Destruction Island, Washington

Destruction Island (also known historically as Green Island [Rau, Weldon W. "Geology of the Washington Coast Between Point Grenville and the Hoh River." Olympia, Washington: State of Washington Department of Natural Resources, 1973, p.40] ) is a convert|30|acre|ha|0 island located approximately convert|3.5|mi|km|0 off the Washington coast. Home to seabirds, shorebirds, and marine mammals, it is part of the Quillayute Needles National Wildlife Refugecite web | title= Destruction Island, WA: Hazardous Materials and Environmental Assessment Report |url=http://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservices/envicon/pim/reports/Olympia/Destruction%20Island.html| accessdate=2007-11-22] .

Destruction Island was used as an anchorage by Spanish ships in 1775. A crew of seven men was sent to the mainland to procure supplies of wood and water, but was massacred by the local Indians, leading naval lieutenant Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra to name it the Isla de Dolores (the Island of Sorrows)cite web | title=Destruction Island |url=http://www.forks-web.com/fg/destructionisland.htm| accessdate=2007-11-22] cite web | title=Destruction Island Lighthouse |url=http://www.maritimeheritage.net/attractions/attraction_select.asp?id=150| accessdate=2007-11-22] . Twelve years later, Captain Charles William Barkley, an independent English fur trader, arrived in the Austrian East India Company ship, "Imperial Eagle", and sent a party ashore from the island to a similar fate. He named the river where the second massacre took place the Destruction River. Captain George Vancouver later transferred the name to the Isla de Dolores when the river was given its Indian name, the Hoh Rivercite web | last = Hanable
first = William S.| title=Destruction Island Light shines for the first time on January 1, 1892 |url=http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=5697| date=2004-05-24|publisher=HistoryLink.org] .

The convert|94|foot|m|0 Destruction Island Lighthouse was built on Destruction Island in 1888-91. The light was automated in 1968, before it was shut off for good in April, 2008 [ [http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=118 Destruction Island Lighthouse, Washington at Lighthousefriends.com ] ] . The island itself is accessible only by boat.

There is a indie rock band from Tacoma, Washington named after the island.

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