Lewis and Clark, on their famed trek to the Pacific Ocean, noted that the craft were “…upward of 50 feet long, and will carry 8,000 to 10,000 pounds’ weight, of from 20 to 30 persons….” The original Quinault flourished with access to good fishing (especially salmon and steelhead), hunting, berry picking and wood gathering. Taholah is the heart of the Quinault Indian Nation.
The word Quinault evolved from kwi’nail, the name of the tribe’s largest settlement once situated at present-day Taholah, at the mouth of the Quinault River. The Quinault people reside on a reservation of 189,621 acres in northwestern Grays Harbor County, along Washington’s coast.
