Peak Tides (1880): A historical novel of the early days of Port Townsend

Where Two Waters Meet: The Port Townsend Saga

PORT TOWNSEND REACHES ITS ZENITH - A BUSTLING VICTORIAN SEAPORT WHERE PROSPERITY MASKS DEEPENING DIVIDES.

It's 1880, and Port Townsend stands at its peak. The harbor brims with tall ships from across the globe, their manifests tallying record commerce. Victorian mansions crown the bluff, while the Customs House gleams white against the green hillside, its columns proclaiming federal authority over waters that had flowed freely for centuries. The railroad's imminent arrival drives property values skyward as investors jockey for position near the promised terminus.

Beneath this gilded surface, contradictions deepen. The very success that transformed the modest settlement into "The City of Dreams" now threatens those whose knowledge and labor built its foundations. New regulations target Chinese merchants whose trade networks proved essential to territorial development. Conservation laws written to protect sacred grounds are twisted to eliminate traditional fishing access.

Michael T kwəb, now harbormaster, navigates increasingly complex currents-using his position to maintain fairness while territorial authorities implement selective scrutiny. Elizabeth Morrison's ledgers track both visible prosperity and hidden costs as Crawford's commerce committee crafts regulations designed to reshape Port Townsend's future according to Victorian vision alone. Sarah Morrison-T kwəb defends her integrated classroom against educational segregation while preserving knowledge territorial curriculum seeks to erase.

Those who recognize prosperity's inevitable ebb prepare accordingly. Victoria Morrison and Thomas Mercer adjust railroad surveys to protect what lies beneath development maps. James Chen and Mei Lin create alternative commercial channels as exclusionary policies target Chinese businesses. Chetzemoka's steady presence reminds all that the land remembers what territorial documents deliberately forget.

When tides reach their highest point, there remains only one direction to go. Yet those who understand water's patterns know that while prosperity recedes, what endures beneath the surface ultimately shapes whatever follows.

Peak Tides continues the sweeping historical saga of Port Townsend's formative era, weaving together lives caught between Victorian ambition and traditional wisdom, between record commerce and the true value no territorial ledger can measure.