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Okanogan terrane docks against North American continent 100 million years ago.
About 100 million years ago, in the late Mesozoic Era, the Okanogan terrane (microcontinent) docks against the North American continent. This collision adds to the land mass of North America and extends the coastline of the Pacific Northwest about 50 miles farther west. Before the Okanogan terrane docking, the coastline ran along the present-day Idaho-Washington border. In the formation of the Pacific Northwest region over millions of years, there have been some 50 terrane dockings. These dockings, along with plate-tectonics (the sinking of the Pacific plate underneath the North American plate), tremendous volcanic episodes, and the advance and retreat of glaciers contributed to the Puget Sound landscape that we know today.
File 5086: Full Text >
Retreating glaciers create Puget Sound and Grand Coulee as the Ice Age ends about 15,000 years ago.
About 15,000 years ago, the Vashon glacier begins to melt and recede from lands that will come to be known as the Puget Sound region and the Columbia Basin region. By 11,000 years ago, the glacier has retreated to the border of present-day Canada. During its advance, the glacier had carved out Lake Washington, Lake Tapps, Lake Sammamish, Puget Sound, and Hood Canal. The other major shaper of the land -- the pushing of the Pacific Plate underneath the North American plate, and the docking of terranes (fragments of continents) had already occurred long ago.
File 5087: Full Text >
Osceola Mudflow from Mount Rainier inundates the White River Valley approximately 5,600 years ago.
Approximately 5,600 years ago, a massive landslide removes .7 cubic miles of earth from the summit of Mount Rainier. The ensuing mudflow, which spreads as far as modern-day Kent, is called the Osceola Mudflow. This is the largest mudflow of postglacial age in the history of Mount Rainier.
File 5095: Full Text >
Landslide blocks the Columbia River in about 1450.
In about 1450, an immense landslide tumbles off Table Mountain in Skamania County and completely blocks the Columbia River, shoving it a mile off course. A lake forms behind the dam extending as far as 100 miles. The river will eventually breach the dam causing a 100-foot-deep flood downstream and creating the Cascades rapids. This is the most recent of four documented slides in the 14-square-mile Cascade Landslide Complex and will be called the Bonneville Landslide.
File 7797: Full Text >
Earthquake of enormous magnitude hits the Pacific Northwest coast on January 26, 1700.
On January 26, 1700, at about 9:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time a gigantic earthquake occurs 60 to 70 miles off the Pacific Northwest coast. The quake violently shakes the ground for three to five minutes and is felt along the coastal interior of the Pacific Northwest including all counties in present-day Western Washington. A tsunami forms, reaching about 33 feet high along the Washington coast, travels across the Pacific Ocean and hits the east coast of Japan. Japanese sources document this earthquake, which is the earliest documented historical event Western Washington. Other evidence includes drowned groves of red cedars and Sitka spruces in the Pacific Northwest. Indian legends corroborate the cataclysmic occurrence.
File 5098: Full Text >
Tlehonnipts (those who drift ashore) become first European residents of Northwest lands near Satsop Spit (mouth of the Columbia) in about 1725.
In about 1725, Clatsops discover shipwrecked sailors whom they call Tlehonnipts (those who drift ashore) on a beach near Satsop Spit, which was located on the southern (Oregon) side of the mouth of the Columbia River. One of the sailors will be called Konapee the Iron Maker. They are probably the first European residents of the Pacific Northwest and will marry into Native American tribes in the region. The men may be Spanish or Mexican sailors engaged in the trade between Manilla and Mexico.
File 7942: Full Text >
Juan Perez and his crew on Spanish ship Santiago sight and name "Mount Olympus" on August 11, 1774.
On August 11, 1774, Spanish explorers on the ship
Santiago, commanded by Juan Perez, sail past the future state of Washington, sight the (later-named) "Mount Olympus," and name it
Cerro Nevada de Santa Rosalia. Juan Perez's Spanish expedition represents the first European discovery and exploration of Nueva Galicia (the Pacific Northwest).
File 5682: Full Text >
Bruno de Hezeta (Heceta) party lands at future site of Grenville Bay and claims the Pacific Northwest for Spain on July 12, 1775.
On July 12, 1775, Bruno de Hezeta, Juan Perez, and others from the Spanish ship
Santiago land on the site of the future Grenville Bay and claim Nueva Galicia (the Pacific Northwest) for Spain. This is the first European landing in the future state of Washington.
File 5690: Full Text >
Smallpox epidemic ravages Native Americans on the northwest coast of North America in the 1770s.
During the 1770s, smallpox (
variola major) eradicates at least 30 percent of the native population on the Northwest coast of North America, including numerous members of Puget Sound tribes. This apparent first smallpox epidemic on the northwest coast coincides with the first direct European contact, and is the most virulent of the deadly European diseases that swept over the region during the next 80 to 100 years. In his seminal work,
The Coming of the Spirit of Pestilence, historian Robert Boyd estimates that the 1770s smallpox epidemic killed more than 11,000 Western Washington Indians, reducing the population from about 37,000 to 26,000.
File 5100: Full Text >
Continental Congress of the 13 British colonies (future United States of America) passes the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
On July 4, 1776, Britain's 13 American colonies, governed by England through the Continental Congress, pass the Declaration of Independence. This founding document of the United States of America, drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and 28, 1776, is the opening salvo of the American rebellion against British rule. The American Revolution (1775-1783) forms the context for British and Spanish exploration of the Pacific Northwest. Spain and England are traditional enemies, and Spain supports the American colonies against England during the Revolution. In 1775, Spain had claimed the Pacific Northwest. The United States will win the revolution in 1783, and will inherit Spanish claims to the region.
This file contains the complete text of the Declaration of Independence.
File 5696: Full Text >
British explorer Captain James Cook names Cape Flattery on March 22, 1778.
On March 22, 1778, Captain James Cook (1728-1779) names Cape Flattery. The Cape, home to the Makah Indians, and now part of the Makah Reservation, is the northwesternmost point in the continental United States, and marks the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The name that the British explorer bestows is the oldest non-Indian place name still in use on Washington state maps.
File 5035: Full Text >
English fur trader John Meares names Cape Disappointment on July 6, 1788.
On July 6, 1788, English fur trader John Meares (1756?-1809) names the northern side of the entrance to the Columbia River, Cape Disappointment. The name reflects Meares' chagrin at not finding the Columbia River.
File 5621: Full Text >
Spain and Great Britain sign the Nootka Convention on October 28, 1790.
On October 28, 1790, Spain and Great Britain sign the Nootka Convention, which ends Spanish claims to a monopoly of settlement and trade in the Pacific Northwest. Nootka Sound, an inlet of the sea on the west coast of present-day Vancouver Island, will later become part of Canada.
File 7957: Full Text >
Captains Robert Gray and George Vancouver meet off the Washington coast on April 28 or 29, 1792.
On April 28 (or 29), 1792, two of the first non-Indian navigators to explore significant parts of what is now Washington meet on the high seas off Cape Flattery, just south of the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Captain George Vancouver (1758-1798) goes on to explore and name much of Puget Sound as well as Vancouver Island. Captain Robert Gray (1755-1806), an American in search of furs, soon finds the Columbia River, which Vancouver, like all prior European navigators, has missed, thus giving the young United States its primary claim to the lands of the Pacific Northwest.
File 5049: Full Text >
Mexican and Spanish settlers complete Neah Bay settlement in May 1792.
In May 1792, Mexican and Spanish settlers commanded by Salvador Fidalgo complete the first permanent European settlement in present-day Washington at Neah Bay near the northern tip of the Olympic Peninsula. Explorer Manuel Quimper had claimed the bay and named it Nunez Gaona on August 1, 1790. The camp was only briefly occupied before Spain retreats from the Pacific Northwest under threat of war with Great Britain.
File 7953: Full Text >
Captain Robert Gray enters Grays Harbor on May 7, 1792.
On May 7, 1792, American fur trader Robert Gray (1755-1806)enters Grays Harbor, a large natural harbor on the Pacific coast south of the Olympic Peninsula in present-day Grays Harbor County. Gray, on his second trading voyage to the Northwest Coast from New England, is exploring the coast south of the Strait of Juan de Fuca following a year of trading for sea otter and other furs on Vancouver Island. He and his crew are the first whites to enter Grays Harbor.
File 5050: Full Text >
Captain George Vancouver names Port Townsend on May 8, 1792.
On May 8, 1792, British Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver (1757-1798) names an extensive bay at the northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula for the Marquis of Townshend, a British general. The "h" is later dropped and the bay is now called Port Townsend. The city of Port Townsend, now the county seat of Jefferson County, is founded in the 1850s at the mouth of the bay and adopts its name.
File 5291: Full Text >
Captain Robert Gray becomes the first non-Indian navigator to enter the Columbia River, which he later names, on May 11, 1792.
On May 11, 1792, American fur trader Robert Gray (1755-1806) enters the major river of the Pacific Northwest in his ship the
Columbia Rediviva. Indian peoples have lived and navigated along Wimahl ("Big River") for tens of thousands of years, and Europeans have been sailing the Northwest Coast for more than 200 years. However, Gray is the first non-Indian to succeed in entering Wimahl, which he renames the Columbia River after his ship.
File 5051: Full Text >
Captain Robert Gray explores Grays Bay and charts the mouth of Grays River in May 1792.
Around May 14 through 17, 1792, American fur trader Robert Gray (1755-1806) explores Grays Bay on the Columbia River shore of present-day Wahkiakum County, and charts the outlet of Grays River where it enters the Bay. Grays Bay is an embayment on the north bank about 20 miles upstream from the mouth of the Columbia River. The various branches of Grays River rise in the Willapa Hills on the boundary ridge between Lewis and Wahkiakum Counties in southwest Washington, draining 124 square miles before flowing into the Columbia at Grays Bay. Both are named for Robert Gray.
File 5052: Full Text >
Vancouver begins British survey of Puget Sound on May 19, 1792.
On May 19, 1792, the British sloop-of-war
Discovery drops anchor between Bainbridge and Blake islands. The following morning, Capt. George Vancouver (1757-1798) dispatches Lt. Peter Puget and Master Joseph Whidbey to conduct a detailed survey of the waters to the south. This is the first penetration of "Puget's Sound" by white men.
File 5230: Full Text >
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