On July 21, 1869, former Secretary of State William H. Seward (1801-1872) starts a two-day visit to Puget Sound, during which he will tour more than half a dozen settlements, traveling on the steamer ...
On August 24, 1869, the Great Eastern and Royal European Circus, the first circus to visit Seattle, performs in Pioneer Square in front of approximately 400 people. One reporter deemed it "the most ta...
On September 2, 1869, Seattle pioneer David Denny (1832-1903) kills what is likely the last elk in Seattle.
On October 11, 1869, the firm Schwabacher Bros. & Company first advertises merchandise purveyed in their Seattle store. The store, which is to become a longstanding and important Seattle enterpris...
On October 13, 1869, Erhart Seifried (1832-1899) files a claim under the Homestead Act for 131.66 timbered acres on Green Lake, which now (1999) define the north Seattle neighborhood of Green Lake. Se...
On November 1, 1869, the U.S. Government sells William Ladd 160 acres located at a portion of a future business districts of West Seattle. The following year I. C. Ellis acquires 280 acres from the Fe...
On November 10, 1869, Baker Boyer Bank opens for business in Walla Walla. Founded by brothers-in-law Dr. Dorsey Syng Baker (1823-1888) and John F. Boyer (1824-1897) with profits from their years as m...
On November 25, 1869, Tumwater in Thurston County is officially incorporated when the Washington Territorial Legislature completes passage of an act providing for its incorporation as a town. Original...
In December 1869, M. S. Booth drives 200 head of cattle across Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle.
On December 2, 1869, the Washington Territorial Legislature reincorporates the Town of Seattle. Seattle was incorporated once before, in 1865, but the Territorial Legislature disincorporated the town ...
In 1870, Seattle gets its first bathtub with indoor plumbing
On about January 1, 1870, C. Brownfield shoots and kills a "large panther" in "Pioneer Valley" in Seattle, near Lake Union. The animal, very likely a cougar, is 8 feet 9 inches long and weighs 300 pou...
In 1870, James A. Perkins and Thomas Smith establish Colfax in a deep forested valley where two branches of the Palouse River meet. Colfax is the first non-Indian settlement in the fertile rolling hil...
During July 1870, the Seattle Hook and Ladder Company Number 1 formed. The 40 member volunteer company is Seattle's first fire fighting organization. T.S. Russell is the Chief Engineer and Gardner Kel...
On February 23, 1870, Seymour Wetmore arrives in Seattle and announces that he captured a large cougar on his farm near Lake Washington. The animal was killing sheep in the area and a trap was devised...
In March 1870, Dexter Horton (1825-1904) opens a bank in Seattle. From 1870 to 1875 the bank is located in a small wooden building on northwest corner of Commercial Street (later First Avenue S) and W...
In the spring of 1870, Edward S. Salomon (1836-1913) takes office as governor of Washington Territory. He serves from the spring of 1870 to the spring of 1872. As of 2003, he has been Washington's onl...
In 1870, Andrew Jackson Splawn and Ben Burch open a trading post near the confluence of the Yakima River and Wilson Creek on the site of the future Ellensburg. Known as Robber's Roost, it quickly beco...
The opening of a post office is an important marker of the beginning of a community. On May 20, 1870, the Snoqualmie Post Office is established at the site of present-day North Bend. Jeremiah W. Borst...
The opening of a post office is an important marker of the beginning of a community. On May 20, 1870, the Squak Post Office is established. William Pickering is the first postmaster. The name Squak is...
On May 24, 1870, Washington Territory selects the future Loyal Heights neighborhood of Seattle for school land. Loyal Heights is located in northwest Seattle, north of Ballard, on land that goes down ...
On May 26, 1870, W. S. Ladd purchases 80 acres from the federal government in what would become business district of the Mount Baker neighborhood of Seattle. The total purchase price is $100.
In 1870, the 9th Decennial Census of the United States is the first census taken since the Civil War brought an end to the country's near-century of slavery. For the first time, all African Americans ...
On June 6, 1870, Charlotte Emily Olney French (1828-1897), after a debate with the election judges, casts her vote in a Washington territorial election, the first woman to do so. Six more women at her...