Moving to Washington, Olympia, Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane
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Washington,
named in honor of the nation's first president and popularly known as
the Evergreen State because of its extensive forests, is located in the
extreme northwestern corner of the continental United States. The Canadian
province of British Columbia lies to the north, and the states of Idaho
and Oregon form Washington's eastern and southern borders. Puget Sound
and the Pacific Ocean lie to the west.
Encompassing 182,950 sq km (70,637 sq mi), Washington ranks 19th among
the states in area. The population (1990 census, 4,866,692; 1993 est.,
5,255,000) is increasing at a greater rate than the national average.
Thousands of years of occupancy by American Indians were interrupted during
the late 18th century by the arrival of European and American explorers
and traders. The ensuing fur trade gave way to permanent white settlement
during the 1840s. Washington, with its capital at Olympia, became a territory
in 1853 and in 1889 became the 42d state. Long noted for its abundant
natural resources of water, timber, and fish, today Washington is a leader
in the aerospace industry, computer software, international trade, and
tourism.
LAND AND RESOURCES
Washington is characterized by greatly varying relief and scenery. Although
the rough outline of Washington's coast totals only 253 km (157 mi), the
actual coastline is 4,870 km (3,026 mi) because of the many inlets and
small islands in Puget Sound. The Strait of Juan de Fuca and the adjoining
Puget Sound and Strait of Georgia separate the Olympic Mountains (highest
peak, Mount Olympus, at 2,428 m/7,965 ft) on the Olympic Peninsula from
British Columbia's Vancouver Island. To the east and southeast of the
sound is a coastal plain, the Puget Sound lowland. To the east the lowland
gives way to the Cascade Range (highest peak, Mount Rainier, at 4,392
m/14,410 ft). Scarred and sculpted by glaciers and ice sheets, the Cascades
are dominated by dormant volcanoes, in addition to Mount Rainier (including
Adams, Baker, and Glacier). Another volcano in the Cascades, Mount Saint
Helens--dormant since 1857--erupted in 1980, causing extensive damage,
mostly from volcanic ash. To the far east lie the lower slopes of the
Rocky Mountains. In the north are the Okanogan Highlands. Enclosed by
the mountains (except in the southeast) lies the roughly triangular-shaped
Columbia Basin, which incorporates incised coulees, lava plateaus, and
undulating hills. The Columbia Basin and the Puget Sound lowland constitute
Washington's only extensive level areas.
Soils and Drainage
Ranging from acidic, waterlogged peats to subhumid alkaline deposits,
soils vary with both terrain and climate. The most fertile are loess soils
of the Palouse region and alluvial soils of the Puget Sound lowland.
The Columbia River and its tributaries, including the Snake, Okanogan,
and Yakima, drain all of eastern Washington. The system's volume of flow
is second only to that of the Mississippi. Short rivers, including the
Skagit, Snohomish, and Chehalis, drain the western portion of the state.
Fjordlike Lake Chelan on the eastern side of the Cascade Range is the
largest and deepest of Washington's hundreds of natural lakes; Franklin
D. Roosevelt Lake, formed behind Grand Coulee Dam, is the largest artificial
body of water in the state.
Climate
Under the influence of prevailing westerly winds and the rain-shadow effect
of the Cascades, Washington is divided into two major climatic regions:
a moist, temperate zone to the west with approximately 500 to 3,800 mm
(20 to 150 in) of precipitation and an annual temperature fluctuation
of 8 to 11 C degrees (14 to 20 F degrees), and a drier, somewhat continental
eastern region with 200 to 635 mm (8 to 25 in) of precipitation and a
temperature range of 25 degrees to 28 degrees C (45 degrees to 50 degrees
F). Summer is the dry season in almost the entire state, and cyclonic
storms from the west constitute the most frequent and regular meteorological
disturbances.
Vegetation and Animal Life
The humid western portion of Washington is dominated by forests of Douglas
fir and hemlock, mixed with western red cedar, Sitka spruce, and other
conifers, as well as various deciduous trees including alder, birch, and
maple. At higher elevations subalpine fir and other hardy species take
over, while to the east beyond the crest of the Cascades ponderosa pine
becomes common. Sagebrush and bunch grass prevail throughout much of the
Columbia Basin, but ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and other western species
reappear in the east and in the Okanogan Highlands.
Animal life abounds in Washington. Larger mammals include black bears
and the occasional grizzly, Roosevelt elks, deer, and cougars; smaller
mammals include bobcats, marten, skunks, foxes, and coyotes. Major flyways
bring many species of wildfowl through the state. Rivers and lakes are
stocked with trout and sturgeon, and coastal waters abound with salmon,
dogfish, Dungeness crab, and other shellfish.
Resources
The most valuable of Washington's varied and widely distributed natural
resources are its Pacific salmon and shellfish; its Douglas fir and other
softwoods found in the Olympics, Cascades, Blue Mountains (in the southeastern
corner of the state), and Okanogan Highlands; its water resources in the
Columbia Basin and many western rivers; and its loess soils of the Palouse
region. Principal mineral resources include clay, sand, gravel, and stone.
PEOPLE
Washington's population density is unevenly distributed because of variations
in terrain, resources, and economic opportunity. Density is greatest in
the area around Seattle and Tacoma and lowest in the sparsely inhabited
highland areas of northern and southeastern Washington. The great majority
of Washingtonians live in a narrow 17-km-wide (10-mi) corridor running
north-south from the Canadian border at Blaine to the Columbia River at
Vancouver (an outlier of the Portland, Oreg., metropolitan area). Eastern
Washington claims the state's second largest city, Spokane, an important
manufacturing, grain, and financial center. Smaller urban centers along
the Columbia and its tributaries include Yakima, Walla Walla, and the
Tri-Cities of Pasco-Richland-Kennewick, which have gained prominence in
the decades since World War II. The Olympic Peninsula is thinly populated
except in the vicinities of Aberdeen-Hoquiam and Port Angeles.
Between 1970 and 1980, Washington's population increased more than 20
percent, nearly twice the national increase. In the decade from 1980 to
1990, the increase was almost as great at 17.8 percent, averaging nearly
1.8 percent per year, compared to a national increase for the decade of
9.8 percent. At the time of the 1990 census whites made up the great majority
of the population with 88.5 percent, Asians and Pacific Islanders were
4.3 percent of the population, blacks were 3. 1 percent, and American
Indians were 1.7 percent. Hispanics, who may be of any race, made up 4.4
percent. Roman Catholics are the largest religious group; other large
groups are the Mormons, Methodists, and Lutherans.
Education
Since early territorial days Washington has had statewide primary and
secondary education. The public school system is run by a state superintendent
of public instruction and a state board of education; expenditures are
at about the national average while years of schooling completed are well
above the national average. Five state universities, all founded before
1900, one state college, and a number of community colleges are part of
the public system of higher education (see Washington, state universities
and college of), complementing private colleges and universities. The
latter include the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Whitman College
in Walla Walla, and Gonzaga University in Spokane.
Culture and Historic Sites
In addition to the cultural activities of Washington's universities and
college, the state has symphony orchestras in Seattle, Spokane, and other
communities; the Cornish College of the Arts is at Seattle. The two state
historical societies are in Tacoma and Spokane; the State Capitol Museum
is in Olympia; and art museums or galleries are located in Seattle, Spokane,
Tacoma, and other cities. The Museum of History and Industry and the Pacific
Science Center are both in Seattle; the Museum of Native American Cultures
is in Spokane. Regional museums include the Whatcom Museum of History
and Art at Bellingham.
The Whitman Mission National Historic Site near Walla Walla commemorates
the Indian mission established in 1836 by Marcus Whitman. The Hudson's
Bay Company had its headquarters at Fort Vancouver from 1825 to 1849.
Interest in Washington's heritage increased greatly with preparations
for the state's centennial in 1989. Pioneer museums, national historic
districts, restored fur trading posts such as Spokane House and Fort Okanogan,
and former army posts such as Fort Simcoe and Fort Spokane, are notable
heritage sites.
Communications
Washington has numerous commercial radio and television broadcasting facilities,
as well as public television broadcasts from Seattle, Spokane, and Yakima.
Major newspapers having wide regional coverage include the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
and Times, the Tacoma Morning News-Tribune, and the Spokane Spokesman-Review
and Chronicle.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Historically Washington has depended heavily on abundant primary resources
for its economic well-being, but in recent decades manufacturing and services,
especially tourism and finance, have provided increasingly larger proportions
of the state's income. Manufacturing makes up the single most important
economic activity in the state and accounts for about 20 percent of the
gross state product.
Agriculture
Although providing less than 5 percent of the gross state product, agriculture
remains of major importance in the Columbia Basin, where federal irrigation
projects have brought extensive acreage under cultivation and have greatly
enhanced productivity. Washington's leading agricultural commodities are
wheat, dairy products, cattle, and apples, of which Washington is the
nation's leading producer. Pears, hops, grapes, plums, and cherries are
also leading products in various parts of the state; berries, poultry,
and dairy farming are significant west of the Cascades.
Forestry and Fishing
The forest industries, which serve both national and international markets,
are highly developed in western Washington and parts of the northeast
and southeast of the state. The leading timber trees are western hemlock
and Douglas fir. Commercial fishing is concentrated along the Pacific
Coast and around Puget Sound, with numerous small ports maintaining inshore
and deep-sea fleets for salmon, halibut, and shellfish. Sport fishing
is also popular; major species caught include salmon and trout.
Mining
Mining is of far less importance to the state today than it was a half-century
ago. Coal is one of the state's valuable minerals and is its only major
fossil-fuel resource. Washington, with its cheap electricity, leads the
nation in aluminum smelting; it depends on imported bauxite ore for its
seven aluminum smelters. Nonmetalliferous minerals, including sand, gravel,
clay, and stone, help maintain a variety of industries, including those
producing cement and other construction materials. Other minerals found
in the state are gold, silver, copper, and uranium.
Manufacturing and Energy
Washington's leading manufacturing products are transportation equipment,
particularly aircraft and space equipment; food products; and lumber and
wood products. Boeing, a leading producer of commercial aircraft, is the
state's largest employer, with plants in Seattle, Everett, Auburn, Kent,
and Renton. The primary-metals industry is now largely confined to aluminum.
Other important manufactures are nonelectrical machinery, computer software,
printing and publishing, and paper products. Industrial centers are heavily
concentrated in the Puget Sound lowland from Olympia to the vicinity of
the Canadian border. Smaller industrial regions have also grown up along
the lower Columbia and in the Tri-Cities area and Spokane. In addition,
Washington is a shipbuilding center, with shipyards in Bremerton, Seattle,
and Tacoma.
Hydroelectric installations, primarily along the Columbia River or its
tributaries, provide most of the electrical power in the state. The Hanford
nuclear reactors, begun in 1943, were the first in the nation. Washington
Public Power Supply System's plans for five more nuclear plants were halted
when the company defaulted in 1983 on bonds to construct two of the plants;
the default was the largest in municipal bond history. Only one of the
five plants became operational.
Tourism
With much of its total area available for recreational purposes, Washington
has become a major tourist state in recent decades. Three national parks
(Olympic, Mount Rainier, North Cascades), several national forests (including
Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, Gifford Pinchot, and Olympic), and various wilderness
and national recreational areas, together with many state and county parks,
provide opportunities in every part of the state for year-round recreation,
including winter sports, mountaineering, backpacking, and water sports.
Private resort areas, especially in the mountains and close to rivers
and lakes, supplement the public lands. They include ski resorts, dude
ranches, hunting lodges, and fishing camps.
Transportation and Trade
Major interstate highways in Washington include I-90, connecting Spokane
and Seattle, and I-5, traveling in a north-south direction from Vancouver,
British Columbia, through Washington to Portland, Oreg. State-owned ferry
systems operate on Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The Seattle-Tacoma
International airport is the state's busiest. The port of Seattle shares
the traffic of Puget Sound with harbors at Tacoma, Everett, and Bellingham;
there are also Columbia River ports at Longview, Kalama, and Vancouver.
Leading exports include airplanes, machinery, aluminum, processed foods,
petrochemicals, and wood products; crude oil constitutes the chief import.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
The state constitution, approved in 1889 and since amended, provides for
a bicameral legislature, a governor who serves a 4-year term and may run
for reelection, and the power of legislation by public referenda. The
house of representatives consists of 98 members, serving 2-year terms,
and the 49 members of the senate serve 4-year terms. Since 1972 each equally
populated legislative district elects 1 senator and 2 representatives.
The judicial branch is headed by a supreme court of 9 justices, elected
for 6-year terms. Despite numerous attempts to institute one, Washington
does not have a state income tax, adoption of which would require approval
in a public referendum.
Washington voters have generally chosen Republican candidates in presidential
elections; the state was not carried by a Democrat until 1932, when Franklin
D. Roosevelt was elected. Democrats, however, often have managed to win
other election contests. Democrats Warren G. Magnuson and Henry M. Jackson
each served (respectively; 1944-81 and 1953-83) in the Senate for more
than a quarter-century. Between 1964 and 1976, Republicans controlled
the governor's office, with Daniel J. Evans serving three consecutive
terms. Since then Democrats have occupied the governorship from 1976 to
1980 and from 1984 to the present.
HISTORY
Indians have inhabited Washington for more than 10,000 years and developed
lifestyles that remained little changed until European explorers arrived
two centuries ago. Remains discovered at Marmes Cave, North Bonneville,
and elsewhere have provided archaeological evidence. The settled Coast
Salish bands of western Washington--including the Chinook, Nisqually,
and Puyallup--lived in cedar lodges, had salmon and shellfish as their
staples, and developed elaborate potlatch ceremonies. The plateau Indians
of the interior--including the Nez Perce, Okanogan, Spokan, and Yakima--were
nomadic hunters who eventually lived in skin tepees and depended on the
horse for their peripatetic lifestyle.
Exploration and Confrontation
Early contacts between Indians and Europeans were abrupt and often brutal,
and the consequences for the Indians were serious. Smallpox, cholera,
and measles severely reduced the tribes' population, and subsequent white
settlement led to loss of Indian lands and the establishment of reservations.
Coastal exploration by the Spanish began during the 18th century. The
first landing was made in 1775, by Bruno de Heceta and Juan Francisco
de la Bodega y Quadra, near Point Grenville, to forestall Russian expansion
southward from Alaska. The English captain James Cook sailed along the
coast in 1778, and the American captain Robert Gray discovered the Columbia
River in 1792. The same year, Capt. George Vancouver completed the first
mapping of the entire coastline. Overland exploration, initiated by the
Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805-06, was completed within a decade by
David Thompson and various fur traders.
The Fur Trade and White Settlement
The fur trade constituted Washington's first major industry. The sea-otter
trade, begun in 1785 by the British, had virtually ceased when a land-based
fur trade began in 1811. John Jacob Astor's (see Astor, family) Pacific
Fur Company--a subsidiary of his American Fur Company--and the Montreal-based
North West Company competed for the furs. Economic success came only with
the Hudson's Bay Company takeover in 1821. Directed by Dr. John McLoughlin,
Fort Vancouver became the headquarters of operations that ranged from
California to Alaska. A subsidiary, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company,
provided subsistence food. Beside furs, some agricultural products, dried
salmon, and sawed timber were exported.
Two groups of American missionaries--Methodists, led by Jason Lee in 1834,
and Presbyterians, led by Marcus Whitman in 1836--were followed in the
1840s by an influx of American settlers, who by 1849 numbered over 12,000,
most of them settled in the Willamette Valley. This influx brought to
a climax rival British and U.S. claims to the Oregon Country. British
preference for the Columbia River and America's political slogan of "Fifty-four
forty or fight!" (referring to the latitude 54 degrees 40') gave way to
compromise, however, when, in 1846, the 49th parallel was chosen as the
boundary between Canada and the United States (see Oregon Question).
Through the 1850s, Oregon's Willamette River valley drew most of the Northwest's
new settlers. In eastern Washington the Whitman massacre at Waiilatpu
in 1847 was followed by protracted Indian wars that lasted throughout
the next decade and delayed occupation of the Columbia Basin. Meanwhile
settlements were established around Puget Sound--Olympia in 1845, Seattle
and Port Townsend in 1851, and Whatcom (later Bellingham) in 1852.
Economic Growth and Statehood
A proposal for a Columbia Territory was passed by Congress in March 1853,
with the name Washington being substituted by amendment. Isaac I. Stevens
became the first territorial governor, and during the next few years treaties
were signed between the United States and the Indian tribes, notably the
Treaty of Point Elliott (1855). The Donation Act enabled early (pre-1850)
settlers to file claims up to 320 acres (130 ha) for a single person or
640 acres (260 ha) for a married couple. By the early 1860s most accessible
land was owned and occupied.
Development was slow during the 1850s, but by 1860 the white population
of Washington Territory numbered about 12,000. During the next three decades
lumbering operations proliferated along Puget Sound. Coal and gold were
discovered and mined, salmon canning begun, the Palouse region was occupied
and the so-called Inland Empire (a farming, lumbering, and mining region)
established, irrigation of parts of the Columbia Basin attempted, and
railroad lines built, notably the Northern Pacific and the Great Northern.
By 1880 the population exceeded 75,000, and by 1890 it had reached 357,000.
Seattle, Spokane, and Tacoma had emerged as major urban centers. In 1889,
Washington became the 42d state. Elisha Ferry was elected as the first
governor.
20th Century
The 1893 depression was a major setback to growth, but by 1900 the state
once again was making rapid progress, politically and socially as well
as economically. This was especially marked during the so-called Progressive
Era. Establishment of regulatory agencies, legislation by referendum,
and female suffrage were its major achievements.
The Depression years of the 1930s saw the inauguration of the Columbia
Basin Project and the Bonneville Power Administration, to build dams and
provide hydroelectric power. During the 1940s, Boeing emerged as a major
international company, and manufacturing other than processing of local
resources, finance, and tourism began to assume major roles. World War
II and the wars in Korea and Vietnam provided further economic incentives.
After economic downturns in the early 1970s and again in the early 1980s,
the economy rebounded dramatically with an infusion of high-tech companies
and expanding trade with Pacific nations.
James W. Scott
Bibliography: Avery, Mary W., Government of Washington State, rev. ed.
(1973); Beckett, Paul L., From Wilderness to Enabling Act (1968); Clark,
Norman H., Washington (1976); Federal Writers' Project, Washington: A
Guide to the Evergreen State (194; repr. 1989); Ficken, Robert E., and
LeWarne, Charles P., Washington: A Centennial History (1988); Kirk, R.,
and Alexander, C., Exploring Washington's Past (1990); Meinig, Donald
W., The Great Columbia Plain: A Historical Geography, 1805-1910 (1968);
Scott, James W., Washington: A Centennial Atlas (1990); Scott, James W.,
and De Lorme, Roland L., Historical Atlas of Washington (1988); Stewart,
E. I., Washington, 4 vols. (1957); Swanson, T., et al., eds., Political
Life in Washington (1985).
(c) 1996 Grolier, Inc.
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