Historical Events in the Pacific Northwest

A chronological listing of historical events that have shaped the history of the Pacific Northwest, including treaties, wars, and other notable events.


1543

  • Bartolomé Ferrelo visits the southwest coast of Oregon near Cape Orford

1565

  • Manila Galleon trade route opens acorss the North Pacific

1579

  • Sir Francis Drake allegedly visits Oregon

1603

  • Sebastian Vizcaino possibly sights Cape Sebastian

1700

  • 1700 Cascadia Earthquake

1707

  • San Francisco Xavier probablly wrecks at Nehalem

1738

  • Pierre Gaultier de la Verendrye leads first expeddition into Oregon

1765

  • First ue of word "Ouragon" in Maj. Robert Rogers' petition to explore American West

1774

  • Juan Perez in the Santiago makes first contact with the Northern Haida

1775

  • Capt. Bruno Hezeta sees mouth of Columbia River and names it Rio San Roque

1778

  • Capt. James Cook makes landfall at Cape Foulweather and discovers fur wealth of Northwest Coast

1780

  • Chief Seattle born

1788

  • Capt. Robert Gray trades with tribes in Tillamook Bay
  • Sacagawea born

1789

  • Nootka Crisis begins

1790

  • Nootka Convention

1792

  • Capt. Robert Gray enters and names the Columbia River
  • Capt. George Vancouver expedition charts Columbia estuary
  • Lt. William E. Broughton names Mount Hood

1793

  • Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Pacific Ocean

1794

  • Fort St. John established

1804

  • President Thomas Jefferson dispatches Lewis and Clark Expedition

1805

  • Lewis and Clark Expedition explores lower Snake and Columbia Rivers and establishes Fort Clatsop
  • Fort Nelson established

1806

  • Lewis and Clark returns to the United States

1807

  • Fort George (Prince George) founded

1808

  • Simon Fraser explores the Fraser River

1811

  • John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company establishes Fort Astoria
  • David Thompson charts the Columbia River
  • Destruction of the Tonquin

1812

  • Overland Astorians diiscover South Pass in Wyoming, later route of Oregon Trail
  • Fort Kamloops established

1813

  • North West Company purchases Fort Astoria and names it Fort George

1818

  • Treaty of 1818
  • North West Company eatablishes Fort Nez Perce

1819

  • Adams-Onis Treaty cedes Spain's discovery rights north of 42 degrees to the United States

1821

  • Hudson's Bay Company subsumes North West Company

1824

  • Dr. John McLoughlin begins long tenure as Chief Factor for Hudson's Bay Company

1825

  • Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River established
  • Fort Colvile established

1827

  • Fort Langley established

1832

  • Nathaniel Wyeth enters Oregon fur trade

1833

  • First lumber exports by Hudson's Bay Company to China
  • Fort Nisqually established

1834

  • Fort Hall established
  • Fort Boise established
  • Abigail Scott Duniway born

1836

  • First steamship Beaver begins service for Hudson's Bay Company on the Columbia River
  • Whitman Mission established
  • Spalding Mission established

1838

  • Willamette Cattle Company drives livestock overland from California
  • First Catholic Mass in the Pacific Northwest
  • The Dalles founded

1840

  • Chief Joseph born
  • Salem founded

1841

  • Wilkes Expedition surveys the Northwest

1842

  • Mount St. Helens 1842 eruption
  • Willamette University founded

1843

  • First large migration of over 900 immigrants arrives via Oregon Trail
  • Champoeg Meetings
  • Fort Victoria established

1844

  • First town plat surveyed at Oregon City
  • Oregon City incorporated
  • Fifty-Four Forty or Fight

1845

  • Corvallis founded as Marysville
  • Meek Cut off opens as alleged short cut to Oregon Trail
  • Estimated 3000 overland immigrants arrive
  • Oregon Provisonal Government formed, George Abernathy elected first governor
  • Francis Pettygrove and A.L. Lovejoy name Portland and commence plat of city
  • Jason Lee dies

1846

  • Oregon Treaty
  • Applegate Trail, alternative to Oregon Trail opens
  • Barlow Road opens
  • Oregon Spectator first published

1847

  • Whitman Massacre
  • Cayuse War begins

1848

  • Territory of Oregon
  • Fort Hope established
  • Fort Yale established

1849

  • Colony of Vancouver Island
  • Pacific University founded
  • Fort Rupert established

1850

  • Donation Land Claim Act
  • Fort Dalles established
  • Douglas Treaties begin on Vancouver Island
  • The Oregonian founded

1851

  • Port Townsend founded
  • Gold discovered in Jacksonville
  • Portland incorporated as a city
  • Denny Party lands at Alki Point
  • Cowlitz Convention

1852

  • Ashland founded
  • Monticello Convention
  • Jacksonville founded
  • King County created
  • The Columbian first published
  • Nanaimo founded
  • Coupeville founded

1853

  • Territory of Washington
  • Colony of Queen Charlotte Islands formed
  • Isaac Stevens arrives as first Territorial Governor
  • Cataldo Mission completed
  • Port Gamble founded
  • Yesler's Mill opens
  • Seattle townsite plat filed

1854

  • First documented ascent of Mount Adams
  • Treaty of Medicine Creek signed
  • First ascent of Mount Hood
  • Oregon adopts Alis Volat Propriis motto

1855

  • Treaty of Point Elliott Signed
  • Treaty of Neah Bay
  • Treaty of Olympia
  • Puget Sound War begins
  • Yakima War begins
  • Walla Walla Council
  • Treaty of Point No Point

1856

  • Astoria incorporated
  • Rogue River Wars conclude
  • Battle of Seattle

1857

  • Cape Flattery Lighthouse illuminated
  • Vancouver, WA incorporated
  • Northwest Boundary Survey begins
  • Death of Dr. John McLoughlin
  • The Dalles incorporated

1858

  • Battle of Four Lakes
  • Fraser Canyon Gold Rush
  • Steptoe Disaster
  • Battle of Spokane Plains
  • Launch of The British Colonist Newspaper
  • Execution of Chief Leschi
  • BC creates Provincial Police
  • Linfield College founded

1859

  • Okanagan Mission established
  • Oregon Statehood
  • The Pig War Begins
  • Olympia incorporated
  • New Westminster founded

1860

  • Gold discovered at Pierce, Idaho
  • Port Townsend incorporated

1861

  • First Oregon State Fair
  • Cariboo Gold Rush
  • Great Flood of 1862
  • Lewiston founded
  • University of Washington established

1862

  • Walla Walla incorporated
  • Gold discovered in the Boise Basin
  • Port Angeles founded
  • Barkerville founded
  • Isaac Stevens dies at Chantilly
  • Stikine Territory formed
  • Idaho City founded
  • Victoria incorporated
  • Eugene incorporated

1863

  • Territory of Idaho
  • Fort Boise (Military) established

1864

  • Boise incorporated as a city
  • First telegraph line reaches Seattle
  • First Mercer Girls arrive in Seattle
  • Telegraph line connects Portland-Sacramento
  • Idaho Capital Moved to Boise
  • Chilcotin War
  • Port Blakely founded
  • Silver City founded
  • Idaho City incorporated
  • Albany incorporated
  • Idaho Statesman founded

1865

  • Cariboo Wagon Road completed
  • Ediz Hook Lighthouse activated
  • Fort Stevens commissioned
  • Baker City founded
  • Esquimalt Naval Base established
  • Collins Overland Telegraph reaches BC
  • Penticton founded

1866

  • Colony of British Columbia
  • Chief Seattle dies
  • Oregon State Penitentiary moves to Salem
  • Newport founded
  • Salmon founded

1867

  • Linkville (Klamath Falls) founded

1868

  • Great Fire of Barkerville
  • Pendleton founded
  • Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868
  • First ascent of Mount Baker
  • Oregon State University founded
  • Victoria named capital of united British Columbia

1869

  • Seattle formally incorporated

1870

  • First documented ascent of Mount Rainier

1871

  • British Columbia Enters Confederation
  • Emily Carr born

1872

  • San Juan Boundary Dispute Resolved
  • North Cascades Earthquake
  • Modoc War begins

1873

  • Great fire destroyes most of downtown Portland, Oregon
  • Tacoma selected as Northern Pacific terminus

1874

  • Marshfield (Coos Bay) incorporated

1875

  • Sinking of the SS Pacific

1876

  • University of Oregon established
  • Hillsboro incorporated

1877

  • James Douglas dies
  • Nez Perce War begins
  • Battle of White Bird Canyon
  • Chief Joseph surrenders

1878

  • Bannock War
  • Fort Coeur d'Alene established

1879

  • Richmond incorporated
  • Sheepeater Indian War

1880

  • Pendleton incorporated
  • Sandpoint founded
  • Ketchum founded
  • Steveston founded

1881

  • Tillamook Rock Lighthouse illuminated
  • Northern Pacific Railway reaches Spokane
  • William E. Boeing born
  • Spokane Falls incorporated

1882

  • Pocatello founded
  • Surrey incorporated
  • Eastern Washington University founded

1883

  • Medford founded
  • Completion of the Northern Pacific Railway
  • Nampa founded
  • Rogers Pass discovered
  • Rexburg founded

1884

  • Wallace founded
  • Discovery of silver in the Coeur d'Alenes

1885

  • Completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway
  • Ezra Pound born in Hailey
  • Tacoma Chinese expulsion

1886

  • Royal British Columbia Museum founded
  • Yakima incorporated
  • City of Vancouver Incorporated
  • Great Vancouver Fire
  • Seattle anti-Chinese riots
  • Yoho National Park created
  • Glacier National Park (Canada) created

1887

  • First transcontinental train arrives in Vancouver
  • Gonzaga University founded
  • Coeur d'Alene incorporated
  • Morrison Bridge opens in Portland
  • Moscow incorporated
  • Nelson founded

1888

  • Sinking of the SS Beaver
  • Stampede Pass Tunnel opens
  • First ascent of Mount Jefferson
  • Stanley Park opens

1889

  • Idaho Constitution adopted
  • Washington Statehood
  • Pocatello incorporated
  • Great Seattle Fire
  • Great Spokane Fire
  • Capilano Suspension Bridge first built
  • Klamath Falls incorporated
  • University of Idaho founded
  • Great Ellensburg Fire

1890

  • Idaho Statehood
  • Wenatchee founded
  • Nampa incorporated
  • Pacific Lutheran University founded
  • Pullman incorporated
  • Caldwell incorporated

1891

  • Eagle Rock renamed Idaho Falls
  • Seattle Pacific University founded
  • Central Washington University founded
  • Puget Sound Naval Shipyard established
  • Seattle University founded
  • Coquitlam incorporated
  • North Vancouver incorporated
  • Seattle Times founded

1892

  • Coeur d'Alene Miners' Strike
  • Wenatchee incorporated
  • Washington State College opens
  • Burnaby incorporated
  • Portland Art Museum founded

1893

  • Everett incorporated
  • Western Washington University founded
  • Kamloops incorporated
  • Great Northern Railway reaches Seattle
  • Beaverton incorporated

1894

  • Heceta Head Lighthouse illuminated
  • Great Fraser River Flood of 1894

1896

  • Women's Suffrage in Idaho
  • Republic Gold Rush

1897

  • BC Electric Railway begins
  • Nelson incorporated
  • Klondike Gold Rush begins with arrival of Portland

1898

  • Oregon Historical Society founded
  • BC Parliament Buildings completed

1899

  • Coeur d'Alene mining strike of 1899
  • Mount Rainier National Park established
  • Revelstoke incorporated
  • Chief Dan George born

1900

  • Weyerhaeuser Timber Company founded

1901

  • Bremerton incorporated
  • Idaho State University founded
  • Linus Pauling born
  • Sandpoint incorporated
  • University of Portland founded

1902

  • Oregon System Adopted
  • Crater Lake National Park established
  • BC Packers Association incorporated
  • Yacolt Burn

1903

  • Victoria College founded
  • Bing Crosby born in Tacoma
  • Bellingham incorporated
  • Meridian incorporated
  • Alaska Boundary Dispute resolved
  • Heppner Flood
  • James Beard born

1904

  • Butchart Gardens established
  • Twin Falls founded
  • Minidoka Project authorized
  • Oregon adopts the Direct Primary
  • Sinking of the SS Clallam

1905

  • Kelowna incorporated
  • Bend incorporated
  • Twin Falls incorporated
  • Sawtooth National Forest created
  • Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition
  • Assassination of Frank Steunenberg

1906

  • Sinking of the SS Valencia
  • Wreck of the Peter Iredale
  • Ezra Meeker retraces the Oregon Trail
  • First ascent of Mount Shuksan
  • Prince Rupert founded

1907

  • Portland Rose Festival begins
  • Shoshone Falls Power Plant built
  • Trial of Big Bill Haywood
  • Pike Place Market opens
  • Bellingham Riots

1908

  • Reed College founded
  • Penticton incorporated
  • Nez Perce National Forest established

1909

  • Mount Olympus National Monument created
  • Pendleton Round-Up begins
  • Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition
  • Tillamook County Creamery Association formed

1910

  • Women's Suffrage in Washington
  • Great Fire of 1910 (The Big Blowup)
  • Wellington Avalanche
  • Jantzen Knitting Mills established
  • Pacific National Exhibition founded

1911

  • Strathcona Provincial Park created
  • Oregon Trunk Railroad reaches Bend
  • Malahat Highway opens
  • Port of Seattle created

1912

  • First ascent of Borah Peak
  • Women's Suffrage in Oregon
  • Pacific Great Eastern Railway incorporated
  • Morrison-Knudsen founded
  • Washington adopts Initiative and Referendum
  • Minoru Yamasaki born
  • Vancouver Sun founded

1913

  • Washington State Parks created

1914

  • Snoqualmie Tunnel opens
  • Komagata Maru incident
  • Smith Tower completed

1915

  • Crater Lake Lodge opens
  • Prince George incorporated
  • University of British Columbia opens
  • Arrowrock Dam completed

1916

  • Everett Massacre
  • Boeing Company Founded
  • Statewide Prohibition begins in Washington and Oregon
  • Columbia River Highway dedicated
  • Beverly Cleary born

1917

  • Interstate Bridge opens
  • Women's Suffrage in British Columbia
  • Lake Washington Ship Canal opens

1918

  • Sinking of the SS Princess Sophia
  • Vista House dedicated
  • Spanish Flu reaches the Northwest

1919

  • Seattle General Strike
  • Centralia Massacre
  • Oregon introduces first gasoline tax
  • First flight of the Boeing B-1
  • Merce Cunningham born

1920

  • Idaho State Capitol completed

1921

  • Sinking of the SS Governor
  • Peace Arch dedicated
  • Oregon State Parks system created

1922

  • KGW Radio begins broadcasting
  • Oregon passes Compulsory Education Act

1923

  • Banff-Windermere Highway opens
  • Pacific Highway completed

1924

  • Craters of the Moon National Monument established
  • Arthur Erickson born
  • Longview incorporated
  • Gorge Powerhouse completed

1925

  • Second Narrows Bridge opens
  • Oregon State Flag adopted
  • Boise Union Pacific Depot dedicated
  • Multnomah Falls Lodge opens

1926

  • Astoria Column dedicated
  • Bridge of the Gods (modern) completed
  • Varney Air Lines begins operation

1927

  • American Falls Dam completed
  • Garibaldi Provincial Park created

1928

  • Washington State Legislative Building completed
  • Owyhee Irrigation Project authorized

1929

  • New Cascade Tunnel opens
  • Vancouver Amalgamation
  • Seattle-First National Bank established

1930

  • Diablo Dam completed

1931

  • Oregon State Police created
  • Vancouver International Airport opens
  • First nonstop transpacific flight
  • St. Johns Bridge opens
  • Vancouver Art Gallery opens

1932

  • Owyhee Dam Completed
  • Oregon Coast Highway completed
  • Aurora Bridge opens in Seattle
  • First Narrows Water Tunnel completed

1933

  • Grand Coulee Dam Construction Begins
  • Tillamook Burn Begins
  • Boeing 247 first flight
  • Silver Falls State Park established
  • Seattle Art Museum opens
  • Willamette National Forest established

1934

  • West Coast Waterfront Strike

1935

  • Oregon Shakespeare Festival founded
  • Oregon State Capitol destroyed by fire
  • Deception Pass Bridge completed
  • Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress first flight
  • MV Kalakala launched

1936

  • Milton-Freewater Earthquake
  • Vancouver City Hall completed
  • Sun Valley Resort Opens
  • Yaquina Bay Bridge opens
  • McCullough Memorial Bridge opens

1937

  • Bonneville Dam Completed
  • Pattullo Bridge Opens
  • Timberline Lodge dedicated
  • Idaho Potato Commission established
  • Ross Dam construction begins

1938

  • Boeing 314 Clipper first flight
  • Lions Gate Bridge opens
  • Olympic National Park established
  • New Oregon State Capitol dedicated
  • Magic Mile ski lift opens at Mount Hood

1939

  • Idaho State Police created
  • Ernest Hemingway arrives in Ketchum

1940

  • Original Tacoma Narrows Bridge opens
  • William Borah dies
  • First floating bridge opens across Lake Washington
  • Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapses

1941

  • Grand Coulee Dam begins generating power
  • J.R. Simplot pioneers dehydrated potatoes

1942

  • Farragut Naval Training Station opens
  • Canadian Pacific Airlines founded
  • Executive Order 9066
  • Jimi Hendrix born
  • Alaska Highway construction begins
  • Japanese submarine attacks Fort Stevens
  • Vanport City constructed

1943

  • Hanford Site Established
  • Boeing B-29 Superfortress rolls out in Renton

1944

  • Seattle-Tacoma International Airport dedicated
  • Alaska Airlines adopts its name
  • OMSI founded
  • Hanford B Reactor goes critical

1945

  • Japanese balloon bomb tragedy in Oregon

1946

  • Vancouver Island Earthquake
  • Portland State University founded

1947

  • Boeing B-47 Stratojet first flight
  • Boeing 377 Stratocruiser first flight

1948

  • Vanport Flood
  • KING-TV begins broadcasting
  • Mud Mountain Dam completed

1949

  • Hope-Princeton Highway Opens
  • Olympia Earthquake
  • National Reactor Testing Station established

1950

  • Second Tacoma Narrows Bridge opens
  • Anderson Ranch Dam completed
  • Agate Pass Bridge opens
  • Seattle Seafair begins

1951

  • Washington State Ferries created
  • First Nuclear Power Generated
  • Columbia Basin Project delivers first water

1952

  • John Hart Highway opens
  • Boeing B-52 Stratofortress first flight
  • Frye Art Museum opens

1953

  • Bellevue incorporated
  • Trans Mountain Pipeline completed
  • CBUT begins broadcasting
  • Detroit Dam completed

1954

  • Boeing Dash 80 first flight
  • Kemano Hydroelectric Project generates power
  • McNary Dam dedicated
  • KCTS-TV begins broadcasting
  • Dexter Dam completed

1955

  • Chief Joseph Dam begins power generation
  • Bill Gates born

1956

  • William E. Boeing dies
  • Vancouver Aquarium opens
  • Boeing KC-135 first flight

1957

  • Celilo Falls inundated

1958

  • Ironworkers Memorial Bridge collapse
  • Ripple Rock destroyed in massive non-nuclear explosion
  • Richland incorporated

1959

  • Portland Zoo moves to Washington Park

1960

  • Vanguard 1 explosion over BC

1961

  • Hood Canal Bridge opens

1962

  • Century 21 Exposition opens
  • Columbus Day Storm
  • Vantage Bridge replaces historic crossing

1963

  • Evergreen Point Floating Bridge opens

1964

  • Survival of American Indians Association founded
  • Marlon Brando joins Puyallup fish-in
  • Columbia River Treaty ratified

1965

  • Fish Wars escalate at Frank's Landing

1966

  • Astoria-Megler Bridge opens

1967

  • Oregon Beach Bill signed
  • Hells Canyon Dam completed

1969

  • Seattle Pilots play their only season
  • Interstate 5 completed in Washington

1970

  • Puyallup armed encampment
  • Occupation of Fort Lawton

1971

  • Governor Tom McCall's "Visit, but don't stay" speech
  • D.B. Cooper hijacking
  • The Boeing Bust
  • Starbucks founded
  • Nike officially established

1973

  • Calder v. British Columbia
  • Fremont Bridge opens in Portland
  • Dworshak Dam completed

1974

  • The Boldt Decision
  • Expo '74 opens in Spokane
  • Lake Sammamish abductions

1976

  • Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act
  • Teton Dam collapse
  • First commercial nuclear power in the Northwest

1977

  • Portland Trail Blazers win NBA Championship
  • Daybreak Star Cultural Center completed

1979

  • Supreme Court upholds Boldt Decision
  • Microsoft moves to Washington
  • Seattle SuperSonics win NBA Championship
  • Hood Canal Bridge sinks

1980

  • Mount St. Helens eruption
  • Boldt Phase II filed

1981

  • Rajneeshpuram established

1983

  • WPPSS nuclear default
  • Wah Mee Massacre
  • Costco founded in Seattle

1984

  • Rajneeshee bioterror attack
  • Pioneer Courthouse Square opens

1985

  • SkyTrain begins operation

1986

  • Expo 86 opens in Vancouver
  • MAX Light Rail opens
  • Mount Hood climbing disaster

1989

  • Centennial Accord signed

1990

  • Northern Spotted Owl listed as threatened

1991

  • Nirvana releases Nevermind

1992

  • Ruby Ridge standoff

1993

  • Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak
  • President Clinton convenes the Forest Conference

1994

  • Amazon.com founded in Bellevue
  • Rafeedie Decision on Shellfish

1996

  • Willamette Valley Flood of 1996
  • Kennewick Man (The Ancient One) discovered

1997

  • Delgamuukw v. British Columbia
  • Oregon Death with Dignity Act takes effect

1999

  • Makah Tribe successfully resumes whaling
  • Olympic Pipeline explosion
  • WTO Protests (The Battle in Seattle)

2000

  • Kingdome imploded
  • Nisga'a Final Agreement takes effect

2001

  • Nisqually Earthquake
  • Seattle Mariners win 116 games

2003

  • First US Mad Cow case confirmed in Washington

2004

  • Nez Perce Water Rights Settlement

2006

  • Hanukkah Eve Windstorm

2007

  • Culverts Decision injunction issued
  • Great Coastal Gale of 2007

2008

  • Seattle SuperSonics relocate

2010

  • 2010 Winter Olympics open in Vancouver

2011

  • Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot
  • Elwha Dam removal begins
  • Condit Dam breached

2012

  • Washington legalizes recreational cannabis
  • Washington legalizes same-sex marriage

2014

  • Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl XLVIII
  • Oso Mudslide
  • Death of Billy Frank Jr.
  • Seattle adopts $15 minimum wage
  • Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia
  • Oregon legalizes recreational cannabis

2015

  • Billy Frank Jr. awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom

2016

  • Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
  • Lummi Nation defeats Cherry Point coal terminal

2017

  • Kennewick Man (The Ancient One) reburied
  • Great American Eclipse
  • Eagle Creek Fire

2018

  • Supreme Court affirms the Culverts Decision
  • Horizon Air Q400 incident

2019

  • Alaskan Way Viaduct closes

2020

  • First US COVID-19 case confirmed
  • Life Care Center of Kirkland outbreak
  • CHOP established in Seattle
  • Portland racial justice protests peak
  • Labor Day Wildfire Storm