On February 19, 1836 -- one day after their wedding -- missionaries Marcus Whitman (1802-1847) and Narcissa Prentiss Whitman (1808-1847) begin a seven-month, 3,000-mile journey from New York State to ...
On June 18, 1836, the Hudson's Bay Company ship Beaver, the first steamship to travel on Puget Sound, departs Fort Vancouver for her first journey in the Pacific Northwest. The vessel carries two 35-h...
On September 12, 1836, missionaries Marcus Whitman (1802-1847) and Henry Spalding (1803-1874) and their respective wives, Narcissa (1808-1847) and Eliza (1807-1851), arrive at Fort Vancouver after a s...
On October 16, 1836, Dr. Marcus Whitman (1802-1847), a Presbyterian missionary and a physician, establishes a mission at Waiilatpu on the Walla Walla River. He chooses the site because of its proximit...
On November 12, 1836, the steamship Beaver arrives at Fort Nisqually, making it the first steamer on Puget Sound. The Beaver's docking culminates a voyage that began in London, where the Beaver was bu...
On September 3, 1838, the wives of six pioneer missionaries meet at the Whitman mission at Waiilatpu (near present-day Walla Walla) and organize the Columbia Maternal Association, the first women's cl...
On September 25, 1838, missionaries Elkanah Walker (1805-1877) and Cushing Eells (1810-1893) choose a site to build a mission near where the town of Ford in Stevens County will later be located (some ...
On November 24, 1838, Father Francois (or Francis) N. Blanchet (1795-1883) and the Rev. Modeste Demers (1809-1871) arrive at Fort Vancouver. They have traveled from eastern Canada with the annual Hud...
On May 26, 1840, early missionary Father Francis N. Blanchet (1795-1883) comes to Whidbey Island at the invitation of Chief Tslalakum.
In September 1840, Robert Newell, Joseph L. Meek, and their families reach Fort Walla Walla, the Hudson's Bay Company trading post on the Columbia River in present day Walla Walla County, with three w...
On May 11, 1841, the U.S. Navy ships Vincennes and Porpoise, commanded by Lt. Charles Wilkes (1798-1877), drop anchor in southern Puget Sound, near the mouth of Sesquilatchew Creek and the Hudson's Ba...
On May 17, 1841, the United States sailing vessel Porpoise anchors below the bluff of present-day Tacoma, and her officers name Commencement Bay. The Porpoise is part of the United States Exploring Ex...