Authored by Clinton A. Snowden and overseen by a prominent advisory board of early political leaders, History of Washington: The Rise and Progress of an American State is a sweeping, multi-volume chronicle of the region's transition from indigenous territory to an industrialized modern commonwealth. The expansive work traces the narrative arc of maritime exploration, the fur trade, and grueling pioneer settlement, framing the political and economic development of the Pacific Northwest as an inevitable triumph of American enterprise. Drawing upon early archival records and the firsthand accounts of territorial founders, the text serves as a definitive, progressive-era monument to the state’s founding generation. A keen insight drawn from the work is how the overt involvement of powerful civic figures on the book's advisory board functioned to canonize a highly curated, top-down historical narrative; by having former governors and judges directly steer the project, the publication operated less as objective history and more as a state-sponsored ideological tool to legitimize the political authority and territorial conquests of Washington's pioneer elite.

Biographies, History, Washington (État) Biographies, Washington (État) Histoire, Washington (State), Washington (State) Biography, Washington (State) History

Vol. 1 A question of title Spanish discoverers English discoverers Russians, French and Dutch The Americans appear Gray discovers the Columbia Vancouver's explorations Mackenzie and Fraser Thomas Jefferson and John Ledyard Lewis and Clark Years of indifference The astor expedition by sea Mr. Astor's overland party The British fur traders The native inhabitants The first white men in Oregon Dr. John McLoughlin Vol. 2 The trailmakers Diplomacy Early deliberations in congress "Come over and help us." Marcus Whitman and his associates The catholic missionaries The Wilkes expedition A champion appears The early immigrants The provisional government organized The massacre The rescue Retribution The boundary fixed Old fort nisqually The irresistable settler arrives The great migration Vol. 3 Perils and trials of the trial The settlers' cabin Government gets started Progress of settlement The progress of events Waning power of the Hudson's bay The territory organized The first territorial legislature Treaties with the Indians War begins The war east of the mountains The war west of the mountains War at cross purposes Martial law Vol. 4 The war ends Fraser river and San Juan Early settlers in eastern Washington The civil war Progress of events "The god terminus" Civil affairs The railroad completed The anti-Chinese movement The lumber industry Schools and colleges Statehood

Includes indexListed in: The Washington 89 / by George H. Tweney

Includes indexListed in: The Washington 89 / by George H. Tweney