Third Beach, La Push, WA

This is Third Beach on the Quileute reservation.  It is just out side of Forks, WA and the most amazing place on the planet.  Here at third beach is where I go to recharge my self and find my grounded space again.   Here is the history of the area and the Quileutes...

La Push above, 12 miles from Forks Washington is home to the Quileute Tribe. According to legend, the tribe was created from wolves by a supernatural transformer. The tribe's lineage stretches back thousands of years to the Ice Age, making them possibly the oldest inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest.

Tribal members built cedar canoes that ranged in size from two-man to ocean-going freight vessels capable of carrying three tons. They ranked second only to the Makah as whalers, and first among all the tribes as sealers. Special woolly-hared dogs were bred, and their hair spun into prized blankets. According to the stories, the Quileutes only kin, the Chimacum, were separated from them by a great flood that swept them to the Quimper Peninsula on the other side of the North Olympic Peninsula, where they were wiped out by Chief Seattle and the Suquamish Tribe in the 1860s.

First official contacts with the white man occurred in 1855, when the Quileutes signed a treaty with representatives of Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens. A treaty a year latter would have moved them to a reservation in Taholah, but the Quileute territory was so remote it wasn't enforced. In February 1889, an executive order by President Grover Cleveland established a one mile square reservation a LaPush which, at the time, had 252 inhabitants. While villagers were picking hops in Puyallup, the town was destroyed by arson in 1889.

Today, Lapush has ocean front resorts, a seafood company, fish hatchery and a new marina.

Quileute Headquarters and a mini museum are on the old village site. The best time to visit La Push is off-season, when accommodations are readily available, the town is not crowded, and winter storms provide spectacular beachcombing and views.

The Quileute Tribe has recreated its traditional skills and crafts, which are taught at school along with the unique language, which is unrelated to any root language in the world, and one of only five in the world without nasal sounds.

Sitting perched above First Beach in La Push is the La Push Ocean Park and Shoreline Resort, which features motels, townhouses and cabins.

Lonesome Creek, a new store, post office and RV park are open in La Push.

The popular Quileute Days takes place July 17-19 in La Push. The tribal celebration of cultural heritage and modern lifestyle includes a fireworks display, a traditional salmon bake, dancing and songs, a softball tournament, and other field sports, a slo-pitch tournament, a horse show tournament, arts and craft display and food concessions