Transcript Washington State History Timeline By: John Smith Student Before 1600 • • • • • • 100 million years ago- Most of Washington lies under the Pacific Ocean. 50 million years ago-

Washington State
History Timeline
By:
John Smith Student
Before 1600
•
•
•
•
•
•
100 million years ago- Most of Washington lies under the Pacific Ocean.
50 million years ago- A second micro continent collides with North America,
creating western Washington and the Cascade Range.
15 million years ago- Vast amounts of lava flow form the Columbia Plateau.
Two million years ago- Ice age glaciers spread over most of Washington.
30,000-12,000 years ago- Humans arrive in North America via the land
bridge connecting Alaska and Siberia. (also possibly boats from Asia)
1579- Sir Francis Drake explores the west coast.
1600-1700
• 1625- Explorer named Juan De Fuca discovers
the Western Passage.
• 1700- First written event in the pacific
northwest, a tsunami recorded by Japanese
scribes.
1700-1775
• 1741- Danish navigator Vitus Bering explores and claims
Alaska for Russia.
• 1774- Juan Perez sails north from San Blas, Mexico,
claiming all of the Pacific coast south of Russia. First
European record of Washington Coast.
• 1775- First map of Washington coast is made.
• July 12, 1775- Crewman of Bruno Heceta land on what
is now Grenville Bay, Washington, to claim the Pacific
Northwest for spain. Later that day 7 of Heceta’s men
become the first Europeans to die in Washington, killed
by Quinault warriors.
1776-1790
• 1778- James Cook names Cape Flattery. His reports
prompt the arrival of European fur trappers and traders
by sea and land.
• During 1770’s- Smallpox and other European diseases
are introduced to Native Americans, ravaging their
population.
• 1790- Spanish explorer Manuel Quimper explores the
Strait of Juan de Fuca as far east as the San Juan
Islands in 1790 and lands at Neah Bay to secure
Spanish claims to the Olympic Peninsula region.
• 1790- Pacific Northwest is opened to European countries
other than the spanish.
1791-1800
• 1792- British Royal Navy Capt. George Vancouver names Point
Grenville
• 1792-Captain Robert Gray enters Grays Harbor.
• 1792- Captain Robert Gray becomes the first non-Indian navigator
to enter the Columbia River, which he later names.
• 1792- George Vancouver, Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey begin
charting the Puget Sound.
• 1792- Dionisio Alcala Galiano and Cayetano Valdez lead Spain’s
final expedition into Pacific Northwest waters, when they meet
British explorer George Vancouver.
1801-1850
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1805- Lewis and Clark reach the Pacific coast.
1809- Fur trader David Thompson explores Pend Oreille River.
1810- The North West Company establishes the Spokane House.
1811- John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Co. establishes Fort Okanogan. (And later
establishes Fort Spokane in 1812)
1819- Spain cedes its original Pacific Northwest claims to the United States in the
Transcontinental Treaty.
1825- Hudson’s Bay Company establishes Fort Vancouver on March.
1827- Hudson’s Bay Company establishes the first sawmill in future Washington
near Vancouver.
1851-1900
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1852- Washington’s first newspaper, the Columbian, begins publication at Olympia
on September 11
1855- Treaty of Neah Bay signed
1860- Population of Washington Territory is 11,594
1867- Road is completed over Snoqualmie Pass
1869- Seattle is incorporated into the Washington Territory
1870- Population of Washington Territory is 23,955
1880- Population of Washington Territory is 75,116
1883- Northern Pacific Railroad’s mainline between Washington and Minnesota is
completed at Gold Creek, Montana
1889- Washington becomes a state
1890- Population of Washington state is 357,232
1896- Japanese steamer Miiki Maru arrives in Seattle to establish regular trade
1900- Population of Washington state is 518,103
1901-1950
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1909- Harbor Island, at the time the world's largest artificial island, is completed
1910- Washington women win right to vote
1910- Population of Washington state is 1,141,990
1916- Prohibition of alcohol takes effect in Washington
1917- Boeing Airplane Co., formerly Pacific Aero-Products, is incorporated
1918- World War I ends
1918- Influenza Pandemic
1920- Population of Washington state is 1,356,621
1924- Indian Citizenship Act makes all Native Americans U.S. citizens
1930- Population of Washington state is 1,563,396
1933- Boeing 247 takes flight from Boeing Field, opening new vistas in commercial
air travel
1933- Prohibition ends
1938- Bonneville Dam is completed
1940- Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapses
1940- Population of Washington state is 1,736,191
1941- United States declares war on Japan
1950- Population of Washington state is 2,378,963
1951-Present
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1960- Population of Washington state is 2,853,214
1969- Boeing-built Saturn booster launches Apollo 11 towards humanity’s first moon
landing
1970- Washington voters legalize abortion
1970- Population of Washington state is 3,413,300
1974- World’s Fair in Spokane
1979- Hood Canal Floating Bridge sinks during storm, reopening in 1982.
1980- Mount St. Helens erupts
1980- Population of Washington state is 4,132,400
1983- First Costco warehouse opens in Seattle
1990- Population of Washington state is 4,866,700
2000- Population of Washington state is 5,894,121