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History

Fourteen thousand years by the salt water

From a mastodon hunt near Sequim to salmon swimming back up the Elwha: twenty moments in the Northwest's story, on a map that fills in as you scroll.

Here first, and here now

The Northwest's first peoples have lived here since time immemorial, and they are here today. Washington alone is home to 29 federally recognized tribes, and to peoples still seeking recognition, like the Duwamish, the host tribe of Seattle.

Coast Salish peoples, among them the Suquamish, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Tulalip and Lummi, live around the Salish Sea. The Makah, the Cape People, live at Neah Bay on the northwest tip. The Quinault live on the coast; the Yakama, the twelve bands of the Colville and the Spokane live east of the mountains; the Nez Perce, the Nimiipuu, live just over the line in Idaho.

Each nation tells its own story best. Their own websites are on the Sources page.

The nations' own websites

  1. Nearly 14,000 years ago

    Near what is now Sequim, hunters bring down a mastodon. The tip of a bone spear is still lodged in one of its ribs: the oldest bone projectile point found in the Americas.

    Sequim

    Sources: HistoryLink.org, Texas A&M

  2. About 500 years ago

    A mudslide buries part of Ozette, a Makah village on the outer coast. A storm uncovers it in 1970, and an eleven-year dig with the Makah brings up more than 55,000 objects. The tribe keeps them at its own museum in Neah Bay.

    Steep green headlands and sea stacks at Cape Flattery, with white surf below.
    Cape Flattery, the Makah's northwest tip. NOAA, public domain

    Makah Museum, Neah Bay

    Sources: University of Washington Libraries, Makah Tribe

  3. 26 January 1700

    About nine at night, a giant earthquake shakes the whole coast. Its tsunami crosses the Pacific and reaches Japan, where it is written down. The Hoh and the Makah keep the memory in their stories.

    The ghost forest at Copalis

    Sources: HistoryLink.org, Pacific Northwest Seismic Network

  4. May 1792

    Robert Gray sails the Columbia Rediviva over the bar into the great river and names it Columbia. Eighteen days later, anchored off Restoration Point, George Vancouver names "Puget's Sound" for his lieutenant, Peter Puget. The salt water already had a name: in Lushootseed it is x̌ʷəlč.

    Restoration Point Mouth of the Columbia

    Sources: HistoryLink.org, HistoryLink.org

  5. Autumn 1805

    The Nez Perce welcome the worn-out Lewis and Clark expedition, show them how to burn out dugout canoes and look after their 38 horses. On 7 November, near Pillar Rock, Clark writes "Ocian in view! O! the joy." The ocean is still about 20 miles away.

    Pillar Rock

    Sources: National Park Service, National Park Service, HistoryLink.org

  6. 15 June 1846

    Britain and the United States sign the Oregon Treaty. The border runs along the 49th parallel, then bends round the southern tip of Vancouver Island.

    Peace Arch, Blaine

    Sources: HistoryLink.org

  7. 13 November 1851

    The Denny Party lands at Alki Point from the schooner Exact, in the homeland of the Duwamish. The town they start takes the name of Si'ahl, a leader of the Duwamish and the Suquamish: Seattle.

    Alki Point

    Sources: HistoryLink.org, HistoryLink.org, Duwamish Tribe

  8. 2 March 1853

    President Millard Fillmore signs the bill creating Washington Territory. It was nearly Columbia Territory; Congress changed the name so no one would mix it up with the District of Columbia.

    Olympia

    Sources: HistoryLink.org

  9. 1854 to 1855

    At treaty councils from Medicine Creek to Walla Walla, Governor Isaac Stevens has the tribes cede most of their lands. Every treaty keeps their right to fish "at all usual and accustomed grounds and stations."

    Medicine Creek

    Sources: HistoryLink.org, National Park Service, UW School of Law

  10. 1855 to 1858

    War follows, on both sides of the mountains, between settlers and soldiers and warriors from many tribes. The Nisqually leader Leschi is hanged at Steilacoom in 1858. In 2004 a historical court clears his name.

    Fort Steilacoom

    Sources: HistoryLink.org, HistoryLink.org, National Park Service

  11. 11 November 1889

    Washington becomes the 42nd state. President Benjamin Harrison signs the proclamation with a pen of Washington gold.

    An old photograph of the wooden Territorial Capitol in Olympia, hung with flags and bunting.
    The Territorial Capitol in Olympia, dressed for statehood. A. D. Rogers, public domain

    The Capitol, Olympia

    Sources: HistoryLink.org

  12. 17 July 1897

    The steamer Portland docks in Seattle with 68 miners and their Klondike gold. The papers said a ton. It was nearer two.

    An old photograph of the wooden steamship Portland at anchor in Elliott Bay.
    The Portland in Elliott Bay, about 1900. Webster & Stevens, public domain

    Klondike Gold Rush park, Seattle

    Sources: HistoryLink.org

  13. 29 June 1938

    Olympic National Park is born, and the wild coast joins it in 1953. Today it is a World Heritage Site, on the traditional lands of the Skokomish, Klallam, Makah, Quileute, Hoh, Queets and Quinault peoples.

    Olympic National Park

    Sources: HistoryLink.org

  14. 1942

    Grand Coulee Dam is finished on the Columbia: 550 feet high, nearly a mile long, and still the largest hydropower producer in the United States.

    Grand Coulee Dam

    Sources: National Park Service

  15. 1 June 1951

    Washington State Ferries takes over the Black Ball Line's boats. Today it is the largest ferry system in the country: 21 ferries and 20 terminals.

    A painted linen postcard of the silver streamlined ferry Kalakala on blue water.
    The streamlined Kalakala on an old postcard. C. P. Johnston Co., public domain

    Colman Dock, Seattle

    Sources: HistoryLink.org, WSDOT

  16. 21 April 1962

    The Century 21 Exposition opens in Seattle. By 21 October close to ten million people have come, and the city keeps the Space Needle and the Monorail.

    Fairgoers walk across a plaza toward tall white arches at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair.
    The fairgrounds in 1962. Seattle Municipal Archives, CC BY 2.0

    Seattle Center

    Sources: HistoryLink.org

  17. 12 February 1974

    Judge George Boldt rules that the treaty tribes keep their right to fish at their usual and accustomed places, and to half the catch. The Supreme Court largely upholds it in 1979.

    Frank's Landing, on the Nisqually

    Sources: HistoryLink.org, HistoryLink.org

  18. 18 May 1980

    At 8:32 in the morning Mount St. Helens erupts. Fifty-seven people die, and the mountain loses 1,314 feet off its top.

    A towering grey column of ash rises from Mount St. Helens into a blue sky.
    The eruption column, 18 May 1980. Austin Post, USGS, public domain

    Johnston Ridge

    Sources: USGS

  19. Winter 1998 to 1999

    The Mt. Baker Ski Area measures 1,140 inches of snow in one season. That is 95 feet, and still the world record.

    An old black and white photograph of a ski jumper flying high above the snow at Heather Meadows.
    A jumper at Heather Meadows, Mount Baker, in 1936. U.S. Forest Service, public domain

    Mt. Baker Ski Area

    Sources: Mt. Baker Ski Area, The Seattle Times

  20. 2011 to 2014

    Two dams come out of the Elwha River. Glines Canyon, 210 feet tall, is still the tallest dam ever removed in the United States, and salmon are back in the river of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.

    A crane stands on the half-demolished concrete of Glines Canyon Dam above the Elwha River.
    Glines Canyon Dam coming apart, March 2012. J. Burger, NPS, public domain

    Glines Canyon overlook

    Sources: National Park Service, National Park Service

And today the mountain is out, now and then

The tribes still fish at their usual and accustomed places. The ferries still cross. And on a clear day, Rainier still fills the sky.

Back to the mountain Ski First Chair