
Coming soon!
8460 HistoryLink.org articles now available.
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.
3/13/2025
Fort Vancouver's Bicentennial
Two hundred years ago this week, the British Hudson's Bay Company opened Fort Vancouver along the Columbia River as a trading outpost and a base for botanical research and inland exploration. For some 20 years, the fort remained the major non-Native presence in the future Washington. Gradually, however, more and more American settlers poured into the region, with many of them obtaining supplies and advice at Fort Vancouver.
In 1841 the U.S. Navy began surveying the river, and although the British were cordial, the appearance of two U.S. warships so near to the fort probably influenced Hudson's Bay Company officials to remove accumulated stores at Fort Vancouver to a new post at Victoria, which they established in 1843. On June 15, 1846, Britain struck the Union Jack below the 49th parallel and abandoned its claims to "Oregon Country," which became an official U.S. territory two years later.
In 1849 the U.S. Army took over the abandoned fort and established Camp Columbia there. One of the camp's earliest quartermasters was Ulysses S. Grant, then a captain. In 1879 the camp was renamed Vancouver Barracks, and over the years it provided troops for the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II.
After the end of World War II, the army declared most of Vancouver Barracks to be surplus. Two years later, Fort Vancouver became a national monument, and in 1966 Congress expanded the protected area and re-designated it as a National Historic Site. Around this time, the original fort structures (which had burned down in 1866) were carefully reconstructed, and today the site is operated by the National Park Service.
St. Patrick's Day
This week we mark St. Patrick's Day with a look at some of the Irish-Americans who played major roles in Washington history, beginning in 1805 with Sgt. Patrick Gass, who kept his own journal as a member of Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery. When the Hudson’s Bay Company opened Fort Vancouver, they dispatched Dr. John McLoughlin to take charge of the Columbia District, and more Irish came with him.
Irish Americans were among the many immigrants who traveled the Oregon Trail. Among those who settled in Washington were Michael Simmons and George W. Bush, who both settled near Tumwater in 1845. By 1856, one in 12 land claims in Washington Territory was made by Irish-born settlers, many of whom had left their native land following the famine years of 1847-1850. Michael Cowley came to this country with no money at the age of 15 and was influential in the development of Spokane. James Purcell Comeford came to America in 1849 and later became the "father of Marysville." Jimmie Durkin and his family (including 13 siblings) arrived in America in 1868, and he grew up to become Spokane's legendary liquor tycoon.
Seattle, from its first days, has produced such notables of Irish descent as Judge Thomas Burke; first King County Executive and former Governor John Spellman; public-affairs consultants Wally Toner, Patrick Gogerty, and Bob Gogerty; history professor and peace activist Giovanni Costigan; and flamboyant couturier John Doyle Bishop, who organized the city’s first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 1972. The Irish in Seattle have also celebrated their heritage with dancing, Gaelic football, and through participation in various clubs and organizations, such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians.
On March 16, 1891, Lynden incorporated in Whatcom County. Other cities celebrating birthdays this week include Ferndale, which incorporated on March 19, 1907, and Selah, which incorporated on March 17, 1919.
On March 14, 1911, Governor Marion E. Hay signed legislation authorizing the creation of public port districts -- a victory for progressive and populist reformers who sought to put an end to private monopoly control of urban harbors. More than a century later, Washington now has 75 public port districts.
On March 13, 1914, houseboat owners on Seattle's Lake Union got that sinking feeling when a dam burst during construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Within 24 hours, the lake level dropped 10 feet, which led to the collapse of the first Fremont Bridge, the precursor of today's orange and blue span.
On March 15, 1937, Governor Clarence Martin put his foot down on Washington's dance marathons, after cities like Tacoma and Bellingham had banned them years earlier. The craze had risen to popularity in the 1920s, but the Great Depression intensified the fad as a grueling endurance contest with partners dancing for weeks and even months on end.
On March 16, 1958, Seattle Bandstand debuted on KING-TV and became an instant hit with Northwest teens. Modeled after Dick Clark's Philadelphia-based, nationally broadcast American Bandstand, the two-hour weekly program launched the careers of several local bands and led to the creation of similar shows on NBC affiliates in Yakima, Spokane, and Portland.
Two years after Seattle was officially granted an expansion franchise for Major League Soccer, the Seattle Sounders FC made its debut on March 19, 2009, and has since smashed league records for attendance. It is the only team to have won four U.S. Open Cups, and captured its first MLS cup in 2016 and its second in 2019.
The first ring-necked pheasants introduced into the United States arrived at Port Townsend on March 13, 1881.
"At Sun rise mustered all the people to hoist the Flag Staff of the new Establishment and in presence of the Gentlemen, Servants, Chiefs & Indians I Baptised it by breaking a Bottle of Rum on the Flag Staff and repeating the following words in a loud voice, 'In behalf of the Honble Hudsons Bay Co. I hereby name this Establishment Fort Vancouver God Save King George the 4th' with three cheers."
--Hudson's Bay Company Governor Sir George Simpson, March 19, 1825