Where Two Waters Meet: A Historical novel of the early days of Port Townsend, WA
In the mid-19th century, as settlers push into the Pacific Northwest, two worlds struggle to coexist. The S'Klallam people have lived along these shores for generations, but now their lands and waters are being divided, mapped, and claimed by newcomers seeking prosperity. At the heart of this sweeping epic are those who resist, adapt, and endure.
From the cautious first meetings in 1851 to the upheavals of war, railroad expansion, and economic collapse, Where Two Waters Meet follows generations of families-S'Klallam leaders, settlers, traders, and outcasts-whose fates become entangled in the town's rapid transformation. Elizabeth Morrison, a widowed entrepreneur, builds a boarding house that becomes a quiet center of defiance. T kwəb, a young S'Klallam fisherman, preserves ancestral knowledge while navigating shifting power structures. Sarah Morrison-T kwəb walks a dangerous line between two cultures, ensuring that vital traditions are not lost.
As land is surveyed and waters are restricted, knowledge becomes a weapon, and resistance takes many forms-from coded maritime charts to underground networks of trade and education. Against the forces of displacement, exploitation, and exclusion, those who remember the tides find ways to survive.
Spanning forty years, this Port Townsend saga is a deeply researched and compelling historical novel about identity, resilience, and the untold histories buried beneath maps and ledgers. For readers of Barkskins and Cloud Cuckoo Land, this is a story of those who fight to hold onto their place in a changing world.
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