Naming Friday Harbor, Washington

The Hudson Bay Company named Friday Harbor, a town in San Juan County, Washington, after a Hawaiian shepherd named John Friday.

A British gunboat went to shore. The gunboat’s commanding officer asked Friday, the only man there, what the name of the harbor was. Friday didn’t understand English well and replied “Friday,” thinking the officer was asking for his name.

The name stuck with the ship’s crew members, and eventually the British created the first chart of the archipelago with the name Friday Harbor.