Between 1851 and 1852, Capt. Nathaniel Crosby took a cargo of spars from St. Helens, Oregon, to Hong Kong, China. That shipment of lumber was the first sent from the Pacific Coast forests to the Orient. After a couple of years of wandering in various ports, Capt. Crosby, leaving his family in China, came to Olympia, Washington, and loaded his ship with a second cargo of spars for China. This second load was the first shipment of Puget Sound timber (findagrave)