Isaac Ebey is the first permanent U.S. settler on Whidbey Island on October 15, 1850. (historylink.org)On October 15, 1850, Col. Isaac N. Ebey (1818-1857) files a claim on Whidbey Island under the Donation Land Law, less than a month after its passage. Col. Ebey’s claim is located in an area later called Ebey’s Prairie, west of the future town of Coupeville. Ebey’s Landing, the coastal area of the property, is on the west shore of the island.