The Chetzemoka leaves Todd Pacific Shipyards for Everett Shipyard. April 3, 2010. (Photo courtesy WSDOT)
Advocates ecstatic over ferry naming for Klallam chief -- Peninsula Daily News
Brinnon resident JoAnn Bussa said Wednesday that she was ecstatic and overwhelmed when she and the great-great grandson of venerable Klallam Chief Chetzemoka appeared before the state Transportation Commission.
They left with a new legacy for the chief: The state’s new ferry now under construction will be christened MV Chetzemoka when it begins its Port Townsend-Keystone service next year.
“Things went beautifully,” said Bussa, a member of the Jefferson County Historical Society who serves on the society’s board.
“The timing couldn’t have been better.”
She and Les Prince, the direct descendant of Chetzemoka who lives in Blyn, appeared before the Transportation Commission meeting in Olympia.
The commission unanimously voted to name the 64-car ferry under construction in Seattle after the chief who befriended early European settlers to the Quimper Peninsula.
And the new Chetzemoka will carry a tribute to the chief, who died in 1888…
The new Chetzemoka ferry in Elliott Bay.
For generations to come, the broad faces of the Duke and his consort, cut in stone, will continue to overlook the waters of the bay that were once disturbed by no other craft than the graceful canoes of the old Chief and his people.
By Juan de Fuca’s Strait by James G. McCurdy
Todd Ship Fitter Apprentice grinding steel edge on a piece of WSDOT’s new 64-car ferry, under construction at Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle.
(Todd Pacific Shipyards Photo)
