On July 8, 1864, Secretary of the Interior J. P. Usher creates the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, located at the confluence of the Black and Chehalis rivers in southwestern Washingto...
On May 16, 1864, the first Mercer Girls from the East Coast reach Seattle. Seattle resident Asa Mercer (1839-1917) has recruited the group to provide teachers for the young community and in order to a...
On October 25, 1864 at 4 p.m., the Western Union Telegraph line reaches Seattle from San Francisco and the East Coast. The following day, the town receives the first dispatches over the line. The tele...
On November 7, 1864, two Snohomish Indians kill William and Abigail Casto in their home in Squak Valley (now Issaquah.) Also killed is John Halstead, a housemate. The assailants are in turn killed by ...
On December 25, 1864, Job Carr arrives at the future site of Tacoma on Commencement Bay. He will file a 168-acre claim to land at a site the Nisqually and Puyallup Peoples call Shubahlup or sheltered ...
On January 14, 1865, the Territory of Washington Legislature incorporates the Town of Seattle for the first time, adopting a city charter that puts the municipal government in the hands of a board of ...
On January 19, 1865, Democrats in the Territorial Legislature vote to eliminate Skamania County and to split its territory between Klickitat County and Clarke County (as it was spelled at the time). T...
On January 20, 1865, the Walla Walla Library Association is incorporated and becomes the first library established for the public in the City of Walla Walla. A group of Walla Walla professionals, inte...
On January 21, 1865, the Washington Territorial Legislature establishes Yakima County. Yakima County includes most of the land in the former Ferguson County, created in 1863 and dissolved three days ...
On February 7, 1865, the Seattle Board of Trustees passes Ordinance No. 5, calling for the removal of Indians from the town. Ten years after local tribes signed the Treaty of Point Elliott, ceding mos...
In March 1865, pioneer Ezra Meeker (1830-1928) plants hop vine cuttings on his farm in the Puyallup Valley. The plants flourish and Meeker continues to expand his plantings over the years. By the earl...
In April 1865, William Nesbit Smith begins a school with 24 students in his store, located across the Touchet River from a new mill being set up by Sylvester M. Wait (d. 1891), in the emerging town of...