Mud Bay, Thurston County, Washington
{{for|other places with the same name|Mud Bay (disambiguation){{!}}Mud Bay}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2015}}
File:Mud_Bay_high_tide_2015.jpg
Mud Bay is the southernmost reach of Puget Sound, at Eld Inlet just outside the city limits of Olympia, Washington.{{sfn|Tacoma Public Library|2015}}{{sfn|USGS}}{{sfn|Hitchman|1985|p=201}} The name Eld Inlet was officially bestowed after a member of the U.S. Navy's Wilkes Expedition, but "Mud Bay" is a local, informal adoption.{{sfn|Crooks|2012}}{{sfn|Meany|1923}}{{rp|217}}
It was once a highly productive ground for the Olympia Oyster. The first Indian Shaker Church building was constructed above the bay c. 1890, Mud Bay being the home of the founder Sam "Mud Bay Sam" Yowaluch, the first Bishop of the church.{{sfn|Washington Secretary of State|1996}}{{rp|3}}
The Mud Bay Logging Company ran a railroad to the bay where they had a log dump.
Landmarks and attractions
A roadside attraction was placed at the bay near U.S. Route 101 in 2002: a set of larger-than-life metal sculptures of cows and a bull created by Western Washington sculptor Gary Vig. The bull is {{convert|22|ft}} long and weighs 3 tons.{{sfn|Kirby|2008}}{{sfn|Faltys|2012}}{{sfn|Hahn|2002}}
An interpretive sign about the landing of Peter Puget at Mud Bay was placed by the county's historical commission along Mud Bay Road.{{sfn|Puget Memorial Project|2014}} The William Cannon Footpath (or Trail) is a {{convert|4000|ft|adj=on}} long public-access trail built in 2002 along the bayshore in the vicinity of the log dump, in partnership with Ralph Munro, McLane Elementary School, Capital High School, NOAA, and others.{{citation|title=William Cannon Footpath, Outdoor Activity of the Month |date=July 2011|publisher=Squaxin Island Tribe|url=http://www.squaxinisland.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/William-Cannon-Footpath.pdf}}{{citation|title=William Cannon Trail Habitat Restoration|publisher=People for Puget Sound|location=Olympia, Washington|url=http://pugetsound.org/science/projects/south/william-cannon-trail-habitat-restoration/at_download/file}}
The Blue Heron Bakery was a local landmark whole-grain bakery on the edge of the bay from 1978 until 2015 when it moved about a mile east into Olympia.{{sfn|Fender|2013}}{{sfn|Boone|2015}}
The Mud Bay Indian Shaker Church, the first church building of that religion, was built on the shoulder of the Black Hills overlooking the bay in 1885.
=Events=
The {{vanchor|Mud Bay Run}} is a traditional annual, 500-meter clothing-optional race across the mud flats at low tide. It is held on the day of, and just before, The Evergreen State College's graduation procession.{{citation|title=What do you love? 40 things.|work=The Evergreen Magazine|publisher=The Evergreen State College|year=2012|issue=Spring issue|url=http://evergreen.edu/magazine/2012spring/40things.htm|accessdate=August 29, 2015}}
Notable people
People from the Mud Bay area include:
- Mud Bay Sam Yowaluch, cofounder and Bishop of the Indian Shaker Church{{sfn|Washington Secretary of State|1996}}{{rp|3}}
- Mud Bay Louie Yowaluch, Sam's brother and cofounder of the Indian Shaker Church{{sfn|Washington Secretary of State|1996}}{{rp|3}}
- Angeline Tobin Frank, of the Squaxin Island Tribe, mother of Nisqually Tribe chairman Billy Frank, Jr., grew up within an oyster farming family on Mud Bay.{{sfn|Heffernan|2012}}{{rp|37}}
- William McLane and Martha McLeod McLane, homesteaders on Mud Bay c. 1852. William McLane served several terms in the Washington Territorial Legislature.
References
{{reflist|30em}}
;Sources
- {{citation|title=Mud Bay record|work=Washington Place Names database|publisher=Tacoma Public Library|url=http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/wanames/|ref={{harvid|Tacoma Public Library|2015}}|accessdate=August 29, 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080523161558/http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/wanames/|archivedate=May 23, 2008|df=mdy-all}}
- {{citation|title=INDIAN SHAKER CHURCH OF WASHINGTON, RECORDS |chapter=Washington churches|publisher=Washington Secretary of State|id=Ms 29|pages=16–17|year=c. 1996|chapter-url=http://wsldocs.sos.wa.gov/library/docs/WHS/SL_WHS2004_000009.pdf|ref={{harvid|Washington Secretary of State|1996}}}}
- {{cite gnis|id=1513271|name=Mud Bay |ref={{sfnref|USGS}} }}
- {{citation|editor1=Doug Kirby |editor2=Ken Smith |editor3=Mike Wilkins|work=Roadside America|title=Metal Cows|year=2008|url=http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/13475|ref={{harvid|Kirby|2008}}}}
- {{citation|title=Who Created The Cows – A Follow-Up Story To Olympia's Mud Bay Mystery|date=November 28, 2012|first=Doris|last=Faltys|newspaper=Thurston Talk|url=http://www.thurstontalk.com/2012/11/28/who-created-the-cows-a-follow-up-story/}}
- {{citation|title=A New Peter Puget Historic Marker in Mud Bay, Eld Inlet|work=Lt. Peter Puget Memorial Project|date=January 15, 2014|url=http://pugetmemorial.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-new-peter-puget-memorial-in-mud-bay.html|ref={{harvid|Puget Memorial Project|2014}}}}
- {{citation|title=History Behind The Place Name: Budd Inlet|newspaper=Thurston Talk|date=December 16, 2012|first=Drew |last=Crooks|url=http://www.thurstontalk.com/2012/12/16/history-behind-the-place-name-budd-inlet/}}
- {{citation|title=Artist drives mammoth steel cattle to Olympia|first=Jon|last=Hahn|newspaper=Seattle Post-Intelligencer|date=October 16, 2002|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Artist-drives-mammoth-steel-cattle-to-Olympia-1098603.php}}
- {{citation|title=Blue Heron Bakery: Bigger, better location|first=Rolf|last=Boone|date=July 5, 2015|newspaper=The Olympian|url=http://www.theolympian.com/news/business/article26240311.html}}
- {{citation|title=Urban Spelunker: West Olympia: Shops, eats and treats in Olympia's westside|first=Jackie|last=Fender|date=October 31, 2013|newspaper=Northwest Military|location=Lakewood, Washington|url=http://www.northwestmilitary.com/military-life/style/2013/10/shops-eats-and-treats-in-olympias-westside/}}
;Books
- {{citation | last=Meany | first=E.S. | title=Origin of Washington Geographic Names | publisher=University of Washington Press | year=1923 | isbn=9780598974808 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ct4BAAAAMAAJ }}
- {{citation | last=Heffernan | first=Trova | title=Where the Salmon Run: The Life and Legacy of Billy Frank Jr. | year=2012 | publisher=Washington State Heritage Center Project and University of Washington Press | via =Washington Secretary of State | isbn=978-0-295-99178-8 | url=https://www.sos.wa.gov/legacyproject/oralhistories/billyfrankjr/pdf/complete.pdf}}
- {{citation | last=Hitchman | first=Robert | title=Place Names of Washington | publisher=Washington State Historical Society | location=Tacoma, Wash | year=1985 | isbn=0-917048-57-1 }}
Further reading
- {{citation|first=Bruce|last=Davies|title=Tobin Cemetery|type=History of Mud Bay Indian community|publisher=Squaxin Island Tribe|year=2011|url=https://www.academia.edu/11645256}} — including oral histories, maps, genealogical chart, and records of burials at three Indian cemeteries including McLane Cemetery and Tobin Cemetery in vicinity of Mud Bay. Includes bibliography.
External links
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{{coord|47|04|57|N|122|59|21|W|type:bay|display=title}}
Category:Bodies of water of Thurston County, Washington
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