Diablo Dam incline railway climbing Sourdough Mountain, 1930. Courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives, 2306.
Children waving to ferry, 1950. Courtesy Museum of History and Industry.
Loggers in the Northwest woods. Courtesy Washington State Digital Archives.
The Future of History Fund has reached $457,553!
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This funding will allow us carry on Walt and Marie's legacy by making improvements to HistoryLink.org, building new partnerships, and creating new programs. Over the next year, keep an eye out for new student and teacher resources, a new podcast, and more!
This Week Then
4/18/2024
Mountain Greenery
On April 20, 1825, Scottish naturalist David Douglas arrived at Fort Vancouver, one month after it opened on the north bank of the Columbia River in present-day Clark County. Douglas, a collector for England's Horticultural Society, was dispatched to the Northwest coast to bring back specimens and seeds of plants from the region for introduction into British gardens and forests.
For the next two years Douglas traveled extensively throughout present-day Washington and Oregon collecting thousands of plant specimens, as well as fossils and geological samples. He also preserved a few animals that he hunted. Most of his first year was spent exploring the wet western forests, and included the first recorded ascent of the Cascade Mountains. Douglas was also the first writer to refer to the range by that name.
In 1826 Douglas extended his explorations, traveling deep into the Columbia Basin. In May, near what is now Spokane, he visited retired fur trader Jaco Finlay, as well as tribal heads Chief Spokane Garry and Chinook leader Comcomly.
After returning to England, Douglas made two more journeys to the Columbia River before dying under mysterious circumstances in Hawaii in 1834. Today he is perhaps best known because of the Douglas fir (as seen above), which was named in his honor.
Enjoy the Scenery
While we're on the subject of David Douglas's explorations, it's worth noting that the first Earth Day celebration was held on April 22, 1970, to raise awareness of environmental issues. On that day, Washington Senator Henry M. Jackson -- a leader on environmental legislation -- spoke at UW and WSU on the dangers of environmental degradation. In Pullman, some students pelted him with marshmallows due to his hawkish stance on the Vietnam War, but Jackson caught a few and threw them back, eliciting cheers.
This Earth Day we invite you to do some exploring of your own to learn more about the state we live in. HistoryLink currently has more than 600 essays that pertain to Washington's environment and environmental history -- plenty to keep you informed and aware. So grab a tablet or smart phone, go outside, and enjoy reading some of them at your favorite scenic locations.
News Then,History Now
Time to Go
On April 22, 1812, less than a year after he arrived at Kettle Falls, explorer and mapmaker David Thompson left there for Montreal, his survey of the Columbia River complete. During his travels, Thompson documented many of his meetings with Indian tribes, including the Sanpoil, the Nespelem, the Methow, the Sinkayuse, the Wanapum, and the Palus.
Saying No
On April 24, 1877, General Oliver O. Howard met in a day-long council with Smohalla, an influential Wanapum spiritual leader. Howard told Smohalla that he and his followers must move onto the Yakama reservation. However, distracted by the Nez Perce War, which broke out a few weeks later, Howard took no steps to enforce the order and Smohalla ignored it.
Moving Slow
On April 22, 1889, Duncan Hunter filed a homestead claim to 80 acres of dense forest in south Snohomish County, becoming the first non-Indian resident of what would become Lynnwood. Other homesteaders soon followed, but the city didn't incorporate until April 20, 1959.
On Their Way
On April 18, 1942, Major Ensley Llewellyn of Tacoma published the first edition of the World War II Stars and Stripes newspaper at the direction of General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Some of the airmen from McChord Field probably didn't get a chance to read it, as they had flown off that same day to take part in the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan.
When the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949, Washington Senator Warren Magnuson was one of the few voices in Congress who argued for normalized relations between the two nations, noting that trade and contact were the best means to influence what many called the “Red Monolith.” It wasn't until 50 years ago this week that the trade embargo ended when the cargo ship M.V. Liu Lin Hai arrived in Seattle on April 18, 1979.
"The wilderness is a place of rest - not in the sense of being motionless, for the lure, after all, is to move, to round the next bend. The rest comes in the isolation from distractions, in the slowing of the daily centrifugal forces that keep us off balance."
