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Former Washington Territory governor Isaac Stevens assumes command of 79th Regiment of New York Volunteers on August 10, 1861.

On August 10, 1861, Isaac Stevens (1818-1862), former governor and Congressional delegate of Washington Territory, accepts a commission as colonel in the U.S. Army and assumes command of the 79th Regi...

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Colonel Benjamin L. Beall takes command of the U.S. Army's District of Oregon on September 13, 1861.

On September 13, 1861, Colonel George Wright (1803-1865), the officer in charge of the U.S. Army's District of Oregon, which includes all troops within Washington Territory and the state of Oregon, tr...

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Former territorial governor Isaac Stevens is promoted to Brigadier General in the Union Army on September 28, 1861.

On September 28, 1861, Isaac Stevens (1818-1862), Washington Territory's first governor and two-term delegate to the U.S. Congress, is promoted to Brigadier General in the Union Army.

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Territorial University (University of Washington) opens on November 4, 1861.

On November 4, 1861, the Territorial University (later, University of Washington) opens in downtown Seattle. The university was located at present-day 4th Avenue and University Street, where the Olymp...

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Washington Statesman begins publication in Walla Walla on November 29, 1861.

On November 29, 1861, the Washington Statesman begins publication in Walla Walla. Brothers William Smith and R. B. Smith hire typesetter R. R. Rees to assist them in putting out the four-page, six-col...

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Marcus Oppenheimer, eponym of Marcus, Washington, settles on the Columbia River near the Canadian border in 1862.

In 1862, Marcus Oppenheimer (1834-1901) settles on the Columbia River near the Canadian border in what will be Stevens County. He opens a store to purvey goods to miners traveling north to Canada, and...

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Washington Territorial Legislature incorporates City of Walla Walla on January 11, 1862.

On January 11, 1862, the Washington Territorial Legislature in Olympia formally incorporates the "City of Walla Walla," the largest community in the then-vast Walla Walla County, which was created eig...

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Smallpox kills 14,000 Northwest Coast Indians from April to December 1862.

On March 12, 1862, smallpox (variola major) arrives at Victoria, British Columbia, carried from San Francisco on the steamship Brother Jonathan. The catastrophic 1862 smallpox epidemic among Northwest...

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Quarrels and scuffles in Sehome end with Abner Dunn shooting Frank Mahoney on May 3, 1862.

On May 3, 1862, Abner Dunn shoots Frank Mahoney after an evening of quarrels and scuffles. They are both residents of Sehome, one of the four towns that would consolidate to form modern day Bellingham...

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Victor Smith forcibly moves the U.S. Customs Port of Entry for Washington Territory from Port Townsend to Port Angeles on August 1, 1862.

On August 1, 1862, Victor Smith (1827-1865), Collector of Customs for the District of Puget Sound, sails into Port Townsend on the lighthouse tender USS Shubrick to move the Customs records to Port An...

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U.S. Army Brigadier General Isaac Stevens, first governor of Washington Territory, is killed at Battle of Chantilly on September 1, 1862.

On September 1, 1862, U.S. Army Brigadier General Isaac Stevens (1818-1862), the first governor of Washington Territory, is killed in action at the Battle of Chantilly, Virginia, 25 miles west of Wash...

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Ferguson County is established on January 23, 1863.

On January 23, 1863, the Washington Territorial Legislature establishes the county of Ferguson, more or less in the location of present-day Yakima and Kittitas counties. Ferguson County has few settle...

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Amos Bradley receives the Medal of Honor on April 3, 1863.

On April 3, 1863, Amos Bradley (1837-1894) receives the Medal of Honor. The future resident of Spokane is a "landsman" (a recruit seaman) in the Union Navy. He is awarded the medal for his valor on Ap...

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Michael Sullivan and Samuel Calhoun build the first dike in Skagit County in 1863.

In 1863, Michael H. Sullivan (1840?-1912) and Samuel Calhoun build the first dike in Skagit County. They prove that the treeless flats between the Sullivan and Swinomish sloughs, once thought useless ...

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M. D. Woodin acquires future site of Hillman City business district for settlement on July 9, 1863.

On July 9, 1863, M. D. Woodin homesteads a 160-acre area that includes the future Hillman City neighborhood of Seattle. In 1868, he receives his patent and gains ownership of the land.

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William Gibson fatally stabs Thomas Wheeler on San Juan Island on August 6, 1863.

On August 6, 1863, on San Juan Island, a man named William Gibson does one of the most villainous deeds known to man. He stabs a man named Thomas Wheeler in the side, causing him to die slowly over t...

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Surveyors discover coal at Newcastle (east King County) in October 1863.

In the fall of 1863, surveyors discover coal on the north bank of Coal Creek in the Newcastle area. The surveyors are Philip H. Lewis and Edwin Richardson.

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E. D. Smith establishes the Town of Lowell (future Everett) in September 1863.

In September 1863, lumberman Eugene D. Smith and his partner Otis Wilson arrive on the Snohomish River to set up the first logging operation on the river. Experienced at logging with oxen, Smith settl...

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Seattle's first newspaper, The Seattle Gazette, is published on December 10, 1863.

On December 10, 1863, Seattle's first newspaper, The Seattle Gazette, appears. The publisher is J. R. Watson. With its publication, Seattle becomes the fourth town in Washington Territory to have its ...

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Black property owner William Hedges arrives in Seattle in 1864.

In about 1864, William Hedges (d. 1871) arrives Seattle. He later becomes the African American who owns the most property during the territorial years.

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African American pioneer Matthias Monet opens a restaurant in Seattle in 1864.

In 1864, Mathias Monet, an African American pioneer and native of Oregon, arrives in Seattle and opens Monet's Seattle Restaurant and Coffee Saloon opposite the Yesler, Denny and Company's Store.

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The Sisters of Providence establish St. Vincent's Academy in Walla Walla on February 18, 1864.

On February 18, 1864, at the request of John Baptist Abraham Brouillet (1813-1884), who has oversight of Roman Catholic St. Patrick's Church in Walla Walla, three Sisters of Providence arrive to estab...

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Harvey Pike starts to dig a canal connecting Seattle's Union and Portage bays in the 1860s.

Sometime in the 1860s, Harvey L. Pike (ca. 1842-1897) begins work on cutting a channel between Union Bay on Lake Washington and Portage Bay on Lake Union. Pike does not progress very far and soon aban...

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Secretary of the Interior J. P. Usher creates the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation on July 8, 1864.

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...

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