Bruceville / Bruceport

The schooner Robert Bruce had come into Shoalwater Bay for oysters when, on December 11, 1851, its cook drugged the crew with laudanum, set the ship on fire and rowed away, never to be seen again. A logger and his Native helpers took the oystermen off the burning hull. The stranded men camped at an old village site, and Bruceville served as seat of Chehalis County, not Pacific, from 1854 to 1860. The oysters themselves were gathered by Chinook and Chehalis people. HMdb has reported this board missing.

What the plaque says

Bruceville-Bruceport The deserted site of a famous pioneer village, once a county seat, is one mile northward on Willapa Bay, formerly called Shoalwater Bay. The crew of the oyster schooner "Robert Bruce" settled here in December 1851, after that craft had burned. Crewmen built cabins, filed land claims, and named the settlement "Bruceville." It was changed to "Bruceport" in 1854. This site recalls the lively oyster industry of 1851-1880, when enormous quantities of native oysters were gathered by local Indians and loaded aboard schooners for San Francisco. Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission Washington State Department of Transportation

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Willie Keil's Grave — 12 mi