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Wilkes Expedition holds Puget Sound's first Fourth of July celebration on July 5, 1841.

On July 5, 1841, the seamen and Marines of the Wilkes Expedition hold the first Fourth of July celebration in the Puget Sound region. The men are from two expedition ships anchored in the sound off th...

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USS Peacock wrecks at the mouth of the Columbia River, giving her name to Peacock Spit, on July 18, 1841.

On July 18, 1841, the 18-gun U.S. Navy sloop USS Peacock wrecks at foot of the promontory marking the north side of the Columbia River's entrance. The partially submerged sandspit there becomes Peacoc...

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United States Exploring Expedition Surveys the Columbia River during August and September 1841.

During August and September 1841, the United States Exploring Expedition, commanded by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes (1798-1877), carries out a hydrographic survey of the Columbia River from its mouth to ...

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American settlers in Oregon declare a provisional government on May 2, 1843.

On May 2, 1843, following the first major influx of settlers, American citizens in "Oregon Country" meet to organize a provisional government for self-rule. The act challenges the Hudson's Bay Company...

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James Scarborough occupies Chinook Point on the Columbia River on December 1, 1843.

On December 1, 1843, Englishman James A. Scarborough (1805-1855) settles at Chinook Point on the Columbia River in what will become Pacific County, Washington. Scarborough will file a Donation Land Cl...

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Vancouver District, encompassing what is now Clark County in southwest Washington, is created on August 20, 1845.

On August 20, 1845, two days after being passed by Oregon's Provisional Legislature, the act creating Vancouver District, a huge area north of the Columbia River including what will later become Washi...

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Michael T. Simmons settles at Tumwater in October 1845.

In late October 1845, Michael T. Simmons (1814-1867) of Kentucky, Iowa, and Missouri settles at Tumwater near the Falls of the Deschutes River. Tum-wa-ta is a Chinook Jargon word for strong water or w...

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George Bush settles with his family at Bush Prairie near Tumwater in November 1845.

In November 1845, George (1790?-1863) and Isabella James (c. 1809-1866) Bush and their five sons settle near Tumwater on a fertile plain that comes to be known as Bush Prairie. They and their party, w...

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Esther Clark Short and her family settle near Fort Vancouver on December 25, 1845.

On December 25, 1845, Esther Clark Short (1806-1862) arrives at the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver in what will become the city of Vancouver, Clark County. She, her husband Amos Meade Short (18...

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Britain and the United States agree on the 49th parallel as the main Pacific Northwest boundary in the Treaty of Oregon on June 15, 1846.

On June 15, 1846, Britain and the United States sign the Treaty of Oregon establishing the 49th parallel as the primary international boundary in the Pacific Northwest. Since 1818, the entire region, ...

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Edmund Sylvester and Levi Smith stake a claim on the future site of Olympia in October 1846.

In October 1846, Edmund Sylvester and Levi Lathrop Smith stake a joint claim to 320 acres on Budd Inlet at what will become Olympia. Smith choses a two-acre clearing to build a 16-foot-square log cabi...

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St. Anne's Mission is established on Umatilla River on November 27, 1847.

On Saturday, November 27, 1847, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Walla Walla, Augustin Magliore Alexander Blanchet (1797-1887), and John Baptist Abraham Brouillet (1813-1884) leave Fort Walla Walla and es...

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