The Rise And Decline Of The Olympia Oyster 



in this story has already been told, but there are others 

 in Mud Bay that I have known and desire to mention. 



Way back in the beginning of our history of the 

 Olympia Oyster, Charley Brenner and his brother J. J. 

 Brenner, became interested in the native oyster. They 

 Vv^ere among the first, if not the first, to see a future for 

 this small but delicious bivalve. That was back in Ter- 

 ritorial days. The United States Government owned the 

 title, but the Indians had possession. So Charley and Jack 

 formed a partnership and acquired possession of a tract 

 of oyster land from, an Indian, on the west side of Mud 

 Bay. 



Jack told me this story of their first experience in the 

 oyster business. After examining the beds they decided 

 they needed more seed on their ground. They knew of 

 the abundance of seed in Oakland Bay. But how to get 

 them to Mud Bay was the problem. There were no roads 

 connecting these bays in those days. The only means of 

 transportation was by water. There were no boats other 

 than Indian canoes and row boats. There were no motor 

 boats or power other than the strong muscle of man. 

 They knew how to use a push pole, for they had rafted 

 logs. So they built themselves two log floats and although 

 the distance was long and the currents hazardous, they 

 decided to undertake the voyage. They loaded the log 

 floats with oyster seed, and with the aid of the currents 

 and wind, and their push poles where they could reach 

 bottom, they made the trip. It took three days, but they 

 finally arrived in Mud Bay and the oyster industry was 

 on its way. 



Charley Brenner filed on oyster land on the East side 



(106) 



