When people think of San Juan Island boating, the phrases “exotic game hunt,” “Safari,” and “John Wayne” aren’t typical word associations. At first glance, such unlikely imagery would seem to be an odd fit in Washington State’s most beloved cruising grounds.
Yet, one of the great beauties of voyaging in the Pacific Northwest is that nearly every island and every gunkhole is laden with some tidbit of strange and engaging history. Spieden Island, formerly referred to as the “Safari Island” of the San Juans, is one such example.
Staring out through the rims of my well-worn binoculars, the inky-dark eyes of a Japanese Sika deer gaze back at me. I’m just north of San Juan Island’s Roche Harbor, bobbing at sea as I peer at the southern shore of Spieden Island. Amidst the isle’s swaying verdant slopes stands a mismatched assembly of foreign ungulates.
The herd resembles something akin to the eccentric friend group from The Breakfast Club. Big horned Sheep from the Middle East graze alongside Fallow deer from Europe. Japanese Sika schmooze amongst them, nipping at local vegetation.
This seemingly random cast of characters hails from a bygone era when Spieden Island was once more robustly stocked as a private hunting park.
While the animal rights movement was kicking off broadly in the 1970s and 1980s, Spieden’s “Safari Island” marched to the beat of a different drum. Rumors about the isolated rock abound. Giraffes and rhinos could once be seen walking the shores. Big executives could pay to fly in, make a trophy of an exotic beast, and then fly out all within a weekend. John Wayne, himself a lover of Pacific Northwest cruising, was rumored to have hunted there, though whether he did so in his iconic cowboy hat, none can say.
Because Spieden Island has always been notoriously private, and still is today—it’s currently owned by the co-founder of Oakley Sunglasses—it’s difficult to substantiate much of the lore surrounding the 516-acre landmass.
What we can say for sure, however, is that archival stories from a local periodical, the Anacortes American, report that the island was purchased in 1969 by a Seattle-based taxidermy and game guide service. The Waggoner Cruising Guide names this group as The Spieden Development Corporation, now defunct.
And, like any elite hunting experience, the isle likewise required posh accommodation. In an effort to reproduce an African game hunting experience, visiting guests were hosted in a lodge complete with an impressive fireplace and swimming pool. After all, while stalking prey, the hunters may have even had to walk the entirety of the three-mile-by-one-mile island. Surely, such extensive exertion would require a cold gin and tonic and a dip in the pool.
Though rumors of big exotic game may seem fantastical, those legends may not actually be so far-fetched. A 1976 edition of the Anacortes American claims that the island wasn’t just filled with exotic deer and fowl, but with much larger and more dangerous beasts. The periodical recounts the story of a local Anacortes man who described how he was hired to transport both a leopard and a group of apes to the island.
The paper reads, “Del Kahn said he helped unload a leopard, which was to be kept in an enclosure near the lodge, and a group of large apes, which were turned loose in the open.”Despite such impressive prey, the game farm wasn’t all that successful. Part of the reason why this Safari Island was so short-lived is that there really wasn’t much sport in it.
Anyone sailing past the stretched shores of Spieden Island can plainly see that there are few places for wildlife to hide from a hunter’s prying eyes or bullets. The southern part of the island is a large, exposed grassy knoll, while a thin strip of evergreen forest covers the northern portion of the rock. Surrounding the island sits Spieden Channel, where tides have been known to rip, making it a challenge for prey to swim to safety.
All of these factors make for a lackluster chase. Hunting, it turns out, is a lot less fun when the animals you’re stalking have nowhere to run. Local San Juan residents also reported complaints about stray bullets reaching their island to the south. Maybe those elite hunters weren’t so elite after all.
In November of 1970, to further sour public opinion of Safari Island, CBS Evening News Anchor Walter Cronkite aired a less than flattering report on the Spieden Development Corporation’s day-to-day operations. Three Washington state legislators were so moved by the piece that they filed a bill to end the hunting of captive animals, largely in an effort to stifle Safari Island’s business model.And so, amidst bad press and poor hunting, the Safari of the Island of the San Juans shut down a little less than a year after it was opened. In the nearly 55 years since its big game days, Spieden Island has changed hands several times. The big animals have been sold off, and the isle remains isolated. In 2024, all that lingers of the Icarian game farm are the foreign four-legged misfits that greet passing boaters.
These days, the only shooting that takes place near the isle comes from a camera lens. Though you can’t step ashore as the island is privately held, you can still participate in a safari of your own, from behind your personal set of well-worn binoculars. Next time you pass by, join in, look up, and wave hello to the living antiques from one of the strangest bits of San Juan history.
When You Go
Nearest Marina:
Roche Harbor Resort
San Juan Island
rocheharbor.com
marina@rocheharbor.com