Year |
Events |
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Pacific Northwest Indians incorporating horses into their societies for transportation and wealth |
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Juan Jose Perez Hernandez explores Pacific Northwest coastline and trades with Indians |
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Bruno de Heceta and Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra sail northward, landing and claiming territory at points in present-day Washington and British Columbia |
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John Meares takes cargo of ship spars to China from Puget Sound |
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Captain George Vancouver explores Puget Sound as part of Royal Navy expedition |
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Lewis and Clark’s “Corps of Discovery” depart |
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Lewis and Clark arrive at the Pacific Ocean, near present-day Astoria, Oregon; return to St. Louis the following spring |
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North West Company establishes a trading post near present-day Spokane |
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George Simpson of the Hudson’s Bay Company launches aggressive trapping policies to create a “fur desert” and drive out American competitors |
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First lumber mill in the North American West started by the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Vancouver, operated by Hawaiian labor |
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Hudson’s Bay Company establishes post at Fort Nisqually, near present-day Olympia |
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George Simpson, head of the Hudson’s Bay Company Columbia Department |
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Pre–Euro-American timber stand for all of Washington estimated at 578 billion board feet |
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Overland migration to the Oregon Country begins in earnest |
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Gold discovered near Sacramento, California; subsequent boom in San Francisco and Sacramento increases demand for Northwest timber |
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Non-native quail introduced at Fort Vancouver
Oregon Steam and Navigation Company founded |
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First permanent white American settlement on Puget Sound at Alki Point |
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Washington Territory established; first game protection laws passed
Pope and Talbot build first major sawmill on Puget Sound at Port Gamble
Henry Yesler builds a steam-powered lumber mill just south of Seattle |
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Gold rush on the Fraser River in British Columbia |
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Mining rushes in Nevada, Colorado, and Eastern Washington near Colville |
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Congress passes the Homestead Act, granting 160 acres of public land to settlers after five years of residence |
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Congress grants Northern Pacific Railway land in a 40-mile strip at $2.00/acre |
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First transcontinental railroad completed to San Francisco Bay Area |
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Yellowstone National Park created in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana |
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James Glover, so-called “Father of Spokane,” arrives at Spokane Falls |
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Seattle population: 3,553
Spokane population: 350
Tacoma population: 1,098
Portland, Oregon: 17,577 |
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Donkey engine invented, transforms Northwest logging |
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Large deposits of copper found at Anaconda mine in Butte, Montana |
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Northern Pacific Railroad reaches Spokane |
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Power station built at Spokane Falls |
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Washington becomes a state
Devastating fires destroy large sections of Seattle and Spokane |
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Seattle begins its first regrades, dredging of the Duwamish River
Seattle population: 42,837
Spokane population: 19,922
Tacoma population: 36,006
Portland, Oregon: 46,385 |
|
Introduction of non-native freshwater fish (large-mouthed bass, crappie, sunfish, perch) to Washington |
|
Great Northern Railroad reaches Seattle |
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Power generating plant built at Snoqualmie Falls |
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News of the Klondike gold fields reaches Seattle |
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Seattle begins its first regrading project along First Avenue |
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Mount Rainier National Park created in Washington
Seattle acquires control of the Cedar River for its municipal water supply |
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Frederick Weyerhaeuser moves lumbering operations to the Pacific Northwest, opening his “Sawdust Empire”
Seattle population: 80,871
Spokane population: 36,848
Tacoma population: 37,714
Portland, Oregon: 90,426 |
|
First Cedar River pipeline to Seattle completed |
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Newlands Reclamation Act establishes federal role in constructing dams and irrigation projects
Crater Lake National Park established in Oregon
Yacolt (or Cispus or Lewis River or Cowlitz) Fire burns 600,000 acres; 18 killed; skies darkened in Seattle |
|
Seattle hires the Olmsted Brothers to design city park system |
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Creation of the United States Forest Service established national forest system |
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Spokane hires the Olmsted Brothers to design city park system |
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Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held in Seattle |
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Spokane voters approve bond initiative to build an extensive urban park system
Glacier National Park established in Montana
“Big Blowup” fire burns nearly 3 million acres in northern Idaho and western Montana, helps to set federal forest fire policy for the next seventy-five years
Seattle population: 237,174
Spokane population: 104,402
Tacoma population: 83,743
Portland, Oregon: 207,214 |
|
Seattle voters reject the Bogue Plan for redesigning that city, but approve the creation of a municipally owned Port
Interstate Fair held in Spokane to promote regional resources and industries in the Inland Empire
Dredging of the Duwamish Waterway completed |
|
National Park Service created
William Boeing begins aircraft production in Seattle
Record snowfall in Seattle and environs, 26 inches total
Lake Washington Ship Canal finished, lowers level of the lake 10-12 feet |
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US enters World War I
Shipbuilding in Portland and Seattle booms |
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Cedar Reservoir dam breaks, flooding lower Cedar River drainage east of Seattle, cutting off the city’s water supply |
|
Seattle population: 315,312
Spokane population: 104,437
Tacoma population: 96,965
Portland, Oregon: 258,288 |
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Construction of Diablo Dam on the Skagit River begins |
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Bad fire year in Washington; 131,745 acres burned |
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Seattle finishes its final regrading project, the second Denny Hill regrade |
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Washington State Department of Game founded
“Tillamook Burn” forest fire in Oregon destroys 240,000 acres of forested land |
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Huge maritime strike ties up Pacific Coast ports from San Diego to Seattle
Taylor Grazing Act regulates stock grazing on Western public lands |
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Diablo Dam finished, begins providing municipally-owned electricity to Seattle |
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Olympic National Park established |
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Grand Coulee Dam completed
US enters World War II |
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Construction begins on the Hanford Works, along the Columbia River near Richland, Washington, to produce atomic bomb material for the Manhattan Project |
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World War II ends, postwar economic boom begins in the Puget Sound region |
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European starling, introduced on the East Coast, first reported in western Washington that year |
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Seventeen Washington public utility districts formed the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) to meet project shortfall in electrical power by the 1960s |
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State Department of Natural Resources established |
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Seattle and King County voters approve creation of Metro, a new agency, to protect water and manage waste |
|
Century 21 World’s Fair held in Seattle |
|
Congress passes the Wilderness Act |
|
Forward Thrust campaign begins in Seattle |
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North Cascades National Park established
“Forward Thrust” urban redevelopment package put before Seattle voters; partially approved, but transit bonds are rejected |
|
Congress establishes Environmental Protection Agency |
|
First Earth Day launched by Senator Gaylord Nelson and Dennis Hayes to raise awareness about environmental issues
Second round of Forward Thrust proposals defeated
Congress passes the Clean Air Act |
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Washington begins to adopt statewide environmental protection laws
Shoreline Protection Act passed |
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State legislature passes Natural Area Preserves Bill
Construction halted on the R.H. Thomson Expressway in Seattle after citizen protests
Voters approve a sales tax to fund Metro’s bus-only transit system
Congress passes the Clean Water Act |
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Congress passes the Endangered Species Act |
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Boldt Decision upholds Indian fishing rights outlined in 1853-55 treaties
Expo’74 held in Spokane
Severe outbreak of tussock moth in Eastern Washington |
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Severe epidemic of spruce budworm along east slope of the Cascades
Plans for Riverfront Park in Spokane are developed |
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Construction begins on the first of five proposed WPPSS nuclear power plants, but construction quickly falls behind schedule and over budget |
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Eruption of Mt. St. Helens in southern Washington results in ash clouds and severe flooding |
|
WPPSS defaults on $2.25 billion of revenue bonds, the largest municipal default to date in American history |
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Northern spotted owl listed as an endangered species
Inauguration Day storm in Washington sinks the I-90 floating bridge
81.7% of Washington state residents live in metropolitan areas, making it 12th most urban state in the nation. California (95.7%) is 2d
Seattle population: 512,259 (city only)
Spokane population: 177,196 (city only)
Tacoma population: 176,664 (city only)
Portland, Oregon: 437,319 (city only)
|
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The Seattle Commons initiative develops in Seattle |
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Seattle voters reject the “Seattle Commons” plan for urban redesign |
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service places several regional runs of the Pacific chinook and Coho salmon on the Endangered Species list
The Makah Indian Nation of Washington announces plans to exercise their treaty rights and resume hunting of the gray whale for the first time since 1926, prompting widespread protests |
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The Makah successfully hunt and kill their first gray whale near Neah Bay
Seattle launches the Urban Creeks Legacy, an effort to restore the city’s four largest creeks: Thornton, Piper, Longfellow, and Taylor
Proposals offered to breach or remove dams on the Snake River to revive salmon runs |
|
30th anniversary of Earth Day
Proposal to remove the Glines Canyon Dam on the Elwha River in Washington elicits widespread debate
Northwest Environment Watch predicts that regional population with double within 32 years
King County population: 1,737,290 (2000 Census estimate)
Spokane County population: 418,476 (2000 Census estimate)
Pierce County population: 703,631 (2000 Census estimate)
Multnomah County, Oregon: 660,767 (2000 Census estimate) |
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Marine scientists raise concerns over declining Orcas (“killer whale”) populations, increased pollution in Puget Sound
“Icicle Complex” fire burns over 6,500 acres near Leavenworth
Thirtymile Fire near Winthrop claims lives of four firefighters, burns over 8,200 acres |
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Reports of Northwest Douglas fir trees infected with sudden oak death, a destructive invasive fungus
U.S. Forest Service officials declare summer of 2002 one of the worst fires seasons on record for the Pacific Northwest |