Blyn is a small community where Jimmycomelately Creek flows into Sequim Bay on the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula, about 13 miles (21 km) southwest of Port Townsend and 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Sequim, Washington. Founded in 1891 by Benjamin F. Dean, Blyn began when Dean purchased the Whitcomb homestead of 160 acres (65 ha) at the head of Sequim Bay and opened a store and post office. The town’s name may derive from a man named Romo who mispronounced Dean’s son Orville as ‘Oblyn,’ which was then shortened to ‘Blyn.’ Alternatively, it could be named after Marshall Blinn, a mill operator who founded Seabeck on Hood Canal, or possibly Captain Blyn, a pioneer who lived at the bay’s head. Sequim Bay was once called Washington Harbor. The name ‘Sequim’ comes from a S’Klallam language word originally thought to mean ‘quiet water,’ due to the bay’s protection by two overlapping sandbars. Recent linguistic studies suggest it means ‘a place for going to shoot,’ referring to the area’s once abundant wildlife. Jimmycomelately Creek may have been named after a watchmaker, Jimmy Whittier, an early settler, or it may refer to newcomers ill-prepared for pioneer life on the Olympic Peninsula. The creek has a watershed of 35,813 acres (14,500 ha) and flows generally north from the north flank of Mount Zion to Sequim Bay, with a vertical drop of 2,500 feet (760 m) over 19.8 miles (32 km). The watershed is mostly federal and state forestland, with 8,935 acres (3,616 ha) containing timber at least 60 years old. The relatively steep, forested portion of the drainage ends about 1.8 miles (2.9 km) from saltwater, where the river enters a more gently sloping area historically covered by old-growth forested wetlands. The creek’s watershed is mostly underlain by basalt flows from the early to middle Eocene, 56 to 34 million years ago. The head of Sequim Bay is underlain by alluvial sediments composed of sand, silt, and gravel, primarily deposited by glaciers during the Pleistocene.

The S’Klallam people have inhabited this area for millennia, developing a rich social and religious culture based on the abundant food and building materials available. The name “S’Klallam” is derived from “nuxsklai’yem” in the Coast Salish language, meaning “strong people.” Their territory extended along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, from the Hoko River in the west to beyond Discovery Bay in the east, with as many as 30 villages situated at river mouths or sheltered harbors. The populous S’Klallam established seasonal camps as far away as Vancouver Island, the San Juan Islands, and Whidbey Island. European contact began in the 1700s and increased in the 1800s with the establishment of Hudson’s Bay Company trading posts. The S’Klallam traded at Fort Langley, Fort Nisqually, and Fort Victoria, established in the 1820s, 1830s, and 1840s, respectively. The S’Klallam entered into the Point No Point Treaty with the United States in 1855 but remained in their traditional areas. In 1874, the S’Klallam from the village at Dungeness declined government recognition and privately purchased 210 acres (85 ha) of land, establishing Jamestown. The settlement was named after James Balch, a prominent chief. The community supported itself through gardening, farming, fishing, and working in lumber mills. Starting in the 1950s, the three S’Klallam tribes combined efforts to litigate land claims and fishing rights granted in the treaty. The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe received federal recognition on February 10, 1981, along with 13.49 acres (5.5 ha) of trust land at Blyn on Sequim Bay. This site now hosts the tribal government administration in the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Center. The tribe also built the Seven Cedars Casino and the Longhouse Market. Additionally, it owns more than 1,000 acres (405 ha) of nearby land.

Jimmycomelately Creek and Sequim Bay have long been vital to the Jamestown S’Klallam people for traditional hunting, fishing, shellfishing, and gathering. Historically, every creek entering the bay had at least one fish trap for catching chum salmon. Development of Sequim Bay began in the late 1800s with logging, road and railroad construction, dredging, and wetland diking, drainage, and filling. Jimmycomelately Creek was relocated, channelized, straightened, and constricted by roads and fill to facilitate farming and the settlement of Blyn. Wetlands were drained and filled for a sawmill and a log yard, which operated until the late 1990s. From 1974 to 2002, the mean catch was estimated at 49 summer chum, but from 1993 to 2002, it was effectively zero. In 1999, only seven chum salmon returned to the creek to spawn, and the run was listed as threatened with extinction. The summer chum is one of the earliest Pacific salmon species to spawn, generally reproducing in the lowest reaches of streams. To address declining fish populations, the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, the Clallam Conservation District, Clallam County, and other partners developed restoration plans, sought funding, and implemented various projects. Jimmycomelately Creek was realigned to its historic meandering path, reconnecting it with tidal wetlands and restoring estuarine habitats. Additional remediation efforts included removing fill and logging roads, constructing a new highway bridge, restoring native vegetation, and acquiring land necessary for achieving restoration objectives. Read more here and here. Explore more of Blyn and Sequim Bay here: