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The Spokane House, A Commercial and Social Outlet
Spokane House is established and is the first longterm non-indian fur settlement. For sixteen years the Spokane House was the headquarters for trade between the Rockies and Cascades and was a big commercial and social center in the region. The settlement consisted of a store, office and home for the chief trader, dorms, and carpenter and blacksmith shops. It provided fresh produce as well as imported goods from Canada such as cured beef, salt, port, flour, rice, biscuits, tea, sugar, and rum. -
Pacific Fur Company: A Global Business for the Northwest
In 1810, John Jacob Astor started up the Pacific Fur Company with the plan of being the first global trading business in Oregon. Agents of Astor established Fort Astoria in 1811 as a trading post. With the Pacific Fur Company, Astor had hopes of international trading with China. Astor sent men on land and water to explore the region, inevitably leading to failure. After the British won the war of 1812, they took over the fort and the company was sold to the Northwest Fur Company. -
The Whitmans: An Unfortunate End to a Hopeful Mission
Marcus and Narcissa Whitman came west where they established a mission at Waiilatpu. Despite warnings, they felt they were called to live among the Cayuse Indians ,where Marcus ministered, practiced medicine, and helped set up buildings. Despite losing their daughter to drowning, the mission did well for just over ten years when more people came from the east bringing with them sickness. The Whitmans 12 others were killed by angry Cayuse in the Whitman Massacre of 1847. -
Pierre Jean De Smet, Jesuit Peacemaker to the Indians
Pierre Jean De Smet was a Jesuit Missionary who came to the Oregon country in 1840 with a fur trading caravan. He served a six year term in the Northwest and along with several others, set up many missions in the Rocky Mountains. He was a successful peacemaker and negotiator between the white people and the Indians. It is said that he had traveled 180,000 miles in his life and made 16 visits back to Europe to promote Indian Missions. -
Homespun Government-A Rough Draft to a Real State Government....
Oregon settlers first met to discuss issues regarding wolf attacks and set up a group to handle tax collection as well as funds dispersing for a wolf bounty. This led to a "homespun" government to help in dealing with issues such as wills, land titles, and defending homes. They worked from a law book containing Iowa territorial laws as well as the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The federal government assumed responsibility in 1848. -
Oregon-A Long Road to Statehood
Oregon had been a territory for ten years before finally, In March of 1859, they got the official word that President Buchanan had approved their admission bill and that it passed congress, making them the 33rd State in the U.S. One reason why the Oregonians may have pushed towards statehood is that under state legislation, they would have more of a say about race and slavery than when a territory. Oregon was the first state in the U.S. to exclude African Americans. -
Lewiston-The Original "Rag Town"
During the Clearwater mining rush, the streets of Lewiston, Idaho were lined with tent/pole buildings or structures of fabric. The structure was put together by setting up poles on which rafters were set. The roof and sides were covered with a brown muslin material. The doors and windows were framed with small poles which were also covered with the muslin cloth. It was nicknamed "rag town" because the material became easily tattered and weathered. -
The Mormons-A Growing People in a Growing Territory
The town of Franklin, Idaho's first town, was founded by thirteen mormon colonists. Just a few short years later, the Mormons were the largest religious group in Idaho. They were a very tight-knit group in that they were presided over by church authorities and they worked together to meet the needs of the community such as building schools, meeting places, bridges, roads, and irrigation. Its is said that the things that were most important to them were morals, faith, crops, and irrigation. -
The Oregon Steam Navigation Co.-A River Monopoly
In late1860 Captain John C. Ainsworth founded the Oregon Steam Navigation Company which soon turned into a transportation monopoly. The company operated 30 passenger and frieght steamboats, 13 schooners, and 4 barges on the Columbia River. One of their boats, the Idaho, took over the 38 mile route between the Cascades and The Dalles. The company's reach went from along the Willamette River to the Snake River (Idaho) and the Clark Fork River in Montana. -
Gold Dust-A Useful and Desired Currency
Gold dust valued at $3 Million was transported down the Columbia River in 1861. Gold Dust was considered a legal tender and all miners would carry a bit in a pouch made of buckskin. Bankers, hotelmen, and merchants had scales handy to weigh the gold. And occasional trickster would mix in some yellow sand to make it seem like they had more. -
The Mullan Rd-The road of Many Uses
The Mullan Road officially opened in August of 1862. The 624 mile long road spanning from Walla Walla to Fort Benton was completed by John Mullan with the purpose of being a military road for more efficient movement of soldiers and mining supplies. It also connected the Missouri and Columbia Rivers for navigating steamboats. The Mullan Road was useful throughout the Civil War as well as it aided in distributing goods to the gold camps in the Rocky Mountatins. -
Cast Iron-Changing the Face of Portland
In 1873, Portland lost 30 blocks of original wooden buildings to a fire. These buildings were replaced with brick and stone and also cast iron. From the 1850's-1880"s cast iron fronted buildings were constructed.Cast iron was found to be more cost efficient than brick and took much less time to work with. Between 1854 and 1889, 90% of commercial buildings were built using cast iron. Though many buildings have been remodeled, some still have cast iron pieces such as pillars and doors. -
Make Way for the Railroad....
In 1875, Dr. Dorsey S. Baker completed the Walla Walla & Columbia River Railroad in October of 1875. This 32 mile long railway was built using local resources, making it a very cost efficient venture. Baker used T shaped rails just on the curves and used wooden rails with strap iron for the straight parts. Because he was able to keep the costs so low he was able to make a nice profit. In 1879 Dr. Baker sold 6/7 of the railroad to the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. -
The Functional Homes of the Native Americans
While the pioneers were moving in, the Native Americans who were already here were settled on the land in their functional homes of either long houses, round houses, or teepees. The homes had a purpose. Long houses could be as much as 150 feet long and fit as many as 20-40 people in them. They were made to stay and were built from wheat,wood,reeds, grass or skins. Teepees were generally put together with bullfalo hides and were made to be easy to disassembe and assemble for hunting. -
Washington the 42nd State, Rich With Resources
On November 11, 1889, President Benjamin Harrison signed a bill admitting Washington State as the 42nd State of the United States. Washington is named after the first President of the U.S., George Washington and is also the only state named after a President. Some of the resources that drew people to Washington were fish, timber, land, and gold. -
Forest Reserves and Protection
In 1891 the National Forest Reserves Act was put into place allowing the President of the United States to set apart forest reserves. National Forests are managed for timber, recreation, wildlife, grazing, fish, and so on.
National Parks focus more on preserving natural and cultural values and resources. They do not alter the natural state of the environment much if at all. -
The Denny Regrade-The Remodeling of a Landscape
Beginning in 1898 and spanning to 1930, the Denny Regrade was the largest regrade project Seattle had seen. Now the location of the hip Belltown neighborhood, this was once a steep hill. Reginald Heber Thomson,the city engineer, along with others, felt that the hill was in the way of city growth and wanted to make the land flat so the city could expand. About 6 million cubic yards of earth was removed and dumped into Elliot Bay, creating 37 blocks of land to build on as well as a new harbor. -
Dams and their affect on Salmon.....
The Grand Coulee Dam brought an innovative source of power to the region but it also brought some negative effects as well. The dam does not have fish ladders and it has taken away about 1,000 miles of grounds for spawning. There are also other dams on the Columbia and Snake Rivers which have added nitrogen to parts of the water and when absorbed by the fish, they succumb to a fatal condition called bends. Most salmon either die of bends or they caught up in the turbines of a dam.
