[12] The bay's name "San Josef" first appears on a 1793 chart made by the Spanish naval officer Dionisio Alcalá Galiano.

[16][17][6][8][7] Mount St. Patrick lies on the northern shore of San Josef Bay,[18] just east of Sea Otter Cove.

[6][8][7] The Indian reserve "Semach 2", of the Kwakwakaʼwakw Tlatlasikwala Nation, associated with the Kwakiutl District Council, is located near Hanna Point and the entrance to Sea Otter Cove.

In the mid-1850s the Tlatlasikwala and Nakumgilisala merged and moved to Hope Island, where they remained until 1954, at which time their population had dropped to just 32 individuals.

Both groups have tribal ancestor origin stories for areas around Nels Bight and the mouth of the Strandby River just west of Cape Scott at an ancient village known as Kosaa.

The Koskimo moved south to Quatsino Sound during proto-historic times or very early in the maritime fur trade period.

[24] The area was visited by two of the first maritime fur traders, who were among the earliest Western visitors to the Pacific Northwest coast after Captain James Cook.

For the San Josef Bay area, which was Kwakwakaʼwakw territory, this trading site was Nahwitti, around Cape Scott on the northernmost coast of Vancouver Island.