This region is quite rich in its history of native people, explorers, and settlers.
Early History: The Native Americans and First Nations
For thousands of years, the only people who occupied, and lived in, the area that we refer to as the North Pacific Coast region were the Native Americans. They, of course, were not uniform in culture and looks; they differed somewhat from each other. Tribes of Athabaskan speakers in the southern part of the region, now northern California; the Chinook (see picture) farther north in the Columbia River basin that separates Oregon from Washington state; several tribes of First Nations in what is now British Columbia, including the Salishan, Nootka, Kwakiutl, Bellacoola, and Tsimshian tribes; in the Alaskan part of this region were the Haida and Tlingit tribes. Some sources suggest that Algonquian speakers existed in the southern part of the North Pacific Coast Region, in present-day northern California, but further research suggests that the tribes that spoke Algonquian languages existed farther east, going no further west than the Rocky Mountains except perhaps a few pockets here and there. (Aderkas, 2005) (Muckle, 1998)
There were numerous numbers of tribes that spoke Athabaskan languages before western colonization, and most of them occur in the northwestern portions of Canada, as well as in large sections of present-day Alaska. But a few of those tribes also existed in what is now present-day northern California, as well as in present-day New Mexico and Texas. Among those from the Pacific coast of northern California are the Hupa tribes, the Mattole, and Eel River tribes, which included the Wailaki, Lassik, Nongatl, and Sinkyone tribes.
The Chinook were a family of tribes that existed along the Columbia River basin in what is now Oregon and Washington states. These tribes were some of the Native American tribes that were encountered by the Lewis and Clark Expedition as they travelled up the Columbia River to its mouth on the Pacific Ocean. The Salishan occupied the area in Washington state and British Columbia around Puget Sound, where Seattle, Tacoma, and Vancouver lay, including Vancouver Island, and occupied land as far inland as Idaho and Montana. The Nootka, Kwakiutl, and Bellacoola tribes existed farther north up the coast from the Salishan, in British Columbia, and the Tsimshian existed in areas that are now northwestern British Columbia and the panhandle of Alaska. A majority of the Haida and Tlingit may live in Alaska, particularly the mainland and archipelago that is part of the panhandle of Alaska, but some also live far enough inland to be part of British Columbia in Canada.
So, where did these Native American and First Nations people come from? The story used to be like this: some mongoloid people, who originated in northeastern Asia, perhaps present day Siberia and Mongolia, who were big game hunters, came over on a land bridge between Asia and North America, on what became known as Beringia, during the last time that land bridge was open, between 25 and 14 thousand years ago, and were kind of stuck, so to speak, in present-day southern Alaska until 12 thousand years ago, when the glaciers melted enough to allow the mongoloids, known as the Clovis, to trek farther south, and eventually, as the glaciers melted more, were able to multiply, eventually covering most of the North American continent by 10 thousand years ago, and as different groups became divergent and isolated from each other, started to develop different cultures and languages, including those in the Pacific Northwest.
As new evidence comes to light, and as anthropologists, archeologists, and geneticists have been doing research, they are starting to see a different picture, where there may have been several different migrations from different places, ranging from not only central and northern Asia, but also India, southwest Asia, Australia, and perhaps even Europe through the ancient Neanderthals. The people that are now known as Native Americans and First Nations most likely had several different origins, with several different migrations occurring over time, with as many as four or five different genetically variant population groups. Some archeological sites date as far back as 17 thousand years ago (Meadowcroft Rock Shelter in western Pennsylvania), and another as far back as 12,500 years ago in a Chilean site in South America. In fact, when comparing archeological sites in North and South America, by dating analysis, many of the oldest sites date to South America rather than North America, which seems at odds with the standard understanding of the origins of Native Americans and First Nations (Smith, 2007).
These tribes spent most of their time hunting, fishing, and foraging, although there seems to be some evidence that many of them did know how to practice gardening, to be able to grow more food, as staples to the food they hunted, fished, and foraged for. Some of these tribes, such as the Tsimshian, knew how to build watercraft that allowed them to go out into the open ocean to fish for salmon, of which there were plenty. Many of them had their own cultural rituals that separated themselves from neighboring tribes, including their own building types, their own marriage ceremony rituals, religious beliefs, art, language, clothing, and so forth, ad infinitum.
The Age of Exploration
Eventually, white explorers from Europe started to roam this land. This included the famous Lewis and Clark from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, who came west in the Columbia River Basin. But, before the Lewis and Clark expedition there were some other explorers, Russian, Spanish, and English, which helped to complicate the claims of each of these nations in the Pacific Northwest Region. Vitus Bering, a Danish explorer in the service of the Russians, between 1728 and 1742, led to the occupation of the area which became Alaska by the Russians. The Spanish explorer Juan Perez sailed north, in 1774, from his base farther south, leading to much of what today is known as the American Southwest to become part of the Spanish occupation area, which eventually culminated in the nation of Mexico – this is what led the Spanish to start putting military posts along the coast of California, because they saw the Russians to the north as a possible threat, which eventually was proved unfounded. Captain James Cook, an English explorer, claimed the Pacific Coast of America for the British Crown between the latitudes of 43° and 60° north, putting a wedge in between the Spanish and Russians. To further complicate the claims to this region even more, a trading ship from the New England area reached the mouth of the Columbia River in 1792, establishing a claim for the United States. So, there were four nations that all claimed land in that area.
Vitus Bering, as previously stated, was Danish, having been born in Denmark in 1681. He joined the Russian Navy in 1703, during what was known in the Baltic States as the Great Northern War. Over time, having acquired respect and experience, eventually was asked by the Russians, in 1728, to command an exploratory expedition whose starting point was the Kamchatka peninsula that juts south off of Siberia in eastern Asia, this Kamchatka Expedition was meant to see how far Siberia went east, since it was not known then whether Asia and North America were a single landmass or not – after heading eastward, passing the easternmost point of Siberia, in what is now called the Bering Strait, and after realizing the northern coast of Siberia kept heading westward, decided to head back to the Kamchatka Peninsula before the winter season approached, believing his job to be done. A few years later, in 1741, he went on a second expedition, in which he discovered the southern coast of Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands. These discoveries by Bering helped seal the claim by Russia to the area that became known later as Alaska (Frost, 2003).
Juan Perez was a Spanish explorer who in the 1700’s, who was the first European to find, explore, and document the islands off of the western coast of modern-day Canada and British Columbia, which he did around 1774. He was also the first to the coast of present-day Washington. The Spanish, having occupied the land that is present-day Mexico and the southwestern United States, had heard about British and Russian occupations of lands farther north up the Pacific coast of North America, so they set about to find, research, and document the coastline. It was on Perez’s second expedition up north that he ended up dying near Vancouver Island (Sanchez, 2004).
Captain James Cook was a British explorer who helped to make detailed maps of Newfoundland and the lands around the Gulf of St. Lawrence before going into the Pacific Ocean on other exploratory missions. It was his third voyage, from 1776-9, that allowed him to explore the western coast of the present-day United States north of Spanish settlements in California, after having first discovered the Hawaiian Islands, which allowed him to explore the area that is referred to as the Pacific Coast Region, all the way up to the Bering Strait, before returning to the Hawaiian Islands, where he died in a scuffle with native Hawaiians. His first two voyages gave him most of his fame, though, for it was in these voyages, 1768-71, and 1772-5, that gave Captain Cook most of his fame, because in them he circumnavigated the globe, was the first European to circumnavigate the islands of New Zealand, and was the first to explore the eastern coast of Australia, among other things (Colingridge, 2003).
Changing Land Claims
Eventually, treaties were signed in 1824 and 1825, which limited the Russian occupied zone to coastal lands north of the 54°40’ parallel, while the Spanish abandoned all claims that it made north of the 42° north latitude. This left all land between 42° and 54°40’ north latitudes to be claimed by the United States and England – it wasn’t until 1846 that the 49° north latitude was agreed upon as the boundary between British and American claims, with all land to the north of that parallel going to the British and all lands south of it going to the Americans.
A decade and a half before this treaty was signed, the America Lewis and Clark Expedition, launched from the Mississippi River port city of St. Louis, headed westward, primarily along the Missouri River, and eventually, with the guidance of some Native Americans, travelled up the Columbia River, reaching the mouth of this mighty river, and establishing a trading post at what is now the town of Astoria. This happened in 1810. Two years later, the War of 1812 broke out between the United States and the English, and the English Hudson’s Bay Company seized the post, claiming it for themselves until agreement for joint occupancy was reached in 1818.
The Lewis and Clark Expedition, from 1804-6, was the first expedition from the United States to explore the Pacific Coast, eventually coming to the Pacific Ocean along the Columbia River. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark had several goals, including trying to find a water route across the continent, studying plants and wildlife, researching the natives who lived thereabouts, as well as finding ways to economically utilize the resources of region. Their exploration helped to pave the way for further exploration of the region, as well as eventual migration into the region (Lavender, 2001).
Settlement
It was in about the 1830’s that American settlers started trekking west, along what became known as the Oregon Trail, to the Pacific Coast of what was then known as Oregon Country, particularly the Willamette Valley, in what is present day Oregon state – today the Willamette Valley is where Eugene, Salem, and Portland are located. These American settlers originally wanted to settle all land between the 49° and the 54°40’ parallel, until that 1846 treaty making the 49° parallel the boundary between the United States and the British Canada.
The Oregon Trail, which starts at Independence, Missouri, and ends at Willamette Valley in Oregon, is roughly 2,000 miles long, and was used roughly from the 1830’s to the 1860’s, when railroads started connecting Oregon Country with the rest of the United States further east. The original trail was only accessible to people walking, riding horseback, or mule trains, but was eventually improved, by the mid-1840’s, to the point that wagons could take the trail to the western end. Immigrants to Oregon Territory had either this choice, or to go around to it by sea, either of which was dangerous, but walking proved to be quicker than going by sea (Schwantes, 2000) (Unruh, 1993).
Settlement in the Canadian portion of the North Pacific Coast region was triggered by the Hudson’s Bay Company, when they decided to start the settlement, on Vancouver Island, known as Victoria, 1843. It wasn’t until a decade and a half later, in the late 1850’s, that the great Cariboo gold rush took place, bringing new settlers, many of which were prospectors. This boom of settlers lead to the growth of Victoria in the same way that San Francisco grew with the California gold rush. For many years, Victoria was the largest city in western Canada, until circumstances eventually led the way to the rise of Vancouver, on the mainland, a decade later (Humphreys, 1999).
The area, on the British side of the 49° parallel, became known as British Columbia, and as the British started to allow self-rule, and the Canadian Confederation was formed, this motivated British Columbia to join, which they did in 1871. But, it wasn’t until the construction of a Canadian Pacific Railway, in 1886, that settlers started to come over in even larger numbers (Humphreys, 1999).
The Pacific Northwest Today
British Columbia today is home to some 4 ½ million people, half of which live in the Vancouver area, its largest city. In 1871, it became Canada’s sixth province. Originally, the Canadian confederation included only Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but later included the Prairie Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, as well as Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland back east in the St. Lawrence Seaway. In order for British Columbia to become a part of the Canadian Confederation, it had to first finish connecting a railroad to the eastern provinces, which it eventually did in 1885, about a decade and a half after achieving provincehood. Its economy is primarily resource and tourist based (B.C. Facts, 2011).
The Puget Sound area today, in present-day Washington state, is a highly populated metropolitan area, which houses Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and many other cities, many of which are suburbs of those three cities, particularly Seattle. But, this was not always the case. For many years, even as the Willamette Valley was being populated with settlers farther south in Oregon, the Puget Sound area was a remote area, being only sparsely inhabited, and with few businesses, including a few sawmills providing lumber for the Hawaiian Islands and mining camps in California. Like the Canadian Pacific Railway sparked increased settlement on Vancouver Island for Canada, it was the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883, three years before its Canadian counterpart, that settlement was triggered. Eventually, the Great Northern Railway was completed in 1893, and another railroad was eventually completed between Chicago and the Puget Sound area. Not only that, but railroads were eventually completed connecting the Puget Sound with Portland, Oregon, and Portland with San Francisco farther south.
Washington State eventually achieved statehood in 1889, becoming the 42nd state to join the United States. For decades, people had been migrating slowly into what became Washington State, many trickling in from Oregon and the Oregon Trail. Population numbers started to grow faster after rail lines started to connect this part of the country with other parts farther east and south. Puget Sound, even today, is the residence to about 60% of Washington state’s residents.
After Alaska was bought from the Russians in 1867, settlement eventually was triggered in that area. It was originally gold rushes that brought the first settlers into Alaska, and military bases brought more people. Settlement included several sites in the Cook Inlet area of southern Alaska, including the city of Anchorage, which today is the largest city in Alaska, and whose metro area houses half of Alaska’s population of over 600,000 people. Alaska, after originally being governed by the military, and then becoming a federal district, eventually became organized as a territory in 1912, and achieved statehood in 1959.
Summary
The North Pacific Coast Region has a rich and long history, starting with those who are now known as Native Americans and First Nations, claims by several nation-states, including Spain, Russia, England, and the United States, with formal boundaries eventually being set, and with eventual settlement by people who represented the United States and Canada, so that presently we have an area that still has some large stretches of wilderness, but also has large highly-populated urban areas, with plenty of industry, and which represent both the United States and Canada.
Make sure to look below to find more articles that might also be of interest to you:
Works Cited:
Please Note: If you think that a book listed below might be interesting, click on the title to find out more information about that book. If you think that a website link below might be an interesting read, click on the link and you will be taken to their website.
- Aderkas, E. (2005). American Indians of the Pacific Northwest. Oxford: Osprey Publishing.
- Collingridge, V. (2003). Captain Cook: The Life, Death and Legacy of History’s Greatest Explorer. London: Ebury Press.
- Frost, O. W. (2003). Bering: The Russian Discovery of America. New Haven: Yale University Press.
- Humphreys, D. (2012, December 3). History and Heritage of British Columbia. Retrieved September 28, 2016, from VancouverIsland.com.
- Lavender, D. S. (2001). The Way to the Western Sea: Lewis and Clark Across the Continent. University of Nebraska Press.
- Muckle, R. J. (1998). The First Nations of British Columbia: An Anthropological Survey. Vancouver: UBC Press.
- Sanchez, A. (2004, April 7). Spanish Exploration: Juan Perez Expedition of 1774. Retrieved October 2011, 10, from HistoryLink.
- Schwantes, C. A. (2000). The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History. University of Nebraska Press.
- Unruh, J. D. (1993). The Plains Across the Overland Emigrants and Trans-Mississippi West 1840–1860. University of Illinois Press.
- Wikipedia. (2011, September). Alaska. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia,
- Wikipedia. (2011, October). Washington (State). Retrieved October 11, 2011, from Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
