View source for History of Washington (state)

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{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}

[[File:Flag of Washington.svg|thumb|300px|Washington's [[Flag of Washington|state flag]] since 1967]]
The '''history of Washington''' includes thousands of years of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] history before Europeans arrived and began to establish territorial claims. The region was part of [[Oregon Territory]] from 1848 to 1853, after which it was separated from Oregon and established as [[Washington Territory]] following the efforts at the [[Monticello Convention]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Weber |first1= Dennis P.|date= 2003 |title=The Creation of Washington: Securing Democracy North of the Columbia|url= https://www.washingtonhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/fall-2003-weber.pdf|journal=Columbia - the Magazine of Northwest History|volume= 17|issue= 3 |access-date=9 September 2019}}</ref> On November 11, 1889, Washington became the 42nd state of the [[United States]].

== Prehistory and cultures ==
Archaeological evidence shows that the [[Pacific Northwest]] was one of the first populated areas in North America. Both animal and human bones dating back to 13,000 years old have been found across Washington and evidence of [[Marmes Rockshelter|human habitation]] in the [[Olympic Peninsula]] dates back to approximately 9,000 BCE, 3,000 to 5,000 years after massive flooding of the [[Columbia River]] which carved the [[Columbia Gorge]].<ref>Collier, Donald, Alfred Hudson, and Arlo Ford..  "Archaeology of the Upper Columbia Region". Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1942.</ref>

Anthropologists estimate there were 125 distinct Northwest tribes and 50 languages and dialects in existence before the arrival of Euro-Americans in this region. Throughout the [[Puget Sound]] region, coastal tribes made use of the region's abundant natural resources, subsisting primarily on salmon, halibut, shellfish, and whale. [[Western Red Cedar|Cedar]] was an important building material and was used by tribes to build both longhouses and large [[canoe]]s. Clothing was also made from the bark of cedar trees. The Columbia River tribes became the richest of the Washington tribes through their control of Celilo Falls, historically the richest salmon fishing location in the Northwest. These falls on the Columbia River, east of present-day [[The Dalles, Oregon]], were part of the path millions of salmon took to spawn. The presence of private wealth among the more aggressive coastal tribes encouraged gender divisions, as women took on prominent roles as traders and men participated in warring and captive-taking with other tribes. The eastern tribes, called the Plateau tribes, survived through seasonal hunting, fishing, and gathering. Tribal work among the Plateau Indians was also gender-divided, with both men and women responsible for equal parts of the food supply.<ref>Armitage, Susan. "Tied to Other Lives: Women in Pacific Northwest History." ''Women in Pacific Northwest History''. Ed. Karen J. Blair. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998.</ref>

The principal tribes of the coastal areas include the [[Chinookan peoples|Chinook]], [[Lummi people|Lummi]], [[Quinault people|Quinault]], [[Makah people|Makah]], [[Quileute (tribe)|Quileute]], and [[Snohomish tribe|Snohomish]]. The Plateau tribes include the [[Klickitat (tribe)|Klickitat]], [[Cayuse people|Cayuse]], [[Nez Perce tribe|Nez Percé]], [[Okanagan people|Okanogan]], [[Palus (tribe)|Palouse]], [[Spokane (tribe)|Spokane]], [[Wenatchi|Wenatchee]], and [[Yakama]]. Today, Washington contains more than 20 Indian reservations, the largest of which is for the Yakama.<ref>{{cite web
 |title       = Washington State Native American Tribes
 |publisher   = TribalQuest
 |url         = http://ttt.pugetsoundcenter.org/projects/1998/web/tribal/tribesofwa.htm
 |access-date  = 2008-04-10
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20030305211147/http://ttt.pugetsoundcenter.org/projects/1998/web/tribal/tribesofwa.htm
 |archive-date = 2003-03-05
}}
</ref>

At [[Makah people|Ozette]], in the northwest corner of the state, an ancient village was covered by a mud slide, perhaps triggered by an earthquake about 500 years ago. More than 50,000 well-preserved artifacts have been found and cataloged, many of which are now on display at the Makah Cultural and Research Center in [[Neah Bay, Washington|Neah Bay]]. Other sites have also revealed how long people have been there. Thumbnail-sized quartz knife blades found at the Hoko River site near Clallam Bay are believed to be 2,500 years old.

==European Colony==
[[File:Probably George Vancouver from NPG.jpg|thumb|279x279px|A portrait from the late [[18th century]] by an unknown artist,  believed to depict Captain [[George Vancouver]] (1757-1798), a [[British people|British]] naval explorer in 1792, who claimed the territory of modern-day [[Washington (state)|Washington state]] in the [[Pacific Northwest]] region along the [[West Coast of North America|West Coast]] of [[North America]] for the [[United Kingdom]] / [[British Empire]] and named the inlet / bay of [[Puget Sound]].]]

===Early European and American exploration===
The first [[Europe]]an record of a landing on the future [[Washington (state)|Washington state]] coast was in 1774 by [[Spain|Spaniard]] mariner  [[Juan José Pérez Hernández]] (c.1725-1775), sailing for the [[Kingdom of Spain]] / [[Spanish Empire]]. One year later, another Spanish-[[Basques|Basque]] Captain [[Bruno de Heceta|Don Bruna de Heceta]] (1747-1807), on board the ''Santiago'', part of a two-ship flotilla with the accompanying ''Sonora'', landed near the mouth of the [[Quinault River]] and claimed the coastal lands for [[Spain]] as far north up to the already present colonists of the [[Russian Empire]] possessions, originally discovered / claimed by Captain [[Vitus Bering]] (1681-1741), (a [[Denmark|Danish]] mariner sailing the coasts of the northern Pacific for [[Russia]] and its rapidly expanding [[Russian Empire]] across the [[Bering Strait]] and [[Bering Sea]] (named for him) coming from eastern [[Siberia]] and [[Asia]]) further up the Pacific coast in [[Russian America]] since the [[1740s]] (modern [[Alaska]], purchased by the United States in 1867).

In 1778, the [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Royal Navy]] explorer Captain [[James Cook]] (1728-1779), sighted [[Cape Flattery (Washington)|Cape Flattery]], at the entrance of the [[Puget Sound]] at the [[Strait of Juan de Fuca]]. But the strait itself was not found until almost a decade later when [[Charles William Barkley]] (c.1759-1832), captain of the ''[[Imperial Eagle (ship)|Imperial Eagle]]'', sighted it in 1787. Captain Barkley named it for the earlier [[Spain|Spanish]]-[[Greece|Greek]] explorer [[Juan de Fuca]] (1536-1602). The Spanish-British treaties of the [[Nootka Convention]]s of the [[1790s]] ended Spanish exclusivity and opened the Northwest North America Coast to explorers and traders from other nations, most important being the future British, Russians, and Americans of the United States. Further explorations of the straits were performed again by Spanish-[[Peru]]vian explorer [[Manuel Quimper]] (1757-1844), in 1790 and a year later by [[Francisco de Eliza]] (1759-1825), in 1791 and then the following year of 1792, came the arrival by British [[Royal Navy]] Captain [[George Vancouver]] (1757-1798). Captain Vancouver claimed the sound and coast for Britain and named the waters originally to the far south of the [[Tacoma Narrows]] as the [[Puget Sound|Puget's Sound]], in honor of [[Peter Puget]] (1765-1822), (who was the young [[Royal Navy]] naval lieutenant accompanying him on the [[Vancouver Expedition]] of 1791-1795, (later in his naval career he became a [[rear admiral (United Kingdom)|rear admiral]]). The name later came to be used also for the waters north of the Tacoma Narrows as well.<ref>{{cite book |last= Kruckeberg |first= Arthur R. |title= The Natural History of Puget Sound Country |year= 1991 |publisher= University of Washington Press |location= Seattle |isbn= 0-295-97477-X |pages= 427–428}}</ref> Captain Vancouver and his expedition mapped the Pacific coast of western [[North America]] in 1792 to 1794, including the then large tract of the [[Oregon Country]] composed later of future [[Territories of the United States|territories]] / then [[U.S. states|states]] of [[Oregon]] and [[Washington (state)|Washington]] / [[Idaho]],  plus to the north of the [[Canada|Canadian]] colonies of [[British North America]] of the [[Colony of Vancouver Island]] on off-shore [[Vancouver Island]] and the mainland's [[Columbia District|Columbia District / then later renamed Department]], on the continent. Then subsequently after several decades in 1858 / 1866 into the [[Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866)|Colony of British Columbia]], eventually merging the island and mainland becoming by 1866, the modern [[British Columbia]], later joining the 1867 [[Canadian confederation|confederation]] formed further east of the [[Canada|Dominion of Canada]] four years later in 1871 as the western-most [[province (Canada)|province]]) in the [[Pacific Northwest]] region.<ref>{{cite book
  | editor-last = Vexler
  | editor-first = Robert I.
  | editor2-last = Swindler
  | editor2-first = William F.
  | title = Chronology and Documentary Handbook of the State of Washington
  | publisher = Oceana Publications, Inc.
  | year = 1979
  | location = New York}}
</ref>[[File:Lewis and Clark Expedition map.svg|thumb|355x355px|Map of the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Lewis and Clark expedition]] of 1804-1806, northwest through the newly-acquired [[Louisiana Purchase]] of 1803.|left]]Captain [[Robert Gray (sea-captain)|Robert Gray]] (1755-1806) (for whom [[Grays Harbor County]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington]] was named), a civilian [[sea captain]] of a merchantman cargo vessel, discovered the mouth of the [[Columbia River]] along the  [[West Coast of the United States|West Coast]] of the [[North America]] continent in the  [[Pacific Northwest]] region in 1792, naming the river after his ship ''"Columbia"'' and later establishing a trade in [[sea otter]], [[Pinniped|seal]] and [[walrus]] fur pelts in the surrounding [[Pacific Northwest]] region. The [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] (1804-1806), with their Corps of Discovery sent by the direction of third [[President of the United States|President]] [[Thomas Jefferson]] (1743-1826, served 1801-1809), entered the region from the east on October 10, 1805, having journeyed upstream on the [[Missouri River]] and through the passes in the [[Rocky Mountains]] chain, then downstream through the [[Snake River]] and [[Columbia River]] valleys to the coast. Explorers and scientific observers [[Meriwether Lewis]] (1774-1809), and [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]] (1770-1838), were surprised by the differences in the various [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] / Indian tribes in the [[Pacific Northwest]] from those they had encountered earlier in the expedition trip on the [[Great Plains]], noting, in particular, the increased status of women among both coastal and upper plateau / mountain tribes. Lewis hypothesized that the equality of women and the elderly with men, was linked to more evenly distributed economic roles.
[[File:Lewis_and_clark-expedition.jpg|thumb|300x300px|[[Lewis and Clark]]'s expedition [[Corps of Discovery]] meet the [[Chinook people|Chinooks]] on the [[Columbia River|Lower Columbia River]] in October 1805, (''Lewis and Clark on the Lower Columbia'', artwork painted by [[Charles Marion Russel]] (1864-1926), a century later after the event {{circa}} 1905)]]
British / Canadian explorer, surveyor / cartographer and fur trader  [[David Thompson (explorer)|David Thompson]] (1770-1857), extensively explored the [[Columbia River]] two years later, commencing in 1807. Four years later in 1811, he became the first [[Demographics of Europe|European]] to navigate the entire length of the river westward downstream to its mouth on the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Along the way he posted a notice where it joins the [[Snake River]] claiming the land for [[Great Britain]] ([[United Kingdom]] / [[British Empire]]), and stating the intention of their [[North West Company]] to build a fort and trading post there. Subsequently, the [[Fort Nez Perces]] trading post, was established (near present-day [[Walla Walla, Washington]]). Thompson's posted notice was later found by the party of [[Astorians]] of [[John Jacob Astor]] (1763-1848) looking to establish an inland fur trading post / station. It contributed to American mercantile fur trader leader [[David Stuart (fur trader)|David Stuart]] (1765-1853)'s choice, on behalf of the competing Americans' and Astor's short-lived [[Pacific Fur Company]] (1810-1813), of choosing a more northerly site for their operations which were then established at [[Fort Okanogan]] (in modern [[Okanogan County, Washington|Okanogan County]], near [[Brewster, Washington|Brewster]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]]).

By the time American settlers started arriving  from the east in the [[1830s]], a population of [[Métis]] (mixed race) people had grown from centuries of contact with early-[[Europe]]an fur traders partnering with [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] women.<ref>Van Kirk, Sylvia. "The Role of Native Women in the Creation of Fur Trade Society in Western Canada, 1670-1830". ''Women in Pacific Northwest History''. Ed. Karen J. Blair. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998.</ref> Before larger numbers of Caucasian [[European American]] women began moving to the territory from the east and the United States in the [[1830s]], traders and fur trade workers generally sought out Métis or Native American women for wives and companionship or for domestic chores. Early European-Indigenous mixed ancestry settlements resulted from these partnerships as an outgrowth of the fur trade then growing into the work of agriculture raising small crops of grain and vegetables harvested for food at: [[Cowlitz Prairie]] ([[Fort Vancouver]]) and [[Frenchtown, Washington]]
([[Fort Nez Percés]]).

===American–British joint occupation disputes===
{{Main|Oregon boundary dispute|Pig War (1859)}}

American interests in the region grew as part of their concept of [[manifest destiny]]. [[Spain]] had ceded their rights north of the 42nd Parallel to the United States by the terms of the earlier 1819 [[Adams-Onís Treaty]], (but not possession, which was disallowed by the terms of the Nootka Conventions).

Britain had long-standing commercial interests through the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] and a well-established network of fur trading stations and forts along the [[Columbia River]] in what it called the [[Columbia District]]. These were headquartered from [[Fort Vancouver]] in present-day Vancouver, Washington.
[[File:Building the redoubt.jpg|thumb|317x317px|Watercolor of the [[United States Army]] building [[Pig War (1859)|Robert's Redoubt]] under command of then 2nd Lt. [[Henry Martyn Robert]] (1837-1923), and then Captain [[George Pickett]] (1825-1875), on the off-shore [[San Juan Island]] in the [[San Juan Islands]] chain in the old federal [[Washington Territory]] (1853-1889), during the border dispute and skirmish of the so-called  [[Pig War (1859)|Pig War]] of 1859.]]
By the [[Treaty of 1818]], following from the [[War of 1812]] (1812-1815), Great Britain and the United States established the [[49th parallel north|49th parallel]] as the international border stretching west to the [[Continental Divide]] of the [[Rocky Mountains]]; but agreed to temporary joint control and occupancy of the [[Oregon Country]] / [[Columbia District]] for the next few years.

In 1824, the [[Russian Empire]] ([[Russia]]) signed an agreement with the U.S. acknowledging it had no claims south of the parallel line 54-40 of latitude north and Russia signed a similar treaty with Britain the following in 1825, thereby establishing the southern limits of its coastal possessions in [[Russian America]] (modern [[Alaska]]) in the northwestern corner of the [[North America]]n continent until its sale to the U.S. 43 years later in 1867.

British-American joint occupancy was renewed, but on a year-to-year basis in 1827. Eventually, increased tension between U.S. settlers arriving by way of the [[Oregon trail]] and already resident [[fur traders]] led to the intensified [[Oregon boundary dispute]], a major political issue in the American [[1844 United States presidential election|1844 presidential election]]. It resulting in the election victory of 11th [[President of the United States|President]] [[James K. Polk]] (1795-1849, served 1845-1849), of [[Tennessee]] with his expansionist foreign policies. Two years later, on June 15, 1846, Britain ceded its claims to the lands south of the [[49th parallel north|49th parallel]], and the U.S. ceded its claims to the north of the same line, resulting in the present-day [[Canada–United States border|Canada–U.S. international border]], resulting in the amicable splitting of the Oregon/Columbia territory along the 49th parallel line, extending it westward from the [[Great Lakes]] through the [[Rocky Mountains]] chain all the way to the west coast at the [[Pacific Ocean]] (with the exception of the off-shore [[Vancouver Island]], assigned to Britain) between the two nations, in the negotiated [[Oregon Treaty]] of 1846.

A quarter-century later in 1872, an additional arbitration process settled the minor boundary dispute from the so-called [[Pig War (1859)|Pig War]] of 1859 and established the U.S.A.–Canada border line through the off-shore [[San Juan Islands]] and [[Gulf Islands]] on the Pacific coast.

== Part of Oregon Territory (1846–1853) ==
[[File:Wpdms_oregon_territory_1848.png|thumb|The federal [[Oregon Territory]] (August 1848 to February 1859), carved out of the American southern portion of the former [[Oregon Country]] (1818-1846) with the [[Oregon Treaty]] of June 15, 1846, signed in the federal national [[capital city]] of [[Washington, D.C.]], between the [[United States]] and [[Great Britain]] (old [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] / [[British North America]] of the [[British Empire]]) as originally laid out and organized, in 1848 until 1853, with separation of old [[Washington Territory]] to the north and east, up to statehood of [[Oregon]] in 1859.]]
{{Main|Oregon Territory}}
In 1848, the [[Oregon Territory]], composed of present-day Washington, Oregon, and Idaho as well as parts of Montana and Wyoming, was established. Settlements in the eastern part of the state were largely agricultural and focused around missionary establishments in the [[Walla Walla Valley]]. Missionaries attempted to 'civilize' the Indians, often in ways that disregarded or misunderstood native practices. When missionaries Dr. [[Marcus Whitman]] and [[Narcissa Whitman]] refused to leave their mission as racial tensions mounted in 1847, 13 American missionaries were killed by [[Cayuse people|Cayuse]] and [[Umatilla (tribe)|Umatilla]] Indians. Explanations of the 1847 [[Whitman massacre]] in Walla Walla include outbreaks of disease, resentment over harsh attempts at conversion of both religion and way of life, and contempt of the native Indians shown by the missionaries, particularly by Narcissa Whitman,{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}} the first white American woman in the Oregon Territory.
[[File:Murder of Rev. Dr. Whitman.png|thumb|[[Whitman massacre|The Whitman Massacre]]]]This event triggered the [[Cayuse War]] against the Natives, wherein the [[Provisional Legislature of Oregon]] in 1847 immediately raised companies of volunteers to go to war, if necessary, against the Cayuse, and, to the discontent of some of the militia leaders, also sent a peace commission. The [[United States Army]] later came to support the militia forces. These militia forces, eager for action, provoked both friendly and hostile Indians. In 1850, five Cayuse were convicted for murdering the Whitmans in 1847 and hanged. Sporadic bloodshed continued until 1855, when the Cayuse were decimated, defeated, bereft of their tribal lands, and placed on the [[Umatilla Indian Reservation]] in northeastern Oregon.

As American settlers moved west along the Oregon Trail, some traveled through the northern part of the Oregon Territory and settled in the Puget Sound area. The first European settlement in the [[Puget Sound]] area in the west of present-day Washington State came in 1833 at the British [[Hudson's Bay Company]]'s [[Fort Nisqually]], a farm and fur-trading post later operated by the [[Puget's Sound Agricultural Company]] (incorporated in 1840), a subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company. Washington's pioneer founder, [[Michael Simmons (American pioneer)|Michael Simmons]], along with the black pioneer [[George Washington Bush]] and his Caucasian wife, Isabella James Bush, from [[Missouri]] and [[Tennessee]], respectively, led four white families into the territory and settled New Market, now known as [[Tumwater, Washington|Tumwater]], in 1846. They settled in Washington to avoid Oregon's racist settlement-laws.<ref>{{cite web |title=Articles on George Washington Bush |url=http://www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/research%20bushTOC.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070714212032/http://www.ci.tumwater.wa.us/research%20bushTOC.htm |archive-date=2007-07-14 |access-date=2007-06-15 |publisher=City of Tumwater, WA}}</ref> After them, many more settlers, migrating overland along the [[Oregon trail]], wandered north to settle in the [[Puget Sound]] area.

== Washington Territory (1853–1889) ==
[[File:Wpdms_oregon_washington_territories_1853.png|thumb|The Oregon Territory (blue) with the Washington Territory (green) in 1853]]{{Main|Washington Territory}}
[[Washington Territory]], which included Washington and pieces of Idaho and Montana, was formed from Oregon Territory in 1853. [[Isaac Stevens|Isaac Ingalls Stevens]], a [[Mexican–American War|Mexican-American War]] veteran, had heavily supported the candidacy of President [[Franklin Pierce]], a fellow veteran. In 1853 Stevens successfully applied to President Pierce for the [[List of governors of Washington|governorship of the new Washington Territory]], a post that also carried the title of Superintendent of Indian Affairs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stevens, Isaac Ingalls (1818-1862) |url=https://www.historylink.org/file/5314 |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=www.historylink.org}}</ref>

Lumber industries drew settlers to the territory. Coastal cities, like [[History of Seattle|Seattle]] (founded in 1851 and originally called "Duwamps"), were established. Though wagon trains had previously carried entire families to the Oregon Territory, these early trading settlements were populated primarily with single young men. Liquor, gambling, and prostitution were ubiquitous, supported in Seattle by one of the city's founders, [[David Swinson Maynard|David Swinson "Doc" Maynard]], who believed that well-run prostitution could be a functional part of the economy. The [[Fraser Canyon Gold Rush|Fraser Gold Rush]] in what would, as a result, become the [[Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866)|Colony of British Columbia]] saw a flurry of settlement and merchant activity in northern Puget Sound which gave birth to [[Port Townsend]] (in 1851) and [[Whatcom, Washington|Whatcom]] (founded in 1858, later becoming [[Bellingham, Washington|Bellingham]]) as commercial centres, at first attempting to rival [[Victoria, British Columbia|Victoria]] on Vancouver Island as a disembarkation point of the goldfields until the governor of the [[Colony of Vancouver Island]] ordered that all traffic to the Fraser River go via Victoria. Despite the limitation on goldfield-related commerce, many men who left the "Fraser River Humbug" (as the rush was for a while misnamed) settled in Whatcom and Island counties. Some of these were settlers on [[San Juan Island]] during the [[Pig War (1859)|Pig War of 1859]].

Upon the admission of the State of [[Oregon]] to the union in 1859, the eastern portions of the [[Oregon Territory]], including southern [[Idaho]], portions of [[Wyoming]] west of the continental divide (then [[Nebraska Territory]]), and a small portion of present-day [[Ravalli County, Montana]] were annexed to the Washington Territory. In 1863, the area of Washington Territory east of the Snake River and the [[117th meridian west]] was reorganized as part of the newly formed [[Idaho Territory]], leaving that territory with only the lands within the current boundaries of the State of Washington.

=== The "Indian Wars" (1855–1858) ===
{{Campaignbox Indian wars and conflicts of Washington (state)}}The conflicts over the possession of land between the Indians and the American settlers led the Americans in 1855, by the treaties at the [[Walla Walla Council (1855)|Walla Walla Council]], to coerce not only the Cayuse, but also the [[Walla Walla (tribe)|Walla Walla]] and the [[Umatilla (tribe)|Umatilla]] tribes, to the [[Umatilla Indian Reservation]] in northeastern Oregon; fourteen other tribal groups to the [[Yakama Indian Reservation]] in southern Washington State; and the [[Nez Perce tribe|Nez Perce]] to a reservation in the border region of Washington, Oregon and Idaho. 
[[File:20130214073638!Governor.Gen.Stevens_cropped.jpg|thumb|[[Washington Territory|Washington]] governor [[Isaac Stevens]], pictured here in 1862, was joined by Oregon governor [[George Law Curry|George Curry]] in calling for the dismissal of [[John E. Wool|Gen. Wool]].]]
That same year, gold was discovered in the newly established Yakama reservation and white miners encroached upon these lands, with Washington Territory beginning to consider [[Annexation|annexing]] them. While [[Isaac Stevens|Governor Stevens]] generally avoided some of the more [[Genocide|genocidal]] rhetoric that was popular among some settlers, historian David M. Buerge charges that Stevens' "timetable [was] reckless; [that] the whole enterprise was organized in profound ignorance of native society, culture, and history,” and that “[t]he twenty-thousand-odd aboriginal inhabitants who were assumed to be in rapid decline, were given a brutal choice: they would adapt to white society or they could disappear.”<ref>{{Cite book |last=Buerge |first=David |title=Chief Seattle and the Town That Took His Name |date=17 October 2017}}</ref>

A treaty was presented to [[Leschi (Nisqually)|Chief Leschi]] of the [[Nisqually people|Nisqually]] (along with other tribes), and while it provided concessions such as fishing rights, the main crux of the so-called [[Treaty of Medicine Creek]] was that it required: "The said tribes and bands of Indians hereby cede, relinquish and convey to the United States, all their right, title, and interest in and to the lands and country occupied by them."

Leschi was outraged and pulled out of the negotiations, preferring war to the loss of his tribe's ancestral lands. While it is not clear who fired the first shots, this standoff quickly escalated into violence as Washington Territorial militias began to exchange fire with Nisqually soldiers. This conflict would come to be known as the [[Puget Sound War]].
[[File:Chief_Leschi.jpg|left|thumb|211x211px|[[Leschi (Nisqually)|Chief Leschi]] as he appeared in the 1850s]]
In 1856, [[Leschi (Nisqually)|Chief Leschi]] of the Nisqually was finally captured after one of the largest battles of the war. Stevens, who was seeking to punish Leschi for what he considered a troublesome revolt, had Leschi charged with the murder of a member of the Washingtonian militia. Leschi's argument in his defense was that he was not at the scene of the killing, but that even if he was the killing had been an act of war and was thus not murder. The initial trial ended in a hung jury after the judge told jurors that if they believed the killing of the militiaman was an act of war, they could not find Leschi guilty of murder. A second trial, without this note to the jury, ended in Leschi being convicted of murder and sentenced to execution. Interference by those who opposed the execution were able to stall it for months, but in the end they could not prevent it. Chief Leschi was formally exonerated of his crimes in 2014.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Callaghan |first=Peter |date=15 October 2013 |title=The site of Chief Leschi hanging}}</ref>

Concurrent with the Nisqually negotiations, tensions with other local tribes also continued to escalate. In one instance a group of Washingtonians assaulted and murdered a Yakama mother, her daughter, and her newborn infant. The woman's husband Mosheel, the son of the Yakama tribe's chieftain, gathered up a posse, tracked down the miners and killed them. The Bureau of Indian Affairs sent out an agent named Andrew Bolon to investigate, but before reaching the crime scene the chief of the Yakama intercepted him and warned Bolon that Mosheel was too dangerous to be taken in. Taking heed of this warning, Bolon decided to return to the Bureau to report his findings. He joined a traveling group of Yakama on his return trip, and while they walked he told them why he was in the area, about the unexplained murder that had happened. Unbeknownst to Bolon, the rest of the trip would be taken up by argument between the natives in a language he did not understand, as the leader of the group, Mosheel, argued for the murder of Bolon. Before he was stabbed in the throat, Bolon reportedly yelled in Chinook dialect, "I did not come to fight you!"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bischoff |first=William |title=The Yakima Indian War: 1855-1856 |date=June 1950}}</ref>
[[File:Reminiscences of an old timer- a recital of the actual events, incidents, trials, hardships, vicissitudes, adventures, perils, and escapes of a pioneer, hunter, miner and scout of the Pacific (14595755038).jpg|thumb|256x256px|Depiction of the First Charge at the [[Battle of Walla Walla]] 1855.]]
Washington Territory immediately mobilized for war, and sent the Territorial Militia to put down what it saw as a rebellion. The tribes - first the Yakama, eventually joined by the Walla Walla and the Cayuse - united together to fight the Americans in what is called the [[Yakima War]]. The U.S. Army sent troops and a number of raids and battles took place. In 1858, the Americans, at the [[Battle of Four Lakes]], defeated the Natives decisively. In a newly imposed treaty, tribes were, again, confined to reservations.

The [[Puget Sound War]] of 1855–1856, the [[Yakima War]] of 1855–1858, and the [[Spokane War]] of 1858, all happened simultaneously and were generally referred to by the Washingtonian settlers as the "Indian Wars". Fighting raged in the [[Cascade Range|Cascade Mountains]] and spilled out into larger battles such as the [[Battle of Seattle (1856)|Battle of Seattle]], with both sides committing atrocities. Stevens led his soldiers on the frontlines, doing battle with the Natives in vicious encounters across the State. While eventually Federal General [[John E. Wool|John E Wool]] arrived and tried to take control of the US’ forces in order to centralize the chain of command, his reportedly elitist attitude and belief that the Washingtonian whites had caused the war meant he lost the loyalty of the volunteer driven militias who mostly stayed de facto under the command of Stevens. In addition, raids by [[Haida people|Haida]], [[Tlingit people|Tlingit]] and other northern tribes from British and [[Russian America|Russian territory]] terrorized Native Americans and settlers alike in Puget Sound in the 1850s (note the events associated with [[Port Gamble, Washington|Port Gamble]] in 1856–1857). Miners bound for the [[Fraser Canyon Gold Rush]] in British Columbia in 1858 using the [[Okanagan Trail]] traveled under arms, and many instances of violence occurred along the route.[[File:Isaac_Stevens_-_Brady-Handy.jpg|thumb|[[Isaac Stevens|Governor Isaac Stevens]] ({{Circa|1855–1862}})]]

=== Stevens era political struggle ===
Throughout the existence of [[Washington Territory]], Governor [[Isaac Stevens|Isaac Ingalls Stevens]] proved the defining character of the political landscape. His [[War hawk|hawkish]] and [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] tendencies were often at odds with the desires of the [[Washington Territorial Legislature|territorial]] and [[Union (American Civil War)|Federal]] governments. In addition, as both an [[Abolitionism|anti-slavery]] and [[Anti-Federalism|anti-federalist]] stronghold, Washington's position in the union was unclear as the nation approached its impending [[American Civil War|civil war]].

Generally, citizens of Washington where highly anti-federalist, seeing the national government as greedy [[Kleptocracy|kleptocrats]] interfering in Washingtonian business. Despite this, the Federally mandated Stevens was often more popular with the Washingtonian people than the actual local elected government (despite the controversy surrounding him). As the nation approached civil war, national politics were in the midst of a great transition. The [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] party had recently collapsed and virtually disappeared from politics, and the newly formed [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] were not yet a factor. This combined with their anti-federalist tendencies led to a strong [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] Party majority in the territory (despite their lack of slavery and [[Progressivism in the United States|progressiveness]] in certain areas), but party label seemed to count for very little. The real political division in the legislative assembly was whether you were pro-Stevens or anti-Stevens.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Brazien |first=Don |url=https://leg.wa.gov/History/Legislative/Documents/HistoryOfTheLeg.pdf |title=History of the Washington State Legislature}}</ref>

The Indian Wars were controversial, as many who opposed Governor Stevens claimed they were unjust and that he had intentionally caused them, thereby costing many Washingtonians to lose their lives. This opposition would not grow any smaller when [[Martial law in Pierce County|Stevens famously declared martial law]]:
{{blockquote|Whereas in the prosecution of the Indian war circumstances have existed affording such grave cause of suspicion, such that certain evil disposed persons of [[Pierce County, Washington|Pierce county]] have given aid and comfort to the enemy. Therefore, as the war is now being actively prosecuted throughout nearly the whole of the said county, I, Isaac I. Stevens, Governor of the Territory of Washington, do hereby proclaim [[Martial law|Martial Law]] over the said county of Pierce, and do by these presents suspend for the time being and till further notice, the functions of all civil officers in said county.}}

The decision was made unilaterally, without the support of the territorial or federal government. In Washington, many men from the [[Hudson's Bay Company|Hudson Bay Company]] had married Native women during the early years of the Territory (before it was considered safe enough for white women). Stevens and his administration suspected these men of having covertly aided the Natives, and so upon the declaration of Martial Law they were immediately arrested and shipped off to [[Fort Steilacoom]]. In addition, Stevens was generally suspicious of many of the Whig supporters throughout the territory, and had them arrested or harassed.<ref name=":0" />{{Infobox civil conflict
| title = Siege of the Pierce County Courthouse
| subtitle = 
| partof = the [[Yakima War]]
| image = 
| caption = 
| date = May 24, 1856
| place = [[Steilacoom, Washington]], [[United States]]
| coordinates = 
| causes = Attempted arrest of Chief Justice [[Francis A. Chenoweth]]
| goals = 
| methods = 
| status = 
| result = Mutual withdrawal of federal, territorial, and county forces
| side1 = [[File:Flag_of_Washington.svg|25px]] Washington Territorial Volunteers
| side2 =  [[Pierce County Sheriff's Department|Pierce County Sheriff's Office]]
| side3 = [[File:Flag_of_the_United_States_Army_(official_proportions).svg|25px]] [[United States Army]]
| leadfigures1 = [[Isaac Stevens]]

Lt. Silas B. Curtis
| leadfigures2 = [[Francis A. Chenoweth]]

Sheriff of Pierce County
| leadfigures3 = Lt. Col. Silas Casey
| howmany1 = 30
| howmany2 = 50–60
| howmany3 = Unknown
| casualties1 = 
| casualties2 = 
| casualties3 = 
| injuries = 
| fatalities = 
| arrests = 
| detentions = 
| charged = 
| fined = 
| casualties_label = 
| notes = 
| sidebox = 
}}

The territorial judiciary was outraged at this federal outsider overstepping his authority to trample on local rule of law, and Justices [[Francis A. Chenoweth|Francis Chenoweth]] and Edward Lander subsequently began a drawn out legal dispute with Stevens which threatened to spill the Territory into civil war. After Stevens ignored a [[Habeas corpus|writ of habeas corpus]] for the prisoners from Judge Lander, Lander responded by holding Stevens in [[contempt of court]] and sending out a [[Posse comitatus|posse]] of [[United States Marshals Service|marshals]] to retrieve the Governor. These marshals were expelled, and in return Stevens had Judge Lander arrested by his militias. Stevens then established a military committee for the trials of those held under militia custody. At this point, Chief Territorial Justice Francis Chenoweth, who was in the midst of recovering from an illness, left his home in [[Whidbey Island]] and travelled by canoe to Pierce County. Upon arriving, Chenoweth again began the process of issuing a writ of habeas corpus.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=10 February 1857 |title=Message from the President of the United States communicating, In compliance with a resolution of the Senate of the 30th ultimo, information respecting the proclamation of martial law in the Territory of Washington, etc}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Governor Isaac Stevens ejects Judge Edward Lander from his court unde |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/5130 |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=www.historylink.org}}</ref>

News of Chenoweth's actions got to Stevens and he deployed a detachment of soldiers to shut down the court and arrest Chenoweth. While these volunteers were on route, Chenoweth ordered the [[Pierce County Sheriff's Department|Sheriff of Pierce County]] to summon the local posse under arms, and accordingly 50 men gathered to defend the court. Stevens’ territorial volunteers arrived at the courthouse demanding entrance to arrest Chenoweth, but the local militia held firm, and eventually soldiers from the local US Federal military base, led by Lt. Col. Silas Casey (who had previously written in sympathy of Chenoweth), arrived overlooking the town, with orders to intervene if shooting began. Fearing a shootout with both the Federal government and the territorial judiciary, Stevens’ men reluctantly pulled back after a drawn out negotiation between the three sides. Shortly afterwards, Judge Chenoweth ruled the declaration of Martial Law to be unconstitutional and said that the basis of insurrection justifying it had been greatly overblown by Stevens’ administration. The wrath of the Washington judiciary, legislature and public figures such as [[Ezra Meeker]] eventually forced Stevens to rescind the Martial Law order. While some pushed for his removal, President Pierce refused to take action against him (though he denounced the declaration of martial law), and many white settlers in Washington thought that the Anti-Stevens agitators were too sympathetic to the Natives.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name="kaylor">{{cite book |last1=Floyd |first1=Kaylor |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtonwestof01hunt |title=Washington, West of the Cascades: Historical and Descriptive; the Explorers, the Indians, the Pioneers, the Modern, Volume 1 |date=1917 |publisher=S. J. Clarke Publishing Company |pages=[https://archive.org/details/washingtonwestof01hunt/page/164 164]–166}}</ref>

==== The Washington People's Party ====
{{Infobox political party
| name             = People's Party (Washington)
| foundation       = Approx. 1865
| ideology         = ''Prior to 1880s:''<br />'''[[Populism]]'''<br /> '''[[Bourbon Democrat]]'''<br /> [[Anti-corruption]]<br />[[Half-Breeds (politics)|Half Breeds]]<br />[[Classical liberalism]]<br /> [[Conservatism]]

<br />''1880s and after:''<br/>'''[[Populism]]'''<br /> '''[[Laborism]]'''<br /> [[Anti-capitalism]]<br /> [[Women's suffrage]] <br />[[Progressivism]]<br />[[Nationalism]]<br/>[[Yellow Peril|Anti-Asian]]
| split            = Majority [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]<br/>Minority [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]
}}

Because many Washingtonians did not feel they aligned with either the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] or [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], early on in the history of the territory a popular third party was founded, called the People's Party. The existence and prominence of this party is widely corroborated, with the official History of the Washington State Legislature claiming for example that former Republican Governor [[William A. Newell|Dr. W.A. Newell]] ran as a People's Party candidate, and that in the 1887 Legislative council, 6 members were Republicans, 4 were Democrats, and 2 were from the People's Party. Most sources state that it was formed after a defection of Democrats and some [[anti-establishment]] Republicans from their parties.<ref name=":0" /> Despite this, the party's actual members, [[ideology]], goals, achievements, and even the date of its foundation is somewhat difficult to place due to conflicting primary sources and a lack of secondary analysis.

The official History of the Washington State Legislature states "As had been the case in 1882, in Thurston County, Democrats and anti-administration Republicans joined to form the People’s Party".<ref name=":0" /> However a Washington local newspaper in 1865 listed the People's Party as one of the main competing parties in an election.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Walla Walla Statesman 19 May 1865 — Washington Digital Newspapers |url=https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=WALLAWALLASTATE18650519.1.2&srpos=3&e=------186-en-20--1--txt-txIN-%E2%80%9CPeople%E2%80%99s+Party%E2%80%9D------ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=washingtondigitalnewspapers.org}}</ref> As far back as 1854, newspapers mentioned ending talk of a "people's party", though it is not clear whether they were referring to an actually established party or a concept.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pioneer And Democrat 4 February 1854 — Washington Digital Newspapers |url=https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=PD18540204.1.2&srpos=1&e=------185-en-20--1--txt-txIN-%E2%80%9CPeople%E2%80%99s+Party%E2%80%9D------ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=washingtondigitalnewspapers.org}}</ref> It seems likely that the party had been established by at least 1874, as multiple primary sources attest to some kind of People's Party existing at the time.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Puget Sound Dispatch 15 October 1874 — Washington Digital Newspapers |url=https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=PSD18741015.1.1&srpos=2&e=------187-en-20--1--txt-txIN-%E2%80%9CPeople%E2%80%99s+Party%E2%80%9D------ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=washingtondigitalnewspapers.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Puget Sound Dispatch 5 February 1874 — Washington Digital Newspapers |url=https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=PSD18740205.1.1&srpos=1&e=------187-en-20--1--txt-txIN-%E2%80%9CPeople%E2%80%99s+Party%E2%80%9D------ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=washingtondigitalnewspapers.org}}</ref>

The beliefs and allegiances of this party are also somewhat unclear. The official history and certain newspapers from the 1870s labelled the People's Party as nothing but radical [[Bourbon Democrat]]s, who were effectively members of the Democrats.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> However other sources seemed to dispute this, with one newspaper claiming that the People's Party and the Republicans were working together against the Democrats.<ref name=":3" /> These early sources tend to paint the People's Party as having been ideologically [[Populism|Populist]] [[Conservatism|Conservatives]], opposing the corruption and [[patronage]] that was common throughout the country at the time, the partisanship of the two political parties, and the culture of political [[Political boss|bossism]], preferring a more Washingtonian association free from strict partisan lines.

Despite many testimonies to the idea that the People's Party were simply a populist offshoot of the conservative Democrats, the [[Snohomish County, Washington|Snohomish]] People's Party platform of 1886 paints a very different picture. In it the party is portrayed more as a populist quasi-[[Socialism|socialist]] [[Labour movement|laborite]] party, which believed that capitalists controlled the national Congress, and that a party for the Washingtonian working class was needed to fight for its interests. This version of the party advocated [[Competition law|busting monopolies]], increasing [[Occupational safety and health|safety regulations]], [[Equal pay for equal work|equal pay]] for all regardless of race, sex, or creed, [[women's suffrage]], the [[Penal labour|abolition of convict labor]], the [[Child labor in the United States|abolition of child labor]], and the use of public land by settlers rather than corporations. Notably, this party platform also displayed intense [[Nationalism|nationalist]], [[Xenophobia|anti-foreigner]], and [[Anti-Asian racism in the United States|anti-Asian]] sentiments, calling for the end of the importation of “hordes of heathen slaves” from the “Mongolian Empire” into America by business owners, the restriction of their right to own property, and the deportation of existing Chinese peoples.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Eye 2 October 1886 — Washington Digital Newspapers |url=https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=THEEYE18861002.2.7&srpos=10&e=------188-en-20--1--txt-txIN-%E2%80%9CPeople%E2%80%99s+Party%E2%80%9D------ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=washingtondigitalnewspapers.org}}</ref> This version of the party also fits into the noted debate during the late 1880s over whether the People's Party was officially affiliated with the [[Knights of Labor]], with whom many members were shared.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Evening Telegraph 25 October 1886 — Washington Digital Newspapers |url=https://washingtondigitalnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=EVENTEL18861025.2.18&srpos=1&e=------188-en-20--1--txt-txIN-%E2%80%9CPeople%E2%80%99s+Party%E2%80%9D------ |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=washingtondigitalnewspapers.org}}</ref>

Another complicating factor is the founding of the broader national [[People's Party (United States)|People's Party]] in 1892, seemingly unaffiliated with the early People's Party in Washington. The views of this party would align with the later 1880s descriptions of the party, making it possible either that the Washington People's Party described in the 1880s was a separate party than the earlier one, or that over time the party had shifted from a Conservative to a more Progressive position. This would be supported by the official History of the Washington State Legislature, as it noted that in 1893 the People's Party merged with the local progressive [[Farmers' Alliance|Farmer's Alliance]], whose national body had become the national People's Party a year prior.<ref name=":0" /> The third governor of Washington state, [[John Rankin Rogers]], was elected as a member of the People's Party in 1897.

=== Civil War and rise of the Republican Party ===
{{Main|Washington Territory in the American Civil War}}
While Washington territory was one of the least involved regions of the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] during the US Civil War, it nonetheless had a major impact on the territory. Despite anti-federalist sympathies and Democratic party dominance, there was never a strong secessionist movement in Washington state. While many were sympathetic to the cause of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]], the lack of slavery in the territory combined with its weariness after the Indian Wars gave it no real incentive to join ranks with the Confederates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Snowden |first=Clinton A. |url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofwashing04snow/historyofwashing04snow_djvu.txt |title=History of Washington; the rise and progress of an American state |last2=Hanford |first2=C. H. (Cornelius Holgate) |last3=Moore |first3=Miles C. |last4=Tyler |first4=William D. |last5=Chadwick |first5=Stephen J. |date=1909–1911 |publisher=New York, Century History Company |others=New York Public Library}}</ref>

Because of Washington's distance and complicated relationship with the war in general, it never sent a division into battle during the Civil War. This does not mean it was totally uninvolved though. The Washington Territory Volunteer Militia was formed by [[Justus Steinberger]], who was able to recruit roughly two divisions from Washington civilians. The Volunteer soldiers who served in Washington did not fight against the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]], but instead garrisoned the few posts in Washington that were not abandoned at the beginning of the war. They also protected communications routes between the western and eastern United States in Oregon and Idaho from the Indians and against the threat of foreign [[Diplomacy of the American Civil War|intervention on the Pacific coast]] by [[British Empire|Britain]] and [[Second French Empire|France]] that never materialized.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K7oUAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA37 |title=The Washington Historical Quarterly |date=1906 |publisher=Washington University State Historical Society. |pages=33–37 |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Sir James Douglas-1876.jpg|thumb|278x278px|Governor of [[Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866)|British Columbia]], [[James Douglas (governor)|Sir James Douglas]], who pushed for the [[annexation]] of Washington Territory during the [[American Civil War|US Civil War]].]]
On December 28, 1861, during the ongoing [[Trent Affair|''Trent'' Affair]], [[Governor of British Columbia|Governor]] of the [[Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866)|Colony of British Columbia]] [[James Douglas (governor)|James Douglas]] wrote to [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] [[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle]], arguing that Britain should seize the Washington Territory while the US was preoccupied with the Civil War. He reasoned this was possible because there were little to no US troops stationed in the region since most other units stationed there were off to war in the East, the territory's population was scattered, and there were only a few U.S. naval ships in the area. He also said the [[Royal Navy]] and [[Royal Marines|Marines]] were powerful and could easily do the job, ending with a statement that "with [[Puget Sound region|Puget Sound]], and the line of the [[Columbia River]] in our hands, we should hold the only navigable outlets of the country—command its trade, and soon compel it to submit to Her Majesty’s Rule." British officials instead chose to pass on his proposal so as not to risk war with the United States.<ref>{{cite web |author=James Robbins Jewell |title=Thwarting Southern Schemes and British Bluster in the Pacific Northwest |url=https://content.ucpress.edu/chapters/12840.ch01.pdf#page=5 |pages=5–6}}</ref>
[[File:Death_of_General_Isaac_Stevens_(1818-62)_during_the_attack_on_Chantilly,_Viriginia_1862.jpg|thumb|279x279px|''Death of General Isaac Stevens'', a lithograph by [[Alonzo Chappel]]]]
The muddled attitude of the Territory would be exemplified by attitudes of the former governors of the state. Former governor [[Fayette McMullen]] would go on to join the [[Confederate States Congress|Confederate Congress]] and help fight with his southern Democratic brethren. [[Richard D. Gholson|Richard Golson]] would resign from office, refusing to serve under a Republican president, and would return to his family plantation and help them relocate their slaves and assets to [[Tennessee in the American Civil War|Tennessee]]. [[Isaac Stevens]] on the other hand would (somewhat surprisingly) give up political office and head back east to join the [[Union Army]] as a general. He was killed in action at the [[Battle of Chantilly]] on September 1, 1862, after picking up the fallen regimental colors of his old regiment, shouting "Highlanders, my Highlanders, follow your general!" Charging with his troops while carrying the banner of [[Saltire|Saint Andrew's Cross]], Stevens was struck in the temple by a bullet and died instantly.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paul |first=Taylor |title=He Hath Loosed the Fateful Lightning: The Battle of Ox Hill (Chantilly) |date=1 September 1862}}</ref>

During this period there was also a political shift, as the state began moving away from the Democrats and to the growing [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]. This in part began after President [[Abraham Lincoln]] appointed [[William H. Wallace]] as the first Republican Governor of the territory. Shortly thereafter Colonel Wallace received the Republican nomination for Congress. After Stevens had left the territory, his Democratic successor, [[Selucius Garfielde]] was generally disliked and seem as an opportunist. This led to a split in the Democratic Party between Garfielde and his opponents, allowing Wallace and the Republican Party to win control of the Territory.<ref name=":0" />

Union supporters were upset that the legislature had not adopted a strong stand in support of the Union. Party lines continued to deteriorate as the main single issue now was the Civil War. Republicans referred to Democrats as [[Copperhead (politics)|Copperheads]] and the Republicans were in turn called [[Radical Republicans]] or Black Republicans by the Democrats. While on paper, the Democrats maintained substantial majorities in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, in reality, it was hard to tell where people stood and loyalties were continually shifting depending upon where one stood on the war, [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolition of slavery]], and on location of the capital. Minor outbreaks of violence were commonplace, with Republican and Democratic newspaper publishers being shot multiple times during this period.<ref name=":0" />

In 1864 the elections returned another victory for the Democrats, but they were deeply divided and engaged in many public quarrels, injuring their popularity. This combined with the end of the war and the [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|death of Lincoln]] would all contribute to their fall in popularity. In the election of 1865 the Republicans won their first victory in the Legislature, finally ending the era of Democratic dominance. The new southern president [[Andrew Johnson]] (Lincoln's compromise vice president) tried to remove Republican governor [[William Pickering (governor)|William Pickering]] for his criticisms of how the Johnson administration was handling [[Reconstruction era|reconstruction]], offering a Democrat named [[George Edward Cole|George Cole]] as his replacement. Initially Pickering tried to fight this decision but eventually conceded.<ref name=":0" />

At this time, Washington was still very politically split, with the growing conflict between [[Factions in the Republican Party (United States)|Conservative Republican]] and Radical Republican factions on Reconstruction causing them to narrowly lose their majority. The Democrats too remained split between the pro-Federalist Moderates and anti-Federalist Copperheads. In general though, the previously somewhat contentious stance of pro-Federalism had solidified and instead most controversy surrounded Reconstruction and President Johnson, which was much more split. While the extreme division led to an unproductive session of the Legislature, the one major achievement was the creation of a standardized education system. Early the next year when the [[United States Congress|National Congress]] finally reconvened, the majority Moderate Republican US congress removed Governor George Cole, who had been chosen independently by their archnemesis Andrew Johnson.<ref name=":0" />

=== Anti-Asian violence ===
{{Main|Anti-Chinese violence in Washington}}
[[File:Thure_de_Thulstrup_-_The_Massacre_of_the_Chinese_at_Rock_Springs.jpg|thumb|275x275px|An artist's rendition of the [[Rock Springs massacre]].]]
Due to increasing amounts of cheap [[Qing dynasty|Chinese]] labor replacing white labor throughout Washington, many of the growing [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] and [[Populism|populist]] movements were deeply intertwined with anti-Asian sentiment. Asian people were seen as universally backwards and inferior, slave-like creatures who were being flooded into the country by wealthy business owners to put real Americans out of their jobs, despite the fact that many had arrived in the region at the same time or earlier than many of the White settlers. During this period, roughly from the mid-1880s to the late 19th century, anti-Asian hate crimes would dramatically increase, ultimately leading to the [[Deportation|mass deportation]] of established [[Asian Americans|Asian American]] communities.

In 1885 labor tensions led to a calculated [[Tacoma riot of 1885|Anti-Chinese riot in Tacoma]] wherein vigilante groups hundreds strong forcefully broke into the homes of any Asians who had not fled the city and brutally assaulted them. By the end of the three days of terror, all 700 Chinese Americans in Tacoma had fled, as their homes and businesses were reduced to ashes.<ref name=":22">Englesberg, Paul. (2014). Tacoma Anti-Chinese Riot of 1885. In ''Asian Americans: An Encyclopedia of Social, Cultural, Economic, and Political History'' (Vol. 3, pp. 1063).</ref>

Inspired by the success of the Tacoma Riot, Anti-Chinese Committees were formed throughout the territory. These organizations were led by the newly founded Washington Territorial Anti-Chinese Congress, who jointly declared that by the end of 1885 all Chinamen were to have left the city or face consequences. As they gained immense popularity they began to pool funds and catalog the Chinese residents throughout Seattle.<ref name="Carlos">{{Cite journal |last=Schwantes |first=Carlos A. |year=1982 |title=Protest in a Promised Land: Unemployment, Disinheritance, and the Origin of Labor Militancy in the Pacific Northwest, 1885-1886 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/968690 |journal=The Western Historical Quarterly |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=373–390 |doi=10.2307/968690 |issn=0043-3810 |jstor=968690|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1886 rioters associated with the [[Knights of Labor]] and organized by the Anti-Chinese Congress began a [[Seattle riot of 1886|violent riot in Seattle]]. Going door to door the Committees broke into Chinese owned homes and businesses, kidnapping Chinese residents with the intent of forcing all of them out of Seattle by train or ferry. Meanwhile, more unorganized mobs of angry White citizens began to ransack Chinese areas of the city and accost any Asians they could find. The city broke down into anarchy and governor [[Watson C. Squire]] ordered [[martial law]].<ref name="Laurie">{{cite book |author1=Clayton David Laurie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MiVwxsjlxxcC&pg=PA99 |title=The Role of Federal Military Forces in Domestic Disorders, 1877-1945 |author2=Ronald H. Cole |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-16-088268-5 |pages=85–109 |access-date=March 21, 2013}}</ref>
[[File:John_McGraw_1890.jpg|left|thumb|A photograph of [[John McGraw (governor)|John McGraw]], who helped lead militias in defense of Chinese American citizens.]]
A militia called the Seattle's Rifles was quickly formed to deal with the rioters and protect the Chinese citizens who had been abducted from their homes and dragged out into the streets. This militia was led by future state governor and at that time current Seattle Sheriff [[John McGraw (governor)|John McGraw]], who was sympathetic to the Knights of Labor but opposed the violent deportation of the Chinese, leading to his relatively centrist position on the affair. Coming into contact with a large mob holding 350 Chinese people in captivity, the Seattle Rifles attempted negotiation before forcefully barging through the crowd, taking the victims into custody, and arresting the leaders of the mob. Rioters tried to wrangle control of the rifles, leading to shots ringing out, whereafter two militia members and three rioters were seriously injured. The riot quickly spiraled into a gunfight.<ref name="Laurie" />

Amidst the fighting, the Seattle Rangers were mostly able to protect the Chinese citizens in their custody, but in the places they could not reach many Chinese people were successfully shipped out of the city. A few days later president [[Grover Cleveland]] ordered Governor Squire to lift Martial Law, as most of the riots had ended, though illegal efforts to deport the Chinese continued (with some success). In the aftermath of the riots, none of the perpetrators would be charged, and the money that the courts allotted for damages to the Chinese citizens were never received. Both the city mayor and McGraw would be unseated in the next elections, primarily for their actions in helping the Chinese. Due to the increased animosity and tension, most Asian citizens in Washington territory would in the following months either migrate to more friendly cities or return to China.<ref name="White">{{cite book |author=Richard White |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lCF8eIFe93cC&pg=PA342 |title="It's Your Misfortune and None of My Own": A New History of the American West |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=1991 |isbn=978-0-8061-2567-1 |pages=341–342 |access-date=March 21, 2013}}</ref>

==Statehood and moderate era (1889–1895)==
[[File:Flag of Washington (1923–1967).png|thumb|[[Flag of Washington]] prior to the 1967 adoption of a new seal and standardization]]
[[File:Statehood ceremony, Olympia, Washington, November 1889.jpg|left|thumb|Statehood ceremony in [[Olympia, Washington|Olympia]], November 1889.]]
After the passage of the [[Enabling Act of 1889]], Washington became the [[List of U.S. states by date of statehood|42nd]] state in the United States on November 11, 1889.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kelly|first=Martin|title=States and Their Admission to the Union|url=http://americanhistory.about.com/od/states/a/state_admission.htm|work=About.com American History|publisher=About.com|access-date=31 October 2011|archive-date=18 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018053028/http://americanhistory.about.com/od/states/a/state_admission.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The proposed state constitution, passed by a four-to-one ratio, originally included [[women's suffrage]] and [[prohibition]], but both of these issues were defeated and removed from the accepted constitution. Women had previously been given the vote in 1883 by the Washington Territorial Legislature, but the right was rescinded in 1887 by the Washington Territorial Supreme Court as a response to female support of prohibition. Despite these initial defeats, women in the Pacific Northwest received the right to vote earlier than the rest of the country, with Washington passing a suffrage amendment in 1910.<ref>Haarsager, Sandra. "Organized Womanhood: Cultural Politics in the Pacific Northwest, 1840-1920." Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1997.</ref> Prohibition followed in 1916, two years before the rest of the nation.
[[File:Elisha Peyre Ferry.jpg|thumb|[[Elisha P. Ferry]], the first [[List of governors of Washington|governor of Washington State]].]]
Narrowly winning election, [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Elisha P. Ferry|Elisha P Ferry]], former Territorial Governor from almost a decade earlier and [[American Civil War|Civil War]] veteran took office as the first [[List of governors of Washington|governor of Washington State]]. In the debate over whether Washington's land should be privatized or made public, with Western citizens preferring the former and Eastern citizens preferring the latter, Ferry tried to take a neutral stance. However his commission failed to resolve the dispute in the allotted time allowing the land to fall into the hands of corporations, which led to allegations that he was in the pocket of corporations. The same inference was drawn when Ferry called on the [[Washington Army National Guard|National Guard]] to put down a miners' strike. Following a costly fire, a local mining company had decided to cut expenses by replacing white mineworkers with black workers at lower wages. The longer the strike lasted, the more the employers saw the advantages of using black labor, and this became their standard policy. Proposals to regulate the railroads and an “Anti-Pinkerton” bill banning the employment of private union busters both were vetoed by temporary acting Governor [[Charles E. Laughton|Laughton]], leading to increased support for Populist ideas. Upon his return to the capital Governor Elisha P Ferry essentially ignored the entire issue, leaving Laughton to be the scapegoat.[[File:Grand Coulee Dam.jpg|thumb|300px|The [[Grand Coulee Dam]] was the largest dam in the world at the time of its construction|left]]In 1890, while nationally Democrats won in a landslide, in Washington their gains were only meager, and they remained the minority. During the 1880s Washington had become more and more prosperous, but the Eastern agricultural areas did not share in the prosperity of the cities. In part this was caused by the highly monopolized nature of the new railroads. In addition, rising economic issues led to a crash in 1893 which proved disastrous for the Washingtonian people. This caused a rise in Agrarian Populism throughout the state, and the populists within Washington, who had previously been only a tertiary factor in state/territorial politics began to grow into a defining element.<ref name=":0" />

=== Early economy ===
Early prominent industries in the state included agriculture, lumber, and mining. In eastern Washington, [[Spokane]] was a major hub of mining activity and the [[Yakima River|Yakima Valley]] was known for its apple orchards and wheat fields. The heavy rainfall to the west of the [[Cascade Range]] produced dense forests and the ports along Puget Sound prospered from the manufacturing and shipping of lumber products, particularly the Douglas fir. In 1905, Washington State became the largest producer of lumber in the nation.<ref>[[Kensel, W. Hudson]]. "The Early Spokane Lumber Industry, 1871-1910," ''[[Idaho Yesterdays]]'', Vol. 12, No. 1, Spring 1968.</ref> [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]] was the primary port for trade with Alaska and for a time possessed a large shipbuilding industry. Other industries that developed in Washington include fishing, salmon canning, and mining. For an extended period of time, [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]] was known for its large smelters where gold, silver, copper and lead ores were treated. The region around eastern Puget Sound developed heavy industry during the period including World War I and World War II and the [[Boeing Company]] became an established icon in the area.

== The Populist explosion (1895–1904) ==
[[File:People's Shoe Store (1893) (ADVERT 26).jpeg|thumb|259x259px|1893 advert from the People's Shoe Store, a business looking to capitalize on the boom of populism throughout the state.]]
By 1892, the Populists were beginning to push through the roadblocks placed in front of them by the Moderate [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]]. The regulations vetoed by acting Governor [[Charles E. Laughton|Laughton]], despite the protests of major lobbyists from the [[Northern Pacific Railway|Northern Pacific Railroad]], were almost unanimously overridden and signed into law by the new Republican Governor [[John McGraw (governor)|John McGraw]]. The backlash to Laughton was so severe that the [[Washington House of Representatives|house]] passed a bill to abolish the position of [[Lieutenant Governor of Washington|Lieutenant Governor]] entirely, though it failed in the [[Washington State Senate|senate]]. Despite these successes for the Populists, they remained a minority (if now a sizeable one) in the State Congress, and the Northern Pacific Railroad had managed to extract concessions from the Republicans, causing the failure of any bills directly trying to regulate the railroads. This would lead to a further rise in Populism, led by a young [[#The Washington People's Party|People's Party]] member named [[John Rankin Rogers|John Rogers]]. During the 1895 session, Rogers successfully passed the "Barefoot School-boy" act despite heavy resistance from urban liberals, and unsuccessfully opposed the creation of a state capitol as he believed it was a waste of money.<ref name=":0" />
[[File:John R. Rogers (1838-1901) (3463993465).jpg|thumb|[[John Rankin Rogers|John R. Rogers]], third [[List of governors of Washington|governor]] of [[Washington (state)|Washington State]].]]
As the national conversation around the silver and gold standard heated up, the dominant Republican Party fractured, with part of it forming the [[Silver Republican Party|Silver Republicans]], which was a more populist alternative to the Republicans. While many of the former Democrats within the People's Party viewed the Silver Republican Party with suspicion, other more pragmatic members convinced them to cooperate. Recognizing their popularity and shared interest, as well as their lack of ability to beat the Republicans individually, the People's Party, Silver Republican Party, and Democratic Party formed a fusion ticket despite great internal conflict. The People's Party dominated the House, having four times more seats than the second largest party the Republicans. [[John Rankin Rogers|John Rogers]] was also elected as the third governor of Washington State, making him the first and only third-party candidate to win such a high office in the state.<ref name=":0" />

Despite this amazing victory, the fusion proved unstable, and in many cases they were just as slow to make decisions as the Republicans had been. A cornerstone of the Populist platform, the creation of a Railroad Commission, failed in the House by one vote. With their main focus obstructed, their coalition grew increasingly unstable. With internal struggle rumors of corruption began to fly, and the People's Party began to turn on itself and view figures like Rogers with suspicion. Despite these failures, under Rogers the economy saw a revival, which actually worked against him, further shifting political opinion back to moderatism. By 1899 the Populist movement had effectively disintegrated, and failed to pass other proposals such as a [[Georgism|Georgist]] [[land value tax]] and [[Women's suffrage|female suffrage]].<ref name=":0" />
[[File:Henry McBride LOC 15123928486.jpg|left|thumb|262x262px|[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[List of governors of Washington|Governor]] [[Henry McBride (politician)|Henry McBride]], who successfully fought against the railroads and preserved many Populist policies. ]]
In a surprise for the Republicans, who were expecting and did receive a general sweep in the 1900 elections, Rogers who had formally switched parties and joined the Democrats, was re-elected as governor. This upset was not long to last though, as in 1901 Rogers unexpectedly died. The line of succession promoted the Lieutenant Governor, a Republican named [[Henry McBride (politician)|Henry McBride]] into the office, but rather than reverse Rogers' reforms, McBride actually furthered them. As a [[Progressive Era|progressive]] Republican, McBride also saw corporations and lobbyists as an impediment to the growth of the state, and strongly pushed for [[Competition law|busting monopolies]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 Feb 1936 |title=Seattle Daily Times |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A127D718D1E33F961%40EANX-NB129A73A9CBFFC52A%402428226-129A3A4B51B6BAE1%400-129A3A4B51B6BAE1%40}}</ref> Under McBride the Republican Party shifted into support of a Railroad Commission in order to separate the railroads from politics, and after the "hardest floor battle" in a decade, with his support the commission finally came into being.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Condon |first=George A. |date=1968 |title=Pacific Northwest Political Science Association |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/106591296802100333 |journal=Western Political Quarterly |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=541–542 |doi=10.1177/106591296802100333 |issn=0043-4078|url-access=subscription }}</ref> With these victories McBride was generally very popular, but his own Republican Party which was heavily supported by, and as many claimed controlled by the railroad companies, began to conspire in order to prevent his re-election. To this effect after an extended political struggle, the Republican Party voted not to renominate McBride for the 1904 elections.<ref name=":0" /> He would later be applauded by historians as one of the state's best governors.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wood |first=James |date=14 March 1943 |title=When a railroad man came to the G. O. P. convention |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=image/v2%3A127D718D1E33F961%40EANX-NB12A4BD750C9022A6%402430798-12A3619F7071EC12%4015-12A3619F7071EC12%40 |work=Seattle Daily Times}}</ref>

While in the short term, the Populist program was a failure and the fusion party quickly died, within twenty years almost all of their major points would become law. These points included  the [[direct election]] of Senators, [[Initiatives and referendums in the United States|initiative]], [[referendum]] and [[Recall election|recall]], a Railroad Commission, and [[State-owned enterprise|municipal ownership]] of utilities.<ref name=":0" />

==Progressive era==
The progressive force of the early 20th century in Washington stemmed partially from the women's club movement which offered opportunities for leadership and political power to tens of thousands of women in the Pacific Northwest region.

==1920s==
[[Bertha Knight Landes]] was elected mayor of Seattle in 1926, the first woman mayor of a major city in the United States.<ref>Pieroth, Doris H. "The Woman Who Was Mayor." ''Women in Pacific Northwest History''. Ed. Karen J. Blair. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998.</ref>

In 1924, Seattle's [[Sand Point, Seattle|Sand Point]] Airfield was the endpoint of the [[first aerial circumnavigation]] of the world.<ref name=historylink>
 {{cite web
  | last=Crowley
 | first=Walt
 | title = HistoryLink: U.S. Army flyers land at Sand Point Airfield to complete first aerial circumnavigation of the globe on September 28, 1924
 | url = http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=364
 | date = 1998-11-22
 | publisher = [[HistoryLink.org]]
 | access-date = 2010-09-01}}</ref>

==Great Depression==
[[Vancouver, Washington|Vancouver]] became the endpoint for two ultra-long flights from [[Moscow]], USSR over the North Pole. The first of these flights were performed by [[Valery Chkalov]] in 1937 on a [[Tupolev ANT-25]]RD airplane. Chkalov was originally scheduled to land at an airstrip in nearby [[Portland, Oregon]] but redirected at the last minute to Vancouver's [[Pearson Field|Pearson Airfield]].

During the depression era, a series of [[hydroelectric dam]]s were constructed along the Columbia River as part of a project to increase the production of [[electricity]]. This culminated in 1941 with the completion of the [[Grand Coulee Dam]], the largest in the United States.

==World War II==
During World War II, the Puget Sound area became a focus for war industries with the Boeing Company producing many of the nation's [[heavy bomber]]s and ports in [[Seattle]], [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], [[Vancouver, Washington|Vancouver]], and [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]] available for the manufacturing of ships for the war effort. As the demand for labor and the number of young men drafted for service increased simultaneously, women entered the workforce in large numbers, recruited by local media. One-fourth of the laborers in shipyards were women, resulting in the installation of one of the first government-funded child-care centers in the workplace.<ref>Skold, Karen Beck.  "The Job He Left Behind: Women in the Shipyards During World War II." ''Women in Pacific Northwest History.'' Ed. Karen J. Blair. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1988.</ref>

In eastern Washington, the [[Hanford Site|Hanford Works]] [[nuclear power]] plant was opened in 1943 and played a major role in the construction of the nation's [[atomic bomb]]s. One of the atomic bombs (nicknamed '[[Fat Man]]' and [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|dropped]] on [[Nagasaki, Japan]] on August 9, 1945) was fueled by Hanford plutonium and was transported in [[Boeing B-29]]s, also designed in Washington State.

== Cold War ==
During the 1960s, [[Seattle]] became a center of the burgeoning [[Civil rights movement|Civil Rights movement]]. In 1962, [[Wing Luke]] was elected to the [[Seattle City Council]], becoming the first [[Asian Americans|Asian American]] to hold office in the [[Pacific Northwest]]. His open-housing ordinance faced serious resistance before ultimately prevailing, thereby preventing discrimination in the selling or renting of Seattle real estate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Luke, Wing (1925-1965) |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/2047 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=www.historylink.org}}</ref> After his untimely death, the [[Wing Luke Museum]] would be opened in 1967 in his honor, displaying the culture, art, and history of Asian Americans.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.wingluke.org/about |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=Wing Luke Museum |language=en-US}}</ref>{{multiple images
| image1            = Bernie Whitebear, 1971.jpg
| image2            = Roberto Maestas 01C.jpg
| image3            = Bob Santos & Larry Gossett 02.jpg
| footer            = The Gang of Four, clockwise: [[Bernie Whitebear]] (1971); [[Roberto Maestas]] (2008); [[Bob Santos (activist)|Bob Santos]] and [[Larry Gossett]] (2016)
| perrow            = 2/1
| total_width       = 200
}}

Meanwhile, tensions rose as white fishing companies continued to erode [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[Indigenous land rights|fishing rights]] that had been established in earlier treaties. This led to a period known as the [[Fish Wars]], wherein Native American activists fought for their rights to traditional fishing areas through "fish-ins" and other [[protest]]s. Among these activists was the [[Nisqually people|Nisqually]] [[Environmentalism|environmental]] leader [[Billy Frank Jr.]], who led a decade long campaign for treaty rights and cooperative management of natural resources. These collective efforts led to a major victory in the landmark 1974 [[United States v. Washington|Boldt Decision]] by the [[Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court]], which reaffirmed the Native's right to fish in the areas designated by the treaties.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frank, Billy Jr. (1931-2014) |url=https://www.historylink.org/File/8929 |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=www.historylink.org}}</ref> In 2015, [[Barack Obama|President Barack Obama]] posthumously awarded Billy Frank Jr. with the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-16 |title=President Obama Names Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/16/president-obama-names-recipients-presidential-medal-freedom |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=whitehouse.gov |language=en}}</ref> and in 2021 [[Jay Inslee|Governor Jay Inslee]] passed into law a bill replacing Washington's [[Statue of Marcus Whitman|statue]] of [[Marcus Whitman]] in the [[United States Capitol|US Capitol]] with a statue of Billy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Banse |first=Tom |date=2021-04-15 |title=It's Official: Statue Honoring Billy Frank Jr. To Replace Marcus Whitman At U.S. Capitol |url=https://www.nwpb.org/2021/04/14/its-official-statue-honoring-billy-frank-jr-to-replace-marcus-whitman-at-u-s-capitol/ |access-date=2024-03-27 |website=Northwest Public Broadcasting |language=en-US}}</ref>

Another prominent leader of the fish-in movement was [[Bernie Whitebear]], a Native American activist who worked to revitalize [[Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast|Native culture]], better Native health, and who was closely associated with the Kinatechitapi (or "All Indian") political group's efforts to occupy [[Fort Lawton]] (which was seen as having been built on rightful Native lands).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Whitebear |first=Bernie |title=Self-Determination: Taking Back Fort Lawton. Meeting the Needs of Seattle's Native American Community Through Conversion |url=http://www.urbanhabitat.org/files/5-1%20all.pdf |journal=Race, Poverty and the Environment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109165357/http://www.urbanhabitat.org/files/5-1%20all.pdf |archive-date=2009-01-09 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Reyes |first=Lawney |title=White Grizzly Bear's Legacy: Learning to be Indian |publisher=University of Washington Press}}</ref> Bernie was a member of Seattle's so called "[[Gang of Four (Seattle)|Gang of Four]]", a group of radical [[minority rights]] activists composed of Whitebear, Asian American community leader [[Bob Santos (activist)|Bob Santos]], [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Latino]] teacher and activist [[Roberto Maestas|Robert Maestas]], and local politician and [[Black Panther Party]] member [[Larry Gossett|Larry Gosset]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Santos |first=Bob |title=The Gang of Four: Four Leaders, Four Communities, One Friendship |publisher=Chin Music Press Inc |year=2015}}</ref>[[File:MSH80 eruption mount st helens 05-18-80.jpg|thumb|125px|[[1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens]]]]

===Eruption of Mount St Helens===
{{Main|1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens}}

On May 18, 1980, following a period of heavy tremors and eruptions, the northeast face of [[Mount St. Helens]] exploded outward, destroying a large part of the top of the volcano. This eruption flattened the forests for many miles, killed 57 people, flooded the Columbia River and its tributaries with ash and mud and blanketed large parts of Washington in ash, making day look like night.

==Contemporary Washington==

===Economy===
Washington is well known for several prominent companies, the most notable of which are [[Microsoft]], [[Amazon.com]], [[Boeing]], [[Nordstrom]], [[The Bon Marché]], [[Costco]], and [[Starbucks]]. Monopolies have a long history in the state. Bill Boeing's namesake company grew from a small airplane company in 1916 to the national aircraft and airline conglomerate of Boeing and United Airlines, which was subsequently broken up by anti-trust regulators in 1934.

===Politics===
Politics in Washington have been generally Democratic since the 1950s and 60s and President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s election. The state's system of [[blanket primary|blanket primaries]], in which voters may vote for any candidate on the ballot and are not required to be affiliated with a particular political party, was ruled unconstitutional in 2003. The party-line primary system was instituted for the 2004 presidential and gubernatorial elections. In 2004, voters elected Governor [[Christine Gregoire]] into office, making Washington the first state to have a female governor and two female senators, [[Patty Murray]] and [[Maria Cantwell]].

Protests against the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO) in Seattle, sometimes referred to as the [[World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity|"Battle of Seattle"]], took place in 1999 when the WTO convened to discuss trade negotiations. Massive protests of at least 40,000 people included organizations such as NGOs involved in environment issues, labor unions, student groups, religious groups, and anarchists.

On January 30, 2006, Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law legislation making Washington the 17th state in the nation to protect gay and lesbian people from discrimination in housing, lending, and employment, and the 7th state in the nation to offer these protections to transgender people. Initiative activist [[Tim Eyman]] filed a referendum that same day, seeking to put the issue before the state's voters. In order to qualify for the November election, the measure required a minimum of 112,440 voter signatures by 5:00&nbsp;p.m. June 6, 2006. Despite a push from conservative churches across the state to gather signatures on what were dubbed "Referendum Sundays," Eyman was only able to gather 105,103 signatures, more than 7,000 signatures short of the minimum. As a result, the law went into effect on June 7, 2006. The Washington legislature introduced more advanced converge of domestic partnerships in 2008.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/348242_partners22.html | work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer | first=Rachel | last=La Corte | title=Measure would expand domestic partnership law | date=January 21, 2008}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|History|North America|United States}}
{{Main|Historical outline of Washington}}

* [[Columbia District]]
* [[Historic regions of the United States]]
* [[History of the west coast of North America]]
* [[History of Latinos in Washington State]]
* [[Oregon Country]]
* [[Oregon Territory]]
* [[Territorial evolution of Washington]]
* [[Timeline of Washington (state) history]]<ref>{{Citation |publisher = [[Binfords & Mort]] |location = Portland, Oregon |author = Federal Writers' Project |author-link = Federal Writers' Project |title = Washington: a Guide to the Evergreen State |date = 1941 |series= [[American Guide Series]] |chapter= Chronology |hdl = 2027/uc1.b3624995?urlappend=%3Bseq=753 |via=Hathi Trust }}</ref>
* [[Washington Territory]]
* [[History of Seattle]] and [[Timeline of Seattle]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
{{Further|History of Seattle#Bibliography}}
* {{cite book |last1=Bentley |first1=Judith M |last2=Romano |first2=Craig |title=Hiking Washington's History |publisher=University of Washington Press |publication-place=Seattle |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-295-74852-8 |jstor=j.ctv1p2gjcp |oclc=9055338474}} [{{GBurl |id=088vEAAAQBAJ}} Partial preview] at [[Google Books]].
* {{cite book |last=Bentley |first=Judy |title=Walking Washington's History |url=https://archive.org/details/walkingwashingto0000bent |url-access=registration |publisher=University of Washington Press |publication-place=Seattle |date=2016-04-01 |isbn=978-0-295-80667-9 |jstor=j.ctvcwn6nm |oclc=941999370 |via=Internet Archive}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Blair |editor-first=Karen J. |title=Women in Pacific Northwest History |edition=2nd |publisher=University of Washington Press |publication-place=Seattle |date=2016-06-01 |isbn=978-0-295-80580-1 |jstor=j.ctvcwnvh6 |oclc=882104870}} [{{GBurl |id=xXEgBAAAQBAJ}} Partial preview] at [[Google Books]].
* {{cite journal |last=Bosanko |first=Marlene S. McCl. |title=Among Colored Hats and Other Gewgaws: The Early Irish in Washington State |journal=Journal of the West |volume=31 |issue=2 |date=April 1992 |pages=33–40 |url=    https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=9207270701&site=eds-live&scope=site |url-access=subscription |via=[[EBSCO Information Services|EBSCO]] / [[Wikipedia Library]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Brewster |first1=David |last2=Buerge |first2=David M. |author3=Washington Centennial Commission |title=Washingtonians : a biographical portrait of the state |publisher=Sasquatch Books |publication-place=Seattle, Wash. |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-912365-18-3 |oclc=18417574}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Roberta Stringham |last2=Killen |first2=Patricia O’Connell |title=Spiritual Boundaries IN FLUX |journal=Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History |volume=27 |issue=4 |date=December 1, 2013 |issn=0892-3094 |oclc=719925630 |pages=14–20 |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=93481950&site=eds-live&scope=site  |url-access=subscription |via=[[EBSCO Information Services|EBSCO]] / [[Wikipedia Library]]}} On 19th century missionaries and native Americans.
* {{cite book |last1=Buerge |first1=David M. |last2=Rochester |first2=Junius |title=Roots and Branches: The Religious Heritage of Washington State |publisher=Church Council of Greater Seattle |publication-place=Seattle |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-9619863-0-8 |oclc=18521971 |url=https://archive.org/details/rootsbranchesrel0000buer |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
* {{cite book |last=Clark |first=Norman H. |title=Washington: A Bicentennial History |publisher=Norton |publication-place=New York |year=1976 |isbn=978-0-393-05587-0 |oclc=2331313 |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtonbicent00clar |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
* {{cite journal |last=Creighton |first=Paul |title=Washington, Blessed with Three World's Fairs |journal=Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History |year=2011 |volume=25 |issue=4 |issn=0892-3094 |oclc=719925630 |page=20}} Washington state's World's fairs were the 1909 [[Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition]] (AYPE) and the 1962 [[Century 21 Exposition]] in Seattle, and [[Expo '74]] in Spokane.
* {{cite book |last=Dodds |first=Gordon B. |author-link=Gordon B. Dodds |title=The American Northwest : a history of Oregon and Washington |publisher=Forum Press |publication-place=Arlington Heights, Ill. |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-88273-238-1 |oclc=12669464 |url=https://archive.org/details/americannorthwes0000dodd |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ficken |first1=Robert E. |last2=LeWarne |first2=Charles Pierce |author3=Washington Centennial Commission |title=Washington: A Centennial History |publisher=University of Washington Press |publication-place=Seattle |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-295-96693-9 |oclc=18134601 |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtoncenten0000fick |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
* {{cite book |last=Hayes |first=Derek |author-link=Derek Hayes |title=Historical Atlas of the Pacific Northwest: Maps of Exploration and Discovery |publisher=Sasquatch Books |publication-place=Seattle |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-57061-215-2 |oclc=40813256 |url=https://archive.org/details/historicalatlaso0000haye_i1k9 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
* {{cite book |last1=Jepsen |first1=David J. |last2=Norberg |first2=David J. |title=Contested Boundaries: A New Pacific Northwest History |publisher=Wiley |publication-place=Hoboken, NJ |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-119-06551-7 |oclc=974947405}} [{{GBurl |id=vTxKDgAAQBAJ}} Partial preview] at [[Google Books]].
* {{cite book |last=Murray |first=Julie |title=Washington |publisher=ABDO Pub. |publication-place=Edina, Minn. |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-59928-124-7 |oclc=760887111 |url=https://archive.org/details/washington0000murr |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
* {{cite book |last=Schwantes |first=Carlos A. |title=The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |publication-place=Lincoln |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-8032-4169-5 |oclc=646574660 |url=https://archive.org/details/pacificnorthwest00schw |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
* {{cite book |last=Sell |first=Terry M. |title=Wings of Power: Boeing and the Politics of Growth in the Northwest |publisher=Univ. of Washington Press |publication-place=Seattle, Wash |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-295-98049-2 |oclc=1200619542 |url=https://archive.org/details/wingsofpowerboei0000sell |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
* {{cite journal |last=Taylor |first=Edward |title=Critical Race Theory and Interest Convergence in the Backlash against Affirmative Action: Washington State and Initiative 200 |journal=Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education |volume=102 |issue=3 |date=2000 |issn=0161-4681 |doi=10.1111/0161-4681.00067 |pages=539–560}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Utter |first1=Robert F. |author-link1=Robert F. Utter |last2=Larson |first2=Edward J. |author2-link=Edward J. Larson |title=Church and State on the Frontier: The History of the Establishment Clauses in the Washington State Constitution |journal=Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly |volume=15 |number=3 |via=UC Law SF Scholarship Repository |date=Spring 1988 |url=https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_constitutional_law_quaterly/vol15/iss3/4/ |issn=2997-1918 |oclc=51462227 |pages=451–478}}
* {{cite journal |last=Van Lanen |first=Amanda |title='Where Dollars Grow on Trees': The Promise and Reality of Irrigated Farming in Central Washington, 1890-1910 |journal=Agricultural History |volume=88 |issue=3 |date=Summer 2014 |issn=0002-1482 |doi=10.3098/ah.2014.088.3.388 |oclc=818911353 |pages=388–406}}
* {{cite book |last=White |first=Richard |author-link=Richard White (historian) |title=The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |publication-place=New York |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-4299-5242-2 |oclc=872601986}} [{{GBurl |id=SlExG6vsT4oC}} Partial preview] at [[Google Books]].

==Older studies==
* {{Citation |last1=Evans |first1=Elwood |title=The State of Washington: A Brief History of the Discovery, Settlement, and Organization of Washington, the "Evergreen State", as well as a Compilation of Official Statistics Showing the Material Development of the State up to Date |url=https://archive.org/details/stateofwashingto00washuoft |year=1893 |place=Tacoma, WA |publisher=World's Fair Commission of the State of Washington |last2=Meany |first2=Edmond S}}.
* {{Citation |last1=Hawthorne |first1=Julian |title=History of Washington: The Evergreen State, from Early Dawn to Daylight: With Portraits and Biographies |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofwashing01hawt |volume=1 |year=1893 |place=New York |publisher=American Historical Publishing |last2=Brewerton |first2=George Douglas}} | [https://archive.org/details/historyofwashing02hawt Volume 2].
* Meany, Edmond S.  [https://archive.org/details/historyofstateof00meanuoft ''History of the State of Washington''], New York: Macmillan, 1909.

===Primary sources===
* {{Citation |title=Washington's First Constitution, 1878 and Proceedings of the Convention |url=http://lib.law.washington.edu/waconst/sources/Wash1stConst.pdf |editor-last=Meany |editor-first=Edmond S. |editor2-last=Condon |editor2-first=John T. |access-date=2023-07-06 |archive-date=2015-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113053535/http://lib.law.washington.edu/waconst/sources/Wash1stConst.pdf |url-status=dead }}. Reprinted from the ''Washington Historical Quarterly'', 1918–1919.

==External links==
{{Commons category|History of Washington (state)}}
*[[HistoryLink]], {{URL|https://www.historylink.org/}}, is an online encyclopedia of Washington state history.
*{{Historylink |title=Irish in Washington — The Early Years (1840s to 1890) |article=5348 |author=Burton, A. J. |date=2003-03-03 |accessdate=2024-12-12}}
*[http://content.lib.washington.edu/ University of Washington Libraries: Digital Collections]:
**[http://content.lib.washington.edu/barnesweb/index.html Albert Henry Barnes Photographs] 302 images from the turn of the 20th century documenting the landscape, people, and cities and towns of Western Washington.
**[http://content.lib.washington.edu/cmpweb/index.html Pacific Northwest Olympic Peninsula Community Museum] A web-based museum showcasing aspects of the rich history and culture of Washington State's Olympic Peninsula communities. Features cultural exhibits, curriculum packets and a searchable archive of over 12,000 items that includes historical photographs, audio recordings, videos, maps, diaries, reports and other documents.
**[http://content.lib.washington.edu/prosch_washingtonweb/index.html Prosch Washington Views Album] 101 images (ca. 1858–1903) collected and annotated by Thomas Prosch, one of Seattle's earliest pioneers. Images document scenes in Eastern Washington especially Chelan and vicinity, and Seattle's early history including the Seattle Fire of 1889.
**[http://content.lib.washington.edu/wastateweb/index.html Washington State Localities Photographs] Images (ca. 1880–1940) of Washington State, including forts and military installations, homesteads and residences, national parks and mountaineering, and industries and occupations, such as logging, mining and fishing.
**[http://content.lib.washington.edu/pioneerlifeweb/index.html Washington State Pioneer Life Database] A collection of writings, diaries, letters, and reminiscences that recount the early settlement of Washington, the establishment of homesteads and towns and the hardships faced by many of the early pioneers.
*[http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/ Secretary of State's Washington History website]
**[http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/publications.aspx Classics in Washington History] This digital collection of full-text books brings together rare, out of print titles for easy access by students, teachers, genealogists and historians. Visit Washington's early years through the lives of the men and women who lived and worked in Washington Territory and State.
**[http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/maps.aspx Washington Historical Map Collection] The State Archives and the State Library hold extensive map collections dealing with the Washington State and the surrounding region. Maps for this digital collection will be drawn from state and territorial government records, historic books, federal documents and the Northwest collection.
**[http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/newspapers.aspx Washington Historical Newspapers]
**[http://www.secstate.wa.gov/history/timeline.aspx Washington Territorial Timeline] To recognize the 150th anniversary of the birth of Washington, the State Archives has created a historical timeline of the Pacific Northwest and Washington Territory. With the help of pictures and documents from the State Archives, the timeline recounts the major political and social events that evolved Washington Territory into Washington State.
*[http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv11605 John M. Canse Pamphlet Collection] This collection includes booklets, pamphlets, and maps that detail the development of the regions, towns, and cities of the Pacific Northwest, especially Washington State. 
*[http://nwda.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv41134 Warren Wood Collection] This collection includes the glass negatives, photographs and appointment notebooks of Warren Wood, pioneer surveyor of the Pacific Northwest.
* [http://spokanehistorical.org/ Spokane Historical], historical Spokane and Eastern Washington. 
* {{citation |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/bib_guid/states/wa/wa.html |title= Washington |work=Resources for Local History and Genealogy by State |series=Bibliographies & Guides |author=Local History & Genealogy Reference Services |publisher=Library of Congress |location=Washington DC }}

{{Washington}}
{{U.S. political divisions histories}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Washington (U.S. State)}}
[[Category:History of Washington (state)| ]]
[[Category:History of the United States by state or territory|Washington]]