In 1867, Anna Jerisich, her husband Samuel, and their daughter Caroline settled in Gig Harbor. It was a sheltered harbor and trees grew down to the shoreline. There were freshwater streams for drinking water and the small fish were so plentiful, Anna could dip in a pail and come up with enough for supper. Indians had a village at the head of the bay.

Anna, an Indian, came from British Columbia, Canada. Samuel, a sailor turned fisherman, was originally from Kotor, Montenegro. Their first home was a one-room cabin built of split cedar boards on the east side of the bay just inside the entrance to the harbor. They would later build a seven-room house on the west side of Gig Harbor.

Anna was remarkably self-sufficient. She made and mended the nets Samuel used to catch fish to sell in Steilacoom. She sawed and split wood to feed the open fire which heated their home and over which she cooked their food. Besides fish, they ate bear and deer which Anna shot. (Bear grease was also good to make candles.) She frightened wild animals away from the house by pounding on a pan. She picked and dried wild berries and planted a garden to have vegetables to feed the family.

The family was growing. Eventually Samuel and Anna would have eight children. Seven of these children were born before any other settlers came to Gig Harbor. Sam died in 1905, shortly after receiving the title on their 160-acre homestead. Anna lived to be 82. She saw the community which grew up around her family change from an isolated pioneer outpost to a prospering town. Samuel's one-man fishing operation evolved into the fishing industry that was a major component of Gig Harbor's economy for more than a hundred years.