Washington

Points of Interest

Coulee Dam National Recreation Area, northeastern Washington, stretches from the
Grand Coulee Dam along Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake almost to the Canadian border. The
dam, one of the largest concrete structures in the world, can be visited by tourists. The lake,
the dam's storage reservoir, is a popular water sports area.

Columbia River Gorge, southwestern Washington, provides some of the most magnificent
scenery in the Northwest-steep basalt cliffs, sparkling waters, and forested hillsides.
Sweeping views of the gorge may be seen from Beacon Rock, a huge monolith 848 feet (258
m) high.

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, in Vancouver, commemorates the early Northwest
fur trade. Some buildings of the fort have been reconstructed. A museum is in the visitor
center.

Ginkgo/Wanapum State Park, central Washington, contains one of the world's largest
petrified forests. More than 200 species of fossilized trees, some of them 15 million years
old, are found here.

Long Beach Peninsula (also called North Beach Peninsula), southwestern Washington, is a
sandy spit 28 miles (45 km) long-the longest beach in North America. It has resorts, parks,
scenic walks, and spectacular ocean views. Long Beach, Seaview, and Ocean Park are
major resort towns on the peninsula.

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, on the western slopes of the Cascade Range,
includes rugged mountains, woodlands, and alpine lakes. The forest is an all-year recreation
area especially noted for its deep-powder skiing around Mount Baker, Snoqualmie Pass, and
Stevens Pass.

Mount Rainier National Park, south-central Washington, encompasses Mount Rainier and
its foothills. At 14,410 feet (4,392 m), Mt. Rainier can be seen from almost every major city in
the state. Visitors can drive on the park's roads, hike on its trails, climb the mountain's ridges,
and ski its slopes.

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, southwestern Washington, covers some
110,000 acres (44,500 hectares) surrounding Mount St. Helens, the volcano that erupted
with devastating force in 1980. The Mount St. Helens Visitor Center, at Coldwater Ridge,
presents pictorial and interpretive material on the volcano.
Olympia, on the Olympic Peninsula, is the state capital. Among its attractions is the Capitol
Group, composed of executive, legislative, and judicial buildings. Notable among them is the
neoclassical, white sandstone Legislative Building. On the Capitol grounds are numerous
gardens and rows of cherry trees. The city is the starting point for the Olympic Highway,
which loops around the scenic Olympic Peninsula and leads to Olympic National Park and
Olympic National Forest.

Olympic National Park, on the Olympic Peninsula, includes the Olympic Mountains and a
57-mile (92-km) strip of coastline. The park is a rugged wilderness of glacier-clad mountains,
rain-drenched forests, fish-filled lakes and streams, and rocky shore. To the east are the
630,000 acres (255,000 hectares) of Olympic National Forest.

San Juan Islands, in Puget Sound, are a mecca for boaters and vacationers. They range
from tiny dots of rock to large, thickly wooded islands with picturesque bays and fine
beaches. The main islands are Orcas, San Juan, Lopez, and Shaw. Recreational
opportunities include boating, swimming, scuba diving, fishing, hiking, bicycling, and
camping.

Seattle, in western Washington, is the state's largest city and the home of the University of
Washington.

Spokane, northeastern Washington, calls itself the Hub of the Inland Empire, an agricultural
area that includes much of eastern Washington and parts of Oregon, Montana, and Idaho. It
is Washington's second largest city. The Spokane River bisects the city and passes through
Riverfront Park, a recreational area that was the site of the Expo '74 world's fair.

Tacoma, on Puget Sound, is located midway between Seattle and Olympia. It is one of the
state's largest cities and a major port.

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Famous People

Cantwell, Maria (b. 1958– ) - U.S. senator

Cobain, Kurt (b. 1967–d. 1994) - lead singer of the rock band Nirvana
Crosby, Bing (b. ca. 1901–d. 1977) - singer and actor
Cunningham, Merce (b. 1919– ) - dancer and choreographer
Gates, Bill (b. 1955– ) - business executive
Gregoire, Christine (b. 1947– ) - governor of Washington [D]
Johnson, Albert (b. 1869–d. 1957) - newspaper editor, politician, and
anti-immigration activist
McCarthy, Mary (b. 1912–d. 1989) - author
Murray, Patty (b. 1950– ) - U.S. senator

Wainwright, Jonathan M. (b. 1883–d. 1953) - U.S. Army officer

http://www.fofweb.com/WGCO/FamousPeople.aspx?Page=9&Type=s&iPin=sta047

People and Culture

The Seattle Art Museum has a permanent collection featuring Asian, Northwest Coast
American Indian, and African collections of art, as well as an extensive collection of 20th-
century art and photographs. The city is home to a symphony orchestra and numerous other
arts groups and events. The International District has a predominantly Asian-American
community that began with the influx of Chinese railroad workers in the 19th century; it
includes the Nippon Kan Theater and has a thriving ethnic character. Grunge rock, coffee
shops and bookshops, health foods, and alternative lifestyles are important aspects of
Seattle's popular culture, along with support for the Seattle Mariners baseball and Seattle
Seahawks football teams. Seattle is also increasingly associated with a subculture of
antiglobalization activism.

There are many annual festivals, including the Northwest Bookfest, a theater festival known
as the Seattle Fringe Festival; the Seattle Peace Concerts, held in the parks; the
Bumbershoot, an annual Seattle umbrella arts festival; and the Shakespeare Festival.
Olympia hosts an annual summer-long chamber music festival. Other centers of culture and
education include the University of Washington at Seattle, and Washington State University
at Pullman.
American Indian heritage and culture is an important element of the region, and Washington
has over 20 American Indian reservations, the largest being that of the Yakima people. The
state's American Indians are divided into two distinct cultural groups by the geographical
barrier of the Cascade Range. The Pacific coast is home to the Chinook, Makah, Quileute,
and other peoples, whose abundant resources enabled a settled culture and lifestyle, many
living in permanent cedar houses. To the east, peoples such as the Cayuse, Nez Perce,
Okinagan, Palouse, Spokane, and Yakima live on the dry Columbian Plateau, where they
traditionally led a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians
organizes powwows and celebrations of American Indian tradition throughout the state.

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Weather and Climate

The Cascade Range divides Washington into two distinct climatic regions. To the west, the
climate is temperate and marine-like, characterized by mild, wet winters and cool summers.
Eastern Washington is much drier, with hot summers and cold winters. Average January
temperatures in eastern Washington range from 20° F to 30° F, but temperatures can drop to
below 0° F. In the west, January averages range from below freezing to more than 40° F
along the Pacific Coast. July averages in the east range from 65° to 75° F, with daytime
temperatures near 90° F. In the west, the July average is around 60° F. The Olympic
Mountains are the wettest area of the country, getting more than 140 inches annually of rain
and snowfall. In Seattle, the average is about 37 inches annually.

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Education

The public school system of Washington is directed by the superintendent of public

instruction, who is elected for a four-year term. The superintendent is president of the state
board of education and supervises the state department of education. The state's
compulsory attendance law requires children aged 8 to 18 to attend school.

The first school in the Pacific Northwest was opened at Fort Vancouver in 1833 for children
of army personnel and employees of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1837 Dr. Marcus
Whitman and his wife, Narcissa, opened a school for Indians and settlers' children near what
is now Walla Walla. In 1854 the first school legislation of Washington Territory (established in
1853) provided for tax-supported public schools.

The University of Washington, at Seattle, was established as the Territorial University

Washington in 1861. It adopted its present name in 1889.
Economy

Washington has a highly diversified economy. Four sectors—services; manufacturing;

wholesale and retail trade; and finance, insurance, and real estate—each account for about
17 per cent of the state's gross product. Trade with Canada and the Pacific nations of Asia is
an important part of the state's economy. Tourism is also significant. Among the many
attractions are magnificent mountains, the Pacific coast, three national parks, and winter and
summer sports.

Services and wholesale and retail trade each engage about 20 per cent of the labor force.
About 17 per cent of the state's workers have government jobs and about 12 per cent have
jobs in manufacturing. The rest of the workers are divided among transportation and public
utilities; finance, insurance, and real estate; and construction. Mining is of small importance.

Manufacturing

Before World War II most manufacturers in the state were processors of farm, forest, and fish
products. During and after the war new kinds of manufacturing were developed. As an
industrial state, Washington ranks about 15th in the nation. Cities in the Puget Sound Basin,
particularly Seattle, Tacoma, and Everett, account for most of the production.

Transportation and aerospace equipment, mostly aircraft, missiles, and trucks, are the
leading manufactured items. The Boeing Company, with plants at Seattle, Everett, Renton,
and other nearby cities, is the leading employer in the state.

The production of lumber and other wood products has been a major activity since the late
19th century. Since the 1980's, such high-technology industries as those producing computer
software, semiconductors, and telecommunications equipment have rivalled the lumber
industry in importance. Other prominent manufacturing industries include those producing
processed foods, primary metals (especially aluminum), and refined petroleum products.

Near the Tri-Cities (Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco) is the Hanford Works, a facility
operated by the U.S. Department of Energy that for more than 40 years produced plutonium.
Plutonium production ended in the late 1980's, and the facility is now used for research on
environmental cleanup and on the disposal of nuclear waste.
Agriculture

Washington generally ranks about 12th among the states in value of farm production. Wheat,
milk, cattle, and apples are the principal products. In wheat production Washington normally
ranks fifth or sixth in the nation.

The Cascades divide Washington into two distinct farming regions. West of the mountains,
dairying and the growing of hay, fruits, and vegetables predominate. Most of the products
find ready markets in nearby urban areas. The growing of bulbs and seeds is a specialty in
some locations.

East of the mountains wheat, cattle, and fruits predominate. Wheat is grown in large amounts
in the Palouse, where dry-farming methods are used. Elsewhere in the east, crop production
depends heavily on irrigation water, supplied mainly by large federal projects such as the one
centering on Grand Coulee Dam. Apples, cherries, and pears are major irrigated crops and
Washington is usually the nation's top producer of these fruits. The grazing of beef cattle on
open rangeland is widespread.

Lumbering

About 50 per cent of Washington's total area consists of forests, and nearly four-fifths of
these forests are of commercial quality. Lumbering has been a primary industry since the
state's early days of settlement, but peak production years have passed. Nevertheless, the
state ranks third in lumber production. It usually ranks among the leading states in production
of plywood, pulp, and paper and paper products.

Fishing

In total catch, Washington usually ranks among the top five fishing states. Major fishing
grounds are Puget Sound, the lower Columbia River, and coastal waters. Since the late
1980's, salmon fishing, long a major activity, has declined considerably, due largely to
overfishing and the long-term effect of damming rivers in which salmon spawn. Other fish
caught include halibut, cod, herring, oysters, clams, and crabs. Bellingham and Westport are
the chief fishing ports. Fish culture, especially the raising of salmon, is of growing
importance.
Transportation

The Puget Sound Basin and most of eastern Washington have excellent highway networks.
Connecting these two regions are six highways through the Cascades, including Interstate
90 (I-90). I-5 links the major cities of the Puget Sound Basin, and I-82 links the Tri-Cities with
I-90 near Ellensburg.

Two trunk-line railroads provide freight service in Washington. Amtrak passenger service is
available in some of the larger cities. Passing through the Cascade Range, east of Seattle, is
the 7.8-mile (12.6-km) Cascade railway tunnel-the longest tunnel in the United States.

The ports of Seattle and Tacoma are the busiest ports in the state. Ferries, carrying vehicles
as well as passengers, link some of the cities of Puget Sound. Some of the ferries also serve
Canada and Alaska.

Regularly scheduled air service is mainly through the Seattle-Tacoma (SEATAC) and
Spokane international airports. Both airports have connecting flights on regional carriers to a
number of other cities in the state.

History Overview

Archaeological evidence indicates that prehistoric Indians inhabited what is now Washington
some 12,000 years ago. Over the centuries, two distinct cultures developed, that of the
coastal Indians, who lived in settlements and engaged in fishing, food gathering, and,
eventually, agriculture; and that of the Indians of the eastern plateau, who were primarily
nomadic hunters. When European explorers arrived in the 18th century, the major tribes in
the area were the Cayuse, Chinook, Kutenai, and Yakima.

European Exploration and Settlement

The Spanish were the first known explorers to sight and land in what is now Washington. In
1774 Juan Perez explored the coast. The following year, Bruno Heceta and Juan Francisco
de la Bodega y Quadra landed near the mouth of the Quinault River and claimed the region
for Spain. Traders came by ship from a number of countries, including Britain, Russia, and
the United States, seeking furs. On May 11, 1792, Captain Robert Gray, of the American
ship Columbia, discovered the mouth of a great river, which he named for his ship. In the
same year, Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer, began mapping the Puget Sound
coastline.
The United States and Great Britain—as well as Spain and Russia—claimed the Oregon
country, which included present-day Washington, as a result of the early voyages. The
United States strengthened its claim in 1805 when the Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled
down the Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. In 1810 a Canadian explorer, David Thompson,
built a trading post on the site of what is now Spokane. David Stuart established the first
American settlement at Okanogan for the Pacific Fur Company in 1811. In 1818 the United
States and Great Britain agreed to hold the region jointly. Spain gave up its claim in 1819,
Russia in 1824.

During 1824-25, the Hudson's Bay Company, a British trading company, established Fort
Vancouver on the site of present-day Vancouver, Washington. The factor (agent) of the
company became the real ruler of the Oregon country for the next two decades. Both
Protestant and Catholic missionaries began coming to the area in an attempt to Christianize
the Indians. After 1840 many settlers from the United States entered the region by way of the
Oregon Trail, but most settled south of the Columbia River in what is now Oregon. In 1846
the United States and Great Britain ended their joint-territorial arrangement by agreeing to
the 49th parallel as the international boundary.

In 1847 Cayuse Indians massacred settlers at the mission of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman,
near present-day Walla Walla. This led to the Cayuse War and calls for federal military
protection. Partly as a result, on August 14, 1848, Congress created the Territory of Oregon,
which included Washington. Settlers north of the Columbia, however, sought separate
territorial status, and on March 2, 1853, Washington Territory was established. At the time, it
had a white population of less than 4,000.

Statehood and Development

The discovery of gold in eastern Washington in the 1850s brought in many settlers. This
influx caused renewed Indian warfare, the so-called Yakima War (1855-58).

For the next quarter of a century, population grew slowly. In 1863 Idaho Territory was
created from eastern Washington Territory. Development became rapid after the first
railroad, the Northern Pacific, entered the region in 1883, giving Washington a direct rail link
to the eastern states. Lumbering, fishing, and farming were the chief occupations in the
territory. On November 11, 1889, Washington became the 42nd state; Olympia was its
capital. A constitution was adopted the same year.

After the Klondike gold rush of 1897, Seattle, Tacoma, and other cities in Washington
became important supply bases for Alaska, with Seattle experiencing tremendous growth.
During the next three decades, Washington's population nearly tripled. Universities, national
parks, and army posts were established in the state.

Rapid growth also brought problems. There was conflict between the old settlers and the
large numbers of new non-English immigrants, and there was also corruption in public and
private business dealings. This led to the rise of the progressive movement in the state and
to various reform measures in the early 20th century, including direct primary elections; the
initiative, the referendum, and the recall; and woman suffrage. Labor unrest followed
attempts by the Industrial Workers of the World to unionize the lumbering industry.

World War I brought prosperity, particularly to agriculture and to the shipbuilding and
lumbering industries. The 1920s, however, were a period of little growth, followed by the
Great Depression of the 1930s. During the 1930s, the federal government began to develop
the Columbia River. Bonneville Dam was completed in 1937, Grand Coulee was finished in
1942, and other dams were built later. During World War II, war production again stimulated
the economy, and heavy industries developed. After the war, tourism became important. The
Seattle World's Fair of 1962 and Expo '74, a world's fair in Spokane, were popular
attractions.

In 1980 Mount St. Helens, a long-dormant volcano, erupted, causing loss of life and millions
of dollars in damage.

The economy suffered during the recessions of the early 1970s and early 1980s, with
declines in the aerospace and forest-products industries. In 1985 the government launched a
campaign to promote economic expansion. In a 1990 referendum, voters rejected a measure
to protect the environment by regulating economic growth.

The state economy expanded rapidly in the 1990s, spurred by growth in new industries,
including computer sales, and the success of local businesses such as Starbucks, Microsoft,
and Internet retailer Amazon.com. Microsoft was the subject of numerous antitrust lawsuits
throughout the decade.

The 21st Century

In 2004, the closest election in Washington history ended with Christine Gregoire's victory in
the governor's race, after a hand recount and appeals to the state Supreme Court failed to
overturn the result in Republican Dino Rossi's favor. By 2006, Democrats gained control of
the entire state legislature.
Washington's economy, largely dependent upon Internet, aviation, and software firms,
suffered a major setback during the recession of the early 2000s, and again during the
country-wide economic meltdown that occurred toward the end of the decade. After the
earlier recession, however, by 2003 the economy had recovered and the state was sustained
by strong economic growth at Boeing and in the technology sector. Even when three years
later much of the rest of the country had begun sliding into another recession, Seattle was
able to hold out for the most part until 2008. But by early 2009, both Boeing and Microsoft
were effecting major layoffs, as was J. P. Morgan Chase, the new owner of Washington
Mutual Bank, which had collapsed at the end of 2008.