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| Washington State |
Washington State History
Some key dates in the history of Washington leading up to statehood
are listed below. For more information, I encourage you to visit www.historylink.org.
Much of the information listed here came from their site.
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Lewis and Clark Expedition
enters the present state of Washington on October 10. |
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Lewis and Clark Expedition reaches
the Columbia River on October 16. |
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Members of Lewis and
Clark expedition vote in the first recorded election in the Pacific
Northwest on November 24. |
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Great Britain and the
United States sign the Treaty of Joint Occupation of Oregon on
October 20, 1818. |
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Spain cedes its original
Pacific Northwest claims to the United States in the Transcontinental
Treaty of 1819. |
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Members of Lewis and Clark expedition
vote in the first recorded election in the Pacific Northwest
on November 24. |
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Beaver, Puget Sound’s
first steamship, sails from Fort Vancouver on June 18. |
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Provisional government
of Oregon Territory creates Clark County, covering all of present-day
Washington, on August 20, 1845. |
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Britain cedes claims
to the Pacific Northwest by signing the Treaty of Oregon on June
15, 1846. |
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U. S. Army’s Fort
Steilacoom established. |
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U.S. troops establish
Columbia Barracks at Fort Vancouver. |
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Isaac Ebey is first permanent
settler on Whidbey Island. |
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Donation Land Claim Act
takes effect on September 11. |
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Hudson’s Bay Co.
establishes a fishing station on San Juan Island. |
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Denny party lands at
Alki Point (near site of Seattle) on November 13, 1851. |
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Washington’s first
newspaper, the Columbian, begins publication at Olympia on September
11. |
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Oregon Legislature creates
Island County on January 6. |
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U.S. President Millard
Fillmore establishes Washington Territory on March 2. |
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Eight counties, including
Whatcom County, are incorporated in 1854. |
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Several treaties are
signed with American Indian nations. |
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Medicine Creek Treaty
signed on December 26, 1854. |
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Point Elliott Treaty
signed on January 22, 1855. |
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Treaty of Point No Point
signed on January 26, 1855. |
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Treaty of Neah Bay signed
on January 31, 1855. |
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Olympia, third territorial
town and future capital, incorporated. |
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Frost and Fowler establish
a store at Mukilteo, the first Snohomish County settlement. |
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Washington Territorial
Legislature creates Snohomish County (out of Island County) on
January 14, 1861. |
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President Abraham Lincoln
signs law separating new Idaho Territory from Washington on March
4, 1863. |
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Western Union transcontinental
telegraph line reaches Seattle on October 25, 1864. |
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Road completed over Snoqualmie
Pass by October 7, 1867. |
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Town of Seattle is formed
in 1865, but legislature voids its charter two years later. The
City of Seattle is incorporated on December 2, 1869. |
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Jasper Gates settles
Mount Vernon (now in Skagit County) 1870. |
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Washington Territorial
Legislature creates San Juan County (out of Whatcom County) on
October 31, 1873. |
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David Batey and Joseph
Hart arrive in Sedro (now in Skagit County) 1878. |
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Seattle’s first
telephone line is installed in 1878. |
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Rutherford B. Hayes
visits Puget Sound cities in October 1880 during the first trip
west of the Rockies by a U.S. President. |
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Women win, lose, regain,
and again lose right to vote in Territorial elections between
1883 and 1888. |
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Northern Pacific Railroad’s
mainline between Washington and Minnesota is completed at Gold
Creek, Montana, on September 8, 1883. |
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Washington Territorial
Legislature creates Skagit County (out of Whatcom County) on
November 28, 1883. |
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John McMillan establishes
Roche Harbor (San Juan County) Limestone in 1886. |
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Great fire burns Seattle
on June 6, 1889. |
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Washington becomes a
state, November 11, 1889. |
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