With no indigenous mammalian predators, the large Orcas Rat (Tamiascurius orcaris) was able to evolve and thrive for millenia. In the late 1930s, concerned about the rapid spread of rabies through the Orcas Rat population, the former Federal Bureau of Island Management introduced rattlesnakes to curtail the rat population. The rattlesnakes, while partially effective, did not curtail the rat population as much as expected. However, the rattlesnakes proved to be much more adaptable to the northern climes than expected, and have developed a quite robust population.
Because of Waldon's remote and desolate location, it has long been a prison site. The Landari Indian tribe used it as a penal colony in pre-Columbian times; its lack of trees made escape very difficult. In 1878, the San Juan Territory Jail was established there. Shortly after rabies reached the island in 1921, the jail was abandoned. In 1953, the Waldron State Penitentiary was opened on the rocky northwestern corner of the island.
The Waldron State Penitentiary is the only Washington State Penitentiary that has never had a successful jailbreak. With blisteringly cold and turbulent waters on one side, and rabid rats and snakes on the other, very few jailbreaks have ever even been attempted.
There is no commerce or habitation to speak of on the island, except for the prisoners and the prison staff. All supplies are brought in by barge once per month from San Juan Island.
The island does boast one set of celebrities: the Delahunt Boating Wonders, the famous folk music group of the early 1980s, was comprised of some of the penitentiary staff and two (former) prisoners.