of the occupation (in either 1859 or 1860) out of disassembled buildings from Fort Whatcom. At the beginning of the Pig War, Pickett was ordered to abandon Fort Bellingham and he and his troops carefully salvaged the buildings in that facility and used lumber from that frontier outpost to construct American Camp. This act significantly increased the speed at which American Camp was built up because no sawmill existed on San Juan Island, which meant that standard sized boards and other lumber had to be imported from the mainland of Washington State.
George Pickett was the first man to serve as commanding officer over the 15 years that American Camp was in existence. Pickett’s rash actions during the Pig War crisis, such as his threats to the British and his poor initial choices for American Camp’s location led him to be relieved of duty on San Juan Island by Winfield Scott, the highest ranking general in the United States military. Restored to his post by General Harney after Scott left the Pacific Northwest, Pickett learned from his earlier mistakes and established cordial relations with British forces at English Camp, a pattern of friendship and cooperation that remained in place for all 12 years of the Joint Occupation.
While English Camp only had two commanding officers in 12 years, American Camp had 15 commanders over the course of 15 years. This high turnover rate reflected the undesirability of the San Juan Islands as a posting. During the Civil War (1861-1865) the US military regarded San Juan Island as a low priority and the soldiers and officers stationed here received few supplies and money leading them to have a lower standard of living than most members of the US military. For professional soldiers, orders to report to San Juan Island kept them far away from the front lines of the largest war the US had ever fought in, preventing them from serving their country and gaining the experience that could advance their career. These very real factors were a major reason that so many commanding officers served for such a short time on San Juan Island.
This double frame house is made of cedar and features weatherboarding and a shingled roof. The bedrooms were located at the front of the building and the kitchen and the dining room were located in the rear. Originally intended as a duplex that would house two officers, by 1867 it was occupied by a single officer. Porches were originally located on all four sides of this structure but three out of four of the porches were removed and were later restored. Significant alterations, including the installation of plumbing, electricity, and telephone lines were performed by the farming families who later lived here.
Robert Firth, the last manager of the Hudson's Bay Company's Belle Vue Sheep Farm homesteaded in American Camp, claiming the land and buildings as his property after American Camp closed in 1874. He used this building as his farmhouse, a tradition continued by the McRae family who purchased the farm from him. In that time, the history of this building and the other surviving structures at American Camp were enshrouded in local myth and only through a combination of archaeology, archival research, oral history, and painstaking research has this building’s history been recovered.
The Officers’ Quarters are currently closed to the public, but we plan to furnish it with historically accurate furniture and possessions to recreate what it looked like during the Pig War period. This building was originally intended as a temporary structure, but it has now stood for over 160 years. This remarkable feat is a testament to its excellent construction and the preservation work that farm families and park service staff have done to keep this piece of history alive!
George Pickett was the first man to serve as commanding officer over the 15 years that American Camp was in existence. Pickett’s rash actions during the Pig War crisis, such as his threats to the British and his poor initial choices for American Camp’s location led him to be relieved of duty on San Juan Island by Winfield Scott, the highest ranking general in the United States military. Restored to his post by General Harney after Scott left the Pacific Northwest, Pickett learned from his earlier mistakes and established cordial relations with British forces at English Camp, a pattern of friendship and cooperation that remained in place for all 12 years of the Joint Occupation.
While English Camp only had two commanding officers in 12 years, American Camp had 15 commanders over the course of 15 years. This high turnover rate reflected the undesirability of the San Juan Islands as a posting. During the Civil War (1861-1865) the US military regarded San Juan Island as a low priority and the soldiers and officers stationed here received few supplies and money leading them to have a lower standard of living than most members of the US military. For professional soldiers, orders to report to San Juan Island kept them far away from the front lines of the largest war the US had ever fought in, preventing them from serving their country and gaining the experience that could advance their career. These very real factors were a major reason that so many commanding officers served for such a short time on San Juan Island.
This double frame house is made of cedar and features weatherboarding and a shingled roof. The bedrooms were located at the front of the building and the kitchen and the dining room were located in the rear. Originally intended as a duplex that would house two officers, by 1867 it was occupied by a single officer. Porches were originally located on all four sides of this structure but three out of four of the porches were removed and were later restored. Significant alterations, including the installation of plumbing, electricity, and telephone lines were performed by the farming families who later lived here.
Robert Firth, the last manager of the Hudson's Bay Company's Belle Vue Sheep Farm homesteaded in American Camp, claiming the land and buildings as his property after American Camp closed in 1874. He used this building as his farmhouse, a tradition continued by the McRae family who purchased the farm from him. In that time, the history of this building and the other surviving structures at American Camp were enshrouded in local myth and only through a combination of archaeology, archival research, oral history, and painstaking research has this building’s history been recovered.
The Officers’ Quarters are currently closed to the public, but we plan to furnish it with historically accurate furniture and possessions to recreate what it looked like during the Pig War period. This building was originally intended as a temporary structure, but it has now stood for over 160 years. This remarkable feat is a testament to its excellent construction and the preservation work that farm families and park service staff have done to keep this piece of history alive!