Dogs, Foxes, Bunnies, and Ghosts: A Bizarre History of Hat Island

Editor’s Note: Article originally published August 7, 2019.

Illustration by Sierra Rozario.

Hat Island, or Gedney Island (it’s the same place, known by two names) is the nearest floating landmass that you can see across Port Gardner from the shores of Everett. Today it’s privately owned.

But it wasn’t always so...

One thing you probably didn’t know is that Gedney was once home to herds of small dogs who were raised for their fur.

Let’s take a closer look at the bizarre and surprising history of Hat Island.

PART 1: GHOSTS, PUPPIES, AND BURIED TREASURE

The indigenous Tulalip peoples seem to have a complex relationship with Gedney Island.

The Tulalip peoples once used the island as a self-contained pasture for raising herds of small dogs. These small dogs were shorn for their thick fur, which was woven into blankets and traded. I’m one hundred percent serious about this—if you don’t believe me, check out the plaque on the bluff at Legion Memorial Park (🐶🐶🐶).

At some point in history, a landslide buried a beach-going party of Tulalip peoples, killing many of them. Thereafter, they said that the island was haunted.

The eerie vibe of the island was compounded by the death of French Peter. French Peter was one of the first European traders in the Port Gardner area. Apparently, he was a con artist, rich because he was a con artist, and had a lot of enemies for the same reason. He homesteaded a cabin on the island. One day he was found dead—shot in the head and draped over a log.

Allegedly, his ill-gotten treasure is buried somewhere on Hat Island. The whole island is about a mile long, so there couldn’t be too many places to look. A few people have looked for it... but no one has unearthed French Peter’s buried treasure... yet.

PART 2: FOXES, MOONSHINE, AND “BOATELS”

The history of Hat Island, in a purely chronological sense, is pretty unremarkable. Since its inhabitation by white settlers, the island has exported gravel and timber and developers sold property plots. Unique challenges of semi-isolated island life — how to get fresh water, power, and maritime transportation to everyone?

But then, in the history of the island, there’s all this other stuff. This weird stuff.

Like, in 1927, the island sponsored a swimming contest to Everett from Gedney. A medical student won the contest. It took the winner four hours to swim Port Gardner. The runner-up completed the route in six hours. Eerily (or maybe it’s just an innocuous omission on the part of historians?) the fates of the other 15 contestants aren’t recorded. Are they now subaquatic ghosts who surround the island of ghosts? Do they, too, guard French Peter’s buried treasure?

In the 1920s, there was short-lived fox farm on the island. There’s no explanation for why it closed. Maybe raising and skinning foxes for their fur just lost its appeal over time? (🦊🦊🦊)

In the 1930s, the coasts of Hat Island were lined by shantytowns. These were shacks built by self-reliant folks trying to survive the Great Depression (presumably by fishing and gathering the islands ample bounty: the shores of Gedney are full of geoduck, butter, littleneck and horse clams, as well as mussels). Also, in the 1930s, the island was a hideout for moonshiners.

Their illicit distilleries brewed moonshine, which traveled in barrels across the night waters to Everett.

In the 1940s, parts of the island were used as bombing target practice by superfortresses flying out of Paine Field.

In the 1950s, many Everett families had the tradition of boating to the island in December for beach bonfires and to select a perfect Christmas tree from among the island's conifers.

In the 1960s, the island was overrun by overpopulating rabbits—an invasive species. In the ensuing “Great Rabbit Wars,” residents were encouraged to kill all the cavies they could. The community banded together for rabbit BBQs and teams of rabbit skinners went to town.

One other thing I have to mention. In the 1960s the island was being marketed as a sort of “Riviera-style” luxury vacation development. Allegedly, there are older Hollywood actors who own forgotten parcels of land on Gedney. The exclusive social club vibe of this era is interesting to me. I imagine tiki bars and yacht clubs, private swimming pools and martinis. But this is all speculation on my part. What I do know is that there were “boatels”, which are like motels, except that visitors motored in by boat instead of a car. Pulling up in your yacht for an overnight stay? Now that’s ritzy.

And that’s all the cool facts I know about Gedney Island a.k.a Hat Island a.k.a ghost/fox/dog island.

You can still visit our floating neighbor to the West, but only if you’re an owner or a guest of an owner. Learn more about Hat Island vacation rentals and real estate below.

Learn More

*Notes. Disclosure: I’ve never been to Hat Island myself, I’ve just read about it. Most of my source material for this article comes from a Word Document-turned-downloadable PDF I found on the internet. “Hat Island History” by Robert A Brunjes has a folkloric tone, a few charming typos, and the information contained therein may be a stretched version of the truth and/or apocryphal. But it’s what I have to go on and makes for some great stories. It’s a universal truth that you can never go wrong with a buried treasure narrative.