Searchable Pacific Northwest History
Overview
Searchable Pacific Northwest History provides a comprehensive examination of our past that includes geology, Native American culture and traditions, and history from earliest times to beyond 2000 C.E. This searchable chronological series is designed to be interactive making it easy for students to find and record specific information quickly to generate a personal study of history.
Traditionally, history is taught as isolated events rather than as interconnected episodes. Multiple events may occur simultaneously but presenting the interaction is problematic. This approach misrepresents the context in which historical events occur. Time is distorted as activities that take months or years are condensed into paragraphs or pages creating an incomplete sense of the effort involved.
The internet opens a vast resource of historical material enriching our understanding of the past. Searchable Pacific Northwest History provides students a door into our past by using a computer to study history. Rather than learning about history students can now learn from history through research and writing their own narrative.
How to Use This Material
Searchable Pacific Northwest History provides the student access to research to be used in generating a personalized study of history. I have chosen to use a format that includes a series of indentions (something like an outline) so Searchable Pacific Northwest History material can be copied and pasted. To assist in organizing the research project download this TEMPLATE paste it onto a computer screen and open it and save it. Using the “document search navigator” (ctrl [Control] F on a computer) students can find the topic they are researching in Searchable Pacific Northwest History. To copy the information, right click the mouse and drag the cursor over the material to turn it gray. Using “copy” (Ctrl C) and “paste” (Ctrl V) this information can be copied and pasted onto the TEMPLATE and saved to generate a new chronological document of their own making in “outline” form.
For instance, after copying and pasting the formatted TEMPLATE on a computer, a student might research the activities of Juan Ponce de Leon. Opening Searchable Pacific Northwest History “1500-1599” and placing LEON into the search navigator (Ctrl F) shows Leon is found 21 times in the history. The paragraph “CONQUISTADOR JUAN PONCE de LEON BECOMES GOVERNOR OF PUERTO RICO” on page 4 begins his adventures. This paragraph can be COPIED and PASTED onto the TEMPLATE. (Note: quotations footnoted as to source are carried with the quotation when copied. The next paragraph where “LEON” is found is “SPANISH CONQUISTADOR JUAN PONCE de LEON EXPLORES (TODAY’S FLORIDA)” on page 5. This too can be copied and pasted onto the TEMPLATE following the first paragraph. (Notice that Florida is in parenthesis because it was still unnamed by Europeans so the name is out of sequence with history.)
Further examination of 1500-1599 would result in additional information being discovered. Adding this material to the “outline” template would produce a document featuring the exploits of Juan Ponce de Leon in chronological order. Converting the “outline” into sentences would be the task of the student. Additional materials from the internet and other sources such as maps, photos, documents, etc. can be easily added to personalize the project.
The complete 5 book series on Kindle (updated on 12/1/22):
Why Did I Undertake A Searchable History?
Computers have changed the way we can look at history. The study of our past has always been constricted by the space available to present it. The person, topic, or event being studied was confined by the physical limits of books. This constricting of the past is even greater in a history book dedicated to a very broad subject. Each topic must be compressed to fit the space available. These restrictions are no longer necessary with the advent of computers and the internet.
The historic material that I have included has had a direct impact on the inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest. I have tried to focus on topics that people who live here, regardless of decade or century, would discuss with their family and friends. My hope is that because it was a topic of conversation and interest to people residing here at one time it may yet be so today.
History happens chronologically and in context. However, it is not taught that way. Rather, attention is focused on dates, names and selected topics. For instance, the exploration of Captain George Vancouver might be presented without any mention of the discoveries of Spanish explorers although both investigations occurred simultaneously and sometimes mutually. Also, American sea traders were operating in the same waters while Alexander Mackenzie was actively conducting his overland expeditions to find the Pacific Ocean. Events do not occur in isolation.
The topics of missionaries to the Pacific Northwest and Hudson’s Bay Company might be presented without acknowledging both entities were dealing with the same Native Americans at the same time. These interactions had a unique impact on the Indians. Or, similarly Northwest Indian wars and Indian treaties are presented without mentioning the treaties came before the wars. Presenting history one topic at a time, while necessary until now, makes historic context almost impossible.
Presenting history one topic at a time also presents a false image of the time necessary to accomplish a task. When students are introduced to the Oregon Trail, attention is perhaps paid to the preparations essential for the journey and the sacrifices necessary. The route West is depicted passing by a series of prominent land features, hardships for the travelers may be indicated, and Oregon is reached three paragraphs or three pages after setting out depending on the detail of the text. There is no feeling for the nine months the journey on foot took to complete. The neglect of the amount of time necessary to accomplish a goal is so frequent in history books that this could, perhaps, account for the instant gratification so often demanded today.
Those of us who enjoy reading history are intrigued with adding new information to what we have previously discovered. Each addition provides an opportunity to gain new insight. We are aware that previous generations faced challenges and mysteries much like our own. Discovering how these demands were met, successfully or unsuccessfully, in the past can guide us as we seek answers to our own personal and collective dilemmas. Most history instructors strive to teach their students about history. My goal is to enable students to learn from history. As President Harry Truman noted: “The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know.”
About the Author/Narrator
My name is Jim Ruble. I was born in Western Washington and raised in a small village on the shore of the Salish Sea. My professional life was dedicated to teaching primarily Washington State History and United States History at the junior high school level. Of course, I coached for several years. I was active in my local education association serving as president, treasurer and negotiator representing teachers. I also was active in local and state politics. After retiring from teaching I was elected Washington State Senate Sergeant-at-Arms for two four-year terms.
I began A Searchable History as a lecture series to supplement the Washington State History textbooks available for junior high student use. I discovered that an understanding of the present is predicated on an understanding of the past. When I was introduced to the computer my research grew exponentially. This document is the result of my life-long interest in history. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at jimrublehistory@gmail.com
Book 1, Origin
Book1 Overview
GEOLOGY (Pages 1-15)
In this section of the document you will find a chronological listing of geologic time broken down by Eons, Eras, Periods and Epochs relayed in terms of a twenty-four clock. Significant events are noted such as volcanic activities, glacial events, the formation of glacial valleys and river valleys, various mountains, Lake Missoula, Grand Coulee, Dry Falls, Channeled Scablands and Puget Sound are noted. The advent of fishes, reptiles, dinosaurs and mammals are indicated. In contrast, a Chinook Indian legend that attempts to explain the earliest times is also included.
NATIVE AMERICANS (Pages 16-115)
In this section of the document the earliest people to live in the Pacific Northwest such as Marmes Man, Buhl woman, and Kennewick Man, are investigated as are theories of their origin. Coastal and Plateau Native language and culture are contrasted. Indian beliefs in the spirit world and the role of the shaman are considered. Ceremonial activities such as the potlatch, salmon ceremony and winter ceremony are examined. Class structure including slavery and political life are discussed. Native interaction with the environment, housing, Ozette village, and transportation including canoe making are presented. Fishing and hunting activities and Makah whaling are investigated. Native art work represented by clothing, jewelry, basket making and wood working is explored. Food gathering, cooking and serving, especially salmon, are presented. Attention is also placed on the cycle of life from birth to death. The impact of European and American invaders on native lives are considered.
B.C.E.-1499 (Pages 116-135)
An understanding of the history of the Pacific Northwest must begin prior to any European contact. This document begins with the Roman Empire and the efforts of early European and Chinese merchants who strived to establish trade. European and Chinese explorers set out to develop trade routes such as the Silk Road, develop cities as trading centers and generate wealth. Viking raiders, crusaders, Mongol invaders and Venice merchant Marco Polo each generated interest in expanding trade.
1500-1599 (PAGES 136-164)
Interest in the “New World” was motivated by the rivalry between Portugal and Spain. Spain sent conquistadors Juan Ponce de Leon and Vasco Nunez de Balboa, to the New World to exploit her discovery. Portugal sent explorer Jorge Alvares across the Pacific Ocean to China. Spain continued its New World exploitation with Hernan Cortes, Juan Ponce de Leon, Pedro de Alvarado, Francisco Pizarro, Hernando de Soto and Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. Portugal’s Ferdinand Magellan attempted to sail around the world but he died when reaching the Philippines. His crew succeeded. As Spain reached the Philippines, France sent Jacques Cartier to find a shorter route to China. Portugal created a business monopoly in the city of Macau, China. Muscovy Company was chartered in England to trade with Russia. England took an interest in North America as the Muscovy Company financed two investigations by Martin Frobisher.
1600-1699 (Pages 135-165)
France showed an early interest in l’Acadie (Canada) when Francois Grave Pontgrave led an effort to build a colony. Samuel de Champlain explored the St. Lawrence River. Pierre Du Gua de Monts began trade between France and l’Acadie as the colony of Saint Croix Island was established. Massachusetts Bay Company was chartered bringing Puritans to America. Pierre Espirit Raddison with his brother-in-law Medard Chouart, Sieur des Grosseilliers explored and traded in the upper Mississippi River region bringing out a fortune in furs. Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC), chartered by England, developed a system of trading posts. Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet traveled the Mississippi River almost to the Gulf of Mexico which was later reached by Robert La Salle. York Factory was established by HBC whose trading posts were raided by independent French fur traders.
Book 2, Discovery
Book2 Overview
1700-1749 (Pages 1-23)
Trade expands the reach of nations: British Hudson’s Bay Company operates in Canada, British East India Company opens trade with Canton, China, British South Seas Company begins trade with South America. Independent French-Canadians traders open Fort Michilimackinac in Canada’s interior. Russian fur traders sweep across Siberia, Russia. Cayuse Indians acquire the horse. Vitus Bering conducts two tragic voyages for Russia to northern North America.
1750-1779 (Pages 24-73)
France and Great Britain fought the French and Indian War to control the Ohio River region while Spain claimed all of North America. Independent fur traders develop the Canadian fur trade as Americans Alexander Henry (The Elder) and Peter Pond investigate the Canadian interior to the Great Plains. English fur trading brothers Benjamin, Thomas and Joseph Frobisher operate out of Montreal. Scotsman Simon McTavish works the Niagara Falls region. Attention of the British government again turnes to North America as Chief Pontiac’s War erupted. Great Britain dominated her American colony passing the Townshend Acts resulting in the Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party, Declaration of Independence and the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Captain James Cook leads a scientific expedition to the North Pacific for Great Britain as far as the Arctic Ocean. Canadian free traders form the Michilimackinac Company in Canada to compete with Hudson’s Bay Company. Nine independent Canadian trading posts are established near the Straits of Mackinac west of Lake Superior.
1780-1789 (Pages 74-204)
American traders Peter Pond and Alexander Henry the Elder work the Lake Athabasca region of Canada. Canadian North West Company is chartered. Company employees, known as Nor’Westers include wintering partners who conduct trade with the Indians and voyageurs who provide transportation. America’s Revolution ends but the nation’s boundaries remain undefined. United States Constitution is ratified and George Washington is elected president. North West Company’s Alexander Mackenzie leads an expedition from Fort Chipewyan on Canada’s Lake Athabasca to reach the Pacific Ocean. Traversing the Peace and Great Slave rivers, Great Slave Lake, Great Bear and Mackenzie rivers he mistakenly reaches the Arctic Ocean. Suffering through rapids, ice, freezing weather, mosquitoes and mutiny Mackenzie leads his men across 1,080 miles of wilderness in forty-one days before returning to Fort Chipewyan.
1790-1799 (Pages 205-491)
Commandant Francisco de Eliza leads a fleet north to defend Spain’s claim of San Lorenzo (Nootka Sound). Spanish Army Captain Pedro d’Alberni and his soldiers are stationed at Fort San Miguel (1790). Lieutenant Salvador Fidalgo establishes Spain’s second colony in the Pacific Northwest. Nunez Gaona is located at Neah Bay on the coast of Washington (1792). Sailing expeditions are sent to investigate the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, Clayoquot Sound, Barkley Sound, the Gulf Islands and the Gulf of Alaska. American Captain Robert Gray sails Columbia Rediviva from Boston back to the Pacific Northwest. He purchases land from the natives of Clayoquot Sound, names Adventure Cove and builds Fort Defiance there -- all while generating hostility with the natives. Gray sails south to trade discovering Grays Harbor and the Columbia River -- America’s only claim to what is now Washington State. British Captain George Vancouver sails the Discovery to the Pacific Northwest accompanied by Chatham commanded by Lieutenant-Commander William R. Broughton. Vancouver, Broughton, Peter Puget, Joseph Whidbey and James Johnstone thoroughly investigate the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound naming hundreds of geographic features which remain on maps today. Vancouver charts the Strait of Georgia along with Spanish lieutenants Galiano and Valdes. Vancouver next conducts a thorough investigation of Alaska waters.
Book 3, Exploration
Book3 Overview
1800-1809
David Thompson was named North West Company chief geographer and made a partner. Thompson, his wife Charlotte and their three children crossed Western Canada several times surveying and trading with the Indians. He carried several fortunes in furs east to the company’s Montreal headquarters. North West Company developed a transcontinental transportation system. Its Eastern Division linked Grand Portage on Lake Superior with Hudson’s Bay using large canoes manned by Montreal Boatmen. Western division linked Grand Portage with the wilderness using small canoes manned by voyageurs. Supplies traveled west; furs were carried east. Spain ceded her claim to North America vacating her colony and fort at Nootka Sound and selling her continental claim to France. Spanish attention focused on exploiting the resources of Central America. President Jefferson purchased Louisiana Territory from France.
1810-1819
Manuel Lisa’s St. Louis Missouri Fur Company’s Fort Raymond at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Bighorn rivers was visited by Andrew Henry who traveled with sixty trappers and established Henry’s Fort at the Three Forks of the Missouri River. Henry abandoned Henry’s Fort and built Fort Henry on the Snake River. North West Company’s Columbia Brigade pushed up the North Saskatchewan River bound for Rocky Mountain House. Piegan Indians harassed the brigade. David Thompson tried a new route West up the Athabasca River. He opened Athabasca Pass and wintered at Boat Encampment before continuing on to survey the Columbia River from source to mouth. John Jacob Astor created the Pacific Fur Company. He planned two expeditions to the Pacific coast, one overland and the other by sea. Astor’s Land Expedition under Wilson Price Hunt was filled with hardship, suffering and death. Astor’s Sea Party aboard the Tonquin under Captain Jonathan Thorn resulted in Astoria being built at the mouth of the Columbia River before the Tonquin was destroyed in an explosion.
1820-1829
Company wars led to the folding of North West Company into Hudson’s Bay Company. George Simpson was assigned to the Columbia Department. Fort George (Astoria) remained the headquarters for the department. Dr. John McLoughlin was named Chief Factor of Fort George. Fort Vancouver replaced Fort George as Hudson’s Bay Company headquarters for the Columbia Department Dr. John McLoughlin diversified operations to include lumbering, crop farming, sheep and cattle raising. Coastal trade was carried out by Hudson’s Bay Company’s Maritime Department. Competition came from American ships such as the Owyhee under Captain John Dominis. Sailors on Owyhee carried smallpox which devastated the native population as Indian villages became ghost towns.
General William H. Ashley hit on the idea of supplying trappers in the field who traded goods with the natives for pelts. He established the Rendezvous system that required wagon routes be established from St. Louis to gathering places in the Rocky Mountains.
1830-1839
Annual Rendezvous became the method of supplying trappers in the field who worked the Wyoming and Montana area. Rocky Mountain Fur Company and other freight companies delivered caravans of goods from St. Louis to annual Rendezvous in the Rocky Mountains. Pacific Fur Trading Company carried goods from St. Louis to Santa Fe opening the Southwest. Catholic priests had followed French-Canadian trappers into the wilderness since the earliest arrival of Europeans to North America. Indian Ignace La Mousse studied the Catholic faith and settled among the Flathead Indians of Montana. They sent four young men to St. Louis seeking “Black Robes.” Spokane Garry studied the Church of England faith in Winnipeg, Canada. Garry opened a makeshift school among his people. Catholic Father Norbert Blanchet and Father Modeste Demers opened a mission in Oregon’s Willamette Valley and Washington’s Cowlitz Valley.
Hudson’s By Company dominated its Columbia Department politically and economically. Canoe brigades carried supplies from, and furs to Lake Superior. Fur brigades penetrated the interior of the Columbia Department. Willamette Valley Methodist missionaries greeted the “Great Reinforcement” when they arrived aboard the ship Lausanne. Exuberant expansionist James K. Polk was elected President of the United States. He called for American jurisdiction over Oregon settlers. Oregon Country was plagued with nationalistic and racist feelings. Whitman’s Waiilatpu Mission was attacked on November 29, 1847. Thirteen people including the Whitmans were killed initially. Organic Act creating Oregon Territory was signed by President Polk August 14, 1848. Joe Lane was named territorial governor. Colonel William Loring led the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen over the Oregon Trail to provide protection to travelers and settlers alike.
Book 4, Settlement
Book 4 Overview
California gold spawned get-rich-quick dreams in Oregonians who less than a decade before had been completely dependent on Hudson’s Bay Company for their protection and livelihoods. Married men, bachelors, boys, military deserters and frustrated missionaries were among the first of the 49ers. Very few made fortunes, some made enough money to invest in other schemes, most made very little. Many more made money mining the miners: farmers sold their harvests at fantastic prices, eggs sold for $1-$3 each, butter at $6 a pound, Long Beach oystermen could get almost any price they had the guts to ask. But the real money was made by Midwest timber barons who milled the seemingly endless old growth cedar and fir trees into dressed limber, piled it on fleets of ships and sailed to San Francisco to attempt to appease the insatiable appetite for building material. Change was rapid. Oregon Territory’s government hanged five participants in the Whitman tragedy. Millard Fillmore became president on the death of Zachery Taylor. Congress passed the Oregon Donation Land Law giving 320 acres of land to qualified (not Indian) settlers. Treaties written with six Indians tribes were almost immediately broken by resentful land grabbers. The U.S. Senate refused to ratify any of the treaties with Oregon Territory Indians to the confusion of Indians and settlers alike.
Wanapum Indians lived along the Columbia River below the mouth of the Snake River. For centuries they practiced a religion known as Washani (dancers). Smohalla the Dreamer was accepted as a prophet and holy man. He opposed Christianity and told natives that if they returned to their old ways The Changer would drive off the invaders. This was the foundation of the Indians’ Dreamer Religion. Indian schools opened to impose American culture on native children in Washington Territory. Squaxin Island school educated Squaxin and Puyallup children. Puyallup School for Indian Education opened to provide a more convenient location. St. Anne’s Mission and Boys Day School opened on the Tulalip Reservation. The first Indian Boarding School in the United States opened on the Yakima Indian Reservation. Election of Abraham Lincoln brought Civil War to the nation. When Lincoln issued his call for support Washington Territory rallied. Women of the territory contributed clothing and hospital supplies in greater amounts than any other state or territory in the Union.
Women’s voting rights had been discussed in the Washington Territory legislature in 1866 and 1869 to no avail. Abigail Scott Duniway published The New Northwest, a weekly women’s suffrage newspaper, in Portland. Suffragist Lizzy Ordway served as secretary of the Washington Women’s Suffrage Organization. Her efforts resulted in the territorial legislature granting women the right to vote in school elections. Fifteen Thurston County women were among the first to vote in America when they cast ballots in the school election November 1870. Lizzie Ordway was elected School Superintendent of Kitsap County. Lumbering boomed in Washington Territory to meet local needs and California demands. Old growth stands of public forests were frequently raided by timber pirates. Steam powered sawmills efficiently, if dangerously, turned out dressed lumber to be carried south by fleets of sailing ships hauling lumber.
Northern Pacific Railway linked Duluth, Minnesota and the Great Lakes with the West coast September 11, 1883. Railroad companies sold the glories of the Pacific Northwest to Americans and Europeans alike even as the railroad bought politicians in Olympia and Portland. Washington Territory experienced a flurry of railroad construction projects as tributary shortline railroads stretched into coal fields, wheat growing regions and forest lands. Northern Pacific Railway’s Stampede Pass Tunnel through the Cascade Mountains linked the transcontinental track with Tacoma. Tacoma became the home of Foss tugboat company and the Ryan ore smelter. Washington Territory Legislature passed women’s suffrage on November 23, 1883 providing women the vote on local issues. Only Wyoming and Utah territories had enacted women’s suffrage earlier. Members of Seattle’s small African-American community rejoiced as they became the first politically organized group of black women ever to vote in the United States. However, women could not participate in national elections as federal laws denied the right.
Canadian railroad builder Jim Hill dreamed of a privately-owned transcontinental rail line. He undertook his goal by linking together short line routes into his Great Northern Railway. He built his “Coast Line” track to connect Seattle with the Canadian Pacific transcontinental rail terminal at New Westminster, B.C. Scheduled international train service from Seattle began in 1891. From Seattle Hill also laid track toward the Cascade Mountains to link with his mainline transcontinental track under construction from the east. Washington State experienced a booming economy. Farmers led the way as farms blessed with good climate, rich soil. abundant rainfall and a long growing season became very productive. Oystermen began to harvest oysters with such abandon they depleted stocks and fish canneries did the same. Northern Pacific Railroad developed the land along the Yakima River when the railroad’s Yakima Land and Canal Company built the Sunnyside Canal and sold irrigatable land. But Washington’s principal industries were extractive in nature: lumber and mining returned huge profits for company owners. Financial crisis again hit America as the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad went into bankruptcy. President Cleveland was sworn into office for a nonconsecutive second term. He did little to address the growing crisis. New York Stock Exchange crashed on June 27, 1893. Business activities slowed, Farm prices for crops and land dropped ever lower and unemployment swept across the nation. Men wandered the countryside looking for work. Public opinion began to slowly swing toward governmental activism and intervention to help the poor. U.S. Navy battleship Maine was sunk under mysterious circumstances in the harbor of Havana, Cuba February 15, 1898. William Randolph Hearst and his chain of newspapers assumed Spain had plotted the treachery. America declared war and a patriotic frenzy was ignited. The First Washington Volunteers under Colonel J.H. Wholley answered the call. Seven officers and one hundred-forty of these men suffered casualties. The Treaty of Paris ended the Spanish-American War. Critics accused the U.S. government of using the Maine as a pretext to gain an empire in the ten-week war.
Book 5, Development
Book 5 Overview
Gold rushes continued to enrich the nation and bolster the state of Washington. Socialist colonies sprung up in Pierce, Skagit and Island counties. Industrial Workers of the World radicalized the labor movement and women struggled to gain voting rights. Boarding schools deprived native children of their culture and Indian families of their children.
An interurban transportation system linked towns and cities providing passenger and freight service. Prosperity led to political reform: women in Washington regained voting rights; cities attacked local crime; and state voters demanded accountability from political leaders. Europe marched off to war as Germany attempted to expand its empire. The United States joined in the “war to end wars” as ancient European empires collapsed. Boeing built airplanes to supply the war effort. Unions took advantage of wartime needs with strikes to improve wages and working conditions and expand the labor movement. Having supported the victors, America’s economy rapidly expanded.
Communists organized in American to attack the capitalist financial system. In response a “Red Scare” swept the nation. Automobiles replaced the interurban transportation system. Prohibition attempted to diminish crime and social problems. Women’s voting rights were added to the U.S. Constitution. Electricity divided America into urban “haves” and rural “have-nots.” Economic Depression made everyone “have-nots.”
Economic Depression spread poverty, destroyed the nation’s confidence and crushed American values. Drought-stricken mid-westerners driven by poverty fled to the coasts. White males took shelter in “Hoovervilles” while women and children faced homelessness, scarcity and fear in families or alone.” Europe again erupted in war as Adolf Hitler imposed his will. President Franklin Roosevelt promised Americans a “New Deal.”
Imperial Japan imposed its will on Asia. America faced two wars simultaneously. Washington’s Japanese Americans were gathered in “Camp Harmony” before being shipped to internment camps. Women temporarily entered the work force to produce war goods in astonishing amounts. Atomic Power, born in part in Washington State, unleashed the threat of total annihilation on an unsuspecting world. Victory provided America economic prosperity and an opportunity to return to a male-dominated capitalistic society. America rescued Europe as the Marshall Plan provided, food, equipment, money and expertise to a stricken continent.
North Korea with the support of Communist China invaded South Korea destabilizing Asia. America strived to achieve the “American Dream” but minority Americans did not qualify. Communists in the USSR detonated a series of atomic bombs. American children practiced “duck and cover” drills in schools as adults contemplated nuclear annihilation. Washington state and national politicians reignited the “Red Scare.”
Nuclear war was very narrowly avoided by the U.S. and USSR. The Civil Rights Movement expanded from the South across the United States. Washington Indians demanded their treaty fishing rights be honored. Civil Rights marchers demanded minority groups be included in society. America entered the conflict in Viet Nam to stop the spread of Communism and entered the “Space Race” for the same reason. Boeing engineers made advances in air transportation, but the USSR led in space until American Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon.
America expanded the war in Viet Nam into Cambodia as campus protests across the nation led to college students being killed. Vice-President Spiro Agnew resigned from office for taking bribes before the Watergate scandal forced President Richard Nixon to resign from office in disgrace. Economic recession resulted in education funding being cut in Washington. Teachers went on strike in school districts across the state.
Disasters hit Washington’s logging industry when Mt. Saint Helens erupted destroying timber and powdering the state with volcanic ash. When the Northern Spotted Owl was placed on the endangered species list 30,000 timber jobs were lost. HIV/AIDS devastated America and the world. Crime alarmed the Puget Sound region as serial killer Ted Bundy was captured but the “Hillside Strangler” took his place. White supremacists conducted a statewide crime spree. A criminal syndicate led by the sheriff operated in Pierce County. State political leaders were convicted of corruption. The Green River Killer preyed on young women.
Iraq invaded Kuwait. The United Nations Security Council authorized military intervention in Iraq August 29, 1990. Army reservists were called to active duty across the United States as protestors took to the streets. President George H.W. Bush ordered Operation Desert Storm (First Gulf War) launched against military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. A cease fire was declared after 100 hours of devastation. Iraq threatened to build nuclear weapons. President George W. Bush announced a Second Gulf War and ordered more than 100 airstrikes on Iraq before announcing an invasion March 20, 2003.
The Communist government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) began to experience politically independent pressure as nationalist movements emerged in several of the republics. A coup to overthrow the Soviet Union president failed, but as the world watched in amazement the government disintegrated. President Mikhail Gorbachev resigned December 25, 1991 ending the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Native Americans exerted their treaty rights. Tacoma’s city and port and the city of Fife had expanded onto Puyallup Indian reservation land. The Puyallup Tribe sent eviction letters to farmers and landowners. Negotiations resulted in the tribe acquiring a $162 million settlement. In a court case Washington State treaty tribes retained the right to harvest shellfish even on private property. Makah Indians, reviving a protected ancient tradition, conducted a successful whale hunt December 1994.
Teacher strikes continued culminating in a stateside strike. Governor Booth Gardner and legislators took up education reform but ignored education funding. Commissions and Task Forces proposed that student learning goals and teacher accountability were the real issues facing education. Local school districts saw their funding slashed as corporate lobbying for billions of dollars in tax breaks and other benefits began. WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) testing was imposed to acquire a high school diploma. Problems of wide variations in individual schools’ performances and inconsistencies in test scoring soon surfaced. Controversy forced WASL testing to end in 2009.
Teachers in districts across the state went on strike as legislators focused attention on student testing rather than lack of school funding. Washington courts addressed the funding crisis and the state supreme court ruled legislators were in contempt of court for not meeting their paramount duty to fund education. Local and international events were of concern as The Green River serial killings continued for ten years. The United State entered a series of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Trade agreements with Europe and Asia were reached but rioters in Seattle protested the World Trade Organization agreement. Boeing absorbed its competitors and moved its headquarters out of Seattle. Several billionaires called Washington their home. Sound Transit began to link the cities and towns of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties with a transportation network reminiscent of the Interurban system.