Year

1730s

Pacific Northwest Indians incorporating horses into their societies for transportation and wealth.

1774

Juan Jose Perez Hernandez explores Pacific Northwest coastline and trades with Indians.

1775

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.

1788

John Meares takes cargo of ship spars to China from Puget Sound.

1792

Captain George Vancouver explores Puget Sound as part of Royal Navy expedition.

1804

Lewis and Clark’s "Corps of Discovery" depart.

1805

Lewis and Clark arrive at the Pacific Ocean, near present-day Astoria, Oregon. They return to St. Louis the following spring.

1810

North West Company establishes a trading post near present-day Spokane.

1824

George Simpson of the Hudson’s Bay Company launches aggressive trapping policies to create a "fur desert" and drive out American competitors.

1827

First lumber mill in the North American West started by the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Vancouver, operated by Hawaiian labor.

1833

Hudson’s Bay Company establishes post at Fort Nisqually, near present-day Olympia.

1840

Pre–Euro-American timber stand for all of Washington estimated at 578 billion board feet.

1845

Overland migration to the Oregon Country begins in earnest.

1849

Gold discovered near Sacramento, California; subsequent boom in San Francisco and Sacramento increases demand for Northwest timber.

1850

Non-native quail introduced at Fort Vancouver. Oregon Steam and Navigation Company founded.

1851

First permanent white American settlement established on Puget Sound at Alki Point.

1853

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.

1858

Gold rush begins on the Fraser River in British Columbia.

1859

Mining rushes in Nevada, Colorado, and Eastern Washington near Colville.

1862

Congress passes the Homestead Act, granting 160 acres of public land to settlers after five years of residence.

1864

Congress grants Northern Pacific Railway land in a 40-mile strip at $2.00/acre.

1869

First transcontinental railroad completed to San Francisco Bay area.

1872

Yellowstone National Park created in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana.

1873

James Glover, so-called "Father of Spokane," arrives at Spokane Falls.

1880

Seattle population: 3,553
Spokane population: 350
Tacoma population: 1,098
Portland, Oregon: 17,577

1881

Donkey engine invented, transforms Northwest logging.

1882

Large deposits of copper found at Anaconda mine in Butte, Montana.

1883

Northern Pacific Railroad reaches Spokane.

1885

Power station built at Spokane Falls.

1889

Washington becomes a state. Devastating fires destroy large sections of Seattle and Spokane.

1890

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

1891

Introduction of non-native freshwater fish (large-mouthed bass, crappie, sunfish, perch) to Washington.

1893

Great Northern Railroad reaches Seattle.

1895

Power generating plant built at Snoqualmie Falls.

1897

News of the Klondike gold fields reaches Seattle.

1898

Seattle begins its first regrading project along First Avenue.

1899

Mount Rainier National Park created in Washington. Seattle acquires control of the Cedar River for its municipal water supply.

1900

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

1901

First Cedar River pipeline to Seattle completed.

1902

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.

1903

Seattle hires the Olmsted Brothers to design city park system.

1905

Creation of the United States Forest Service.

1908

Spokane hires the Olmsted Brothers to design city park system.

1909

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held in Seattle.

1910

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

1912

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.

1916

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.

1917

U.S. enters World War I. Shipbuilding in Portland and Seattle booms.

1918

Cedar Reservoir dam breaks, flooding lower Cedar River drainage east of Seattle, cutting off the city’s water supply.

1920

Seattle population: 315,312
Spokane population: 104,437
Tacoma population: 96,965
Portland, Oregon: 258,288

1925

Construction of Diablo Dam on the Skagit River begins.

1930

Bad fire year in Washington; 131,745 acres burned.

1931

Seattle finishes its final regrading project, the second Denny Hill regrade.

1933

Washington State Department of Game founded. “Tillamook Burn” forest fire in Oregon destroys 240,000 acres of forested land.

1934

Huge maritime strike ties up Pacific Coast ports from San Diego to Seattle. Taylor Grazing Act regulates stock grazing on Western public lands.

1936

Diablo Dam finished, begins providing municipally-owned electricity to Seattle.

1938

Olympic National Park established.

1941

Grand Coulee Dam completed. U.S. enters World War II.

1942

Construction begins on the Hanford Works, along the Columbia River near Richland, Washington, to produce atomic bomb material for the Manhattan Project.

1945

World War II ends, postwar economic boom begins in the Puget Sound region.

1947

European starling, introduced on the East Coast, first reported in western Washington that year.

1956

Seventeen Washington public utility districts formed the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) to meet project shortfall in electrical power by the 1960s.

1957

State Department of Natural Resources established.

1958

Seattle and King County voters approve creation of Metro, a new agency, to protect water and manage waste.

1962

Century 21 World’s Fair held in Seattle.

1964

Congress passes the Wilderness Act.

1966

Forward Thrust campaign begins in Seattle.

1968

North Cascades National Park established. “Forward Thrust” urban redevelopment package put before Seattle voters; partially approved, but transit bonds are rejected.

1969

Congress establishes Environmental Protection Agency.

1970

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.

1971

Washington begins to adopt statewide environmental protection laws. Shoreline Protection Act passed.

1972

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.

1973

Congress passes the Endangered Species Act.

1974

Boldt Decision upholds Indian fishing rights outlined in 1853-55 treaties. Expo’74 held in Spokane. Severe outbreak of tussock moth in Eastern Washington.

1975

Severe epidemic of spruce budworm along east slope of the Cascades. Plans for Riverfront Park in Spokane are developed.

1976

Construction begins on the first of five proposed WPPSS nuclear power plants, but construction quickly falls behind schedule and over budget.

1980

Eruption of Mt. St. Helens in southern Washington results in ash clouds and severe flooding.

1983

WPPSS defaults on $2.25 billion of revenue bonds, the largest municipal default to date in American history.

1990

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 2nd.
Seattle population: 512,259 (city only)
Spokane population: 177,196 (city only)
Tacoma population: 176,664 (city only)
Portland, Oregon: 437,319 (city only)

1991

The Seattle Commons initiative develops in Seattle.

1995

Seattle voters reject the "Seattle Commons" plan for urban redesign.

1998

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.

1999

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.

2000

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)

2001

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.

2002

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.