Washington State History

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Where is Washington State?

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Map

  Washington State topo map

 

What is in Washington State?

Land forms

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Tectonic Plates

Waterways

Vegetation Map

Cities

 


  orca Habitats
40-17MYA

Cascaid Mountains

 

17-6MYA

 

Colombian Basin Flood

 

6MYA-10,000years ago

Missoula Floods

 

11,000 years ago

Clovis points

 

 
NW Coastal People
  • First Nations tribal web sites of the Coastal Pacific North West.

 

 

6,700 years ago

Mt. Mazama erupts

 

1543

galleon

 

 

  • Pacific Northwest claimed by Spain
  • 1592

    first Spanirds explore

    1579

    Drake's ship

    1741-43

    Alaska Russian expedition

     

    1774

    Olympic Mountains

     

    • Juan Perez commands the first Spanish expedition to explore the Northwest Coast and sights the Olympic Mountains.

    1775

    Spanish Map of Clumbia River

     

    • Bruno de Hezeta lands on the Washington coast and claims the area for Spain. On his return south, he sees the mouth of the Columbia River.

    1778

    Captain Cook

    • James Cook (British) explores and charts the Northwest Coast.

    1792

    Vancouver

     

    • Robert Gray explores the lower Columbia River.  George Vancouver explores Puget Sound

    • George Vancouver (British) explores and names Puget Sound and Lieutenant William Broughton explores the Columbia River up to Point Vancouver.

     

    1792

    Spanish settle at Neah Bay

    Neah Bay Spanish settlement

     

    • Spain establishes the first non-Indian settlement in Washington at Neah Bay.
    1805

    Lewis and Clark

     

    1810

    Northwest Company

     

    1811

    Fort Astoria

     

    • John Jacob Astor builds Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River as part of his Pacific Fur Company.

    1818

    Oregon Territory

     

    • United States and Great Britain agree to joint occupation of the Oregon Territory.

     

    1821

    Hudson Bay Co.

     

    1823

    Monroe Doctrine

     

    • Monroe Doctrine warns other countries against attempting occupation in U.S. claimed lands.

    1824

    Bureau of Indian Affairs

    • Bureau of Indian Affairs is set up in the War Department.

    • Russia sets its southern boundary in the Pacific Northwest at 54 degrees, 40 minutes.

    1825

    Hudson Bay Co.

     

    1834

    Whitmans

    • The Whitman Party, including Dr. Marcus Whitman and his wife Narcissa and also Reverend H. H. Spalding and his wife Eliza set up The Whitman Mission, at the junction of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Their travel route would become known as the Oregon Trail and used by thousands of future settlers.

    1839

    Fr. Pierre-Jean DeSmet

    • Fr. Pierre-Jean DeSmet arrives among the Flatheads in the Bitterroot Valley. He and his staff would set up a number of Jesuit missions in present day states of Washington and Idaho.

    1842

    Fremont

     

    • John C. Fremont leads an Army Topographical Corps' Expedition to the Rocky Mountains. He witnesses an eruption of Mt. St. Helens. His maps of this expedition and one the following year are printed by the government and are widely used by pioneers heading west.

    1843

     

    Oregon Trail

     

    • The Great Migration, a rush of approximately 1,000 pioneers, head out on the Oregon Trail, led by Dr. Marcus Whitman.

    1846

    49th parallel

     

    • The U.S. and Great Britain divide the Northwest region along the 49th parallel.

    1847

    Whitman Mission

     

    • The inhabitants of Whitman Mission are killed by Cayuse Indians.

    1848

    Oregon Territory

     

    • Oregon Territory created.

    1851

    Denny Cabin

    Denny Family

     

    • Setters from the Denny Party find what would become Seattle.

    1853

    Washington Territory

     

    • Washington Territory created.

    1854-1856

    Yakima Indians

     

    • A number of treaties are signed between Native Americans living in Washington Territory and the U. S. government.

    1855-1858

    Yakima indian

     

    • Yakima Indian War

    1858

    Cascaid Railroad

     

    • The first Northwest railroad, the Cascade Railroad Company, begins operation in the Columbia River Gorge. The Walla Walla and Columbia River Railroad became the second Northwest railroad in 1873, and a large number of local railroads subsequently spring up in the 1880s

    1860s

    Okanogan Gold Rush

    • Gold and silver discovered in the Okanogan.

    1862

    building railroad west

    • Congress passes the Pacific Railroad Act, giving Central Pacific and Union Pacific Companies permission and land grants to begin construction of a transcontinental railroad line stretching along the 42nd parallel.

    1865

    railroad heads west

     

    • Civil War ends. Union Pacific Railroad heads west.

    1871

    Indian Appropriations Act

     

    • Indian Appropriations Act states that Indians are no longer considered sovereign nations but wards of the federal government.

    1872
    railroad
    • The Northern Pacific Railroad chooses Tacoma as its western terminus.
    1872

    Pig War

     

     

    • The American-British border dispute in the San Juan islands is settled via arbitration by the German emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm.

     

    1872

    confederation of tribes

    reservation indian

    • President Grant establishes the Colville Confederated Tribes through an Executive Order, not a treaty. The reservation lands are reduced later that year following complaints of Colville Valley settlers

    1883

    Tacoma Railroad

     

    • Northern Pacific Railroad completed to Tacoma, linking Washington to the East.

    1887

    indian land for sale

     

    • Dawes Severalty Act is passed. Indian lands are split into individual allotments, with remaining lands becoming public and therefore up for sale.

    1889

    Washington becomes a state

     

    • Washington is admitted as the 42nd state in the union.

     

    1889

    Great Seattle Fire

     

    • The great fire destroys 25 blocks in Seattle.
    1893

    Great Northern Railroad Seattle

     

    • Great Northern Railroad completed to Seattle.

    1897

    Klondike Gold Rush

     

    • The first shipment of gold from the Klondike reaches Seattle.

    1899

    Mt Rainier National Park

     

    • Mount Rainier National Park established.

    1910

    women vote

     

    • Women gain the right to vote in Washington.

    1962

    space needle

     

    • Seattle hosts a World's Fair

     

     

     

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