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, ...
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...
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...
On November 29, 1847, a small group of Cayuse Indians attack the Whitman Mission near Walla Walla in what will become known as the Whitman Massacre. Dr. Marcus Whitman (1802-1847), his wife Narcissa P...
On January 2, 1848, Bishop Augustin Magloire Blanchet (1797-1887) ordains Oblate Missionaries Eugene Casimir Chirouse (1821-1892) and Charles M. Pandosy (1824-1891) as Catholic priests in a hastily a...
On March 14 and 15, 1848, a battle between Oregon Volunteers and members of the Palouse Tribe takes place in present-day Columbia County during the Cayuse War. The fighting continues for 30 hours. The...
In July 1848, Father Charles M. Pandosy (1824-1891) establishes the Immaculate Conception Mission on Manastash Creek in the Kittitas Valley. Pandosy is a Catholic Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate...
On August 14, 1848, Congress establishes the Territorial Government of Oregon. The United States had enjoyed sovereignty over the region, which included present-day Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, sinc...
In August 1848, local Puget Sound Indians force two white settlers, Thomas W. Glasgow and Antonio B. Rabbeson, to abandon farms on Whidbey Island, located in northern Puget Sound. Among the Native peo...
In 1849, the California Gold Rush results in a flood of immigrants to the West Coast whose demand for lumber triggers economic development in the Pacific Northwest. Lumber from the Columbia River and ...
On May 13, 1849, Companies L and M of the United States Army First Artillery arrive at the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver and establish an army post that they initially name Camp Columbia. The ...
On October 2, 1849, Chief Justice William P. Bryant of Oregon Territory convenes the first criminal trial in the future Washington Territory at Fort Steilacoom to try six members of the Snoqualmie tri...