When British Captain George Vancouver established Port Townsend (formerly "Townshend") Bay in 1792, the area was principally held by members of the Klallam (or S'Klallam) Tribe, who called the site Kah Tai. They spent the winters in vast communal cedar pole-and-plank dwellings along the seashore, and the summers fishing, hunting, foraging, and trading in smaller family groups.
Diseases introduced by sea-borne Spanish and British explorers struck the Northwest's shore-dwelling Indians first. They were infected with smallpox, measles, diphtheria, and other infections that can no longer be identified with confidence starting in the late eighteenth century. These epidemics struck in waves and lasted decades.
Listen now to learn more about the City of Dreams.
-Episode cover features an undated photograph of the Port Townsend business district, looking down Taylor Street toward the water, with the Central Hotel and Zee Tai Co. visible. Note the steamer along side Union Dock, also the six sailing ships in the harbor.

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