Throughout much of the 19th century, citizens were entitled to claim acreage under a series of federal laws designed to encourage Americans to settle in Western territories and states. As the population of the West grew rapidly in the 1870s and 1880s, United States Land Offices were established to process land claims. A group of…
When Washington achieved statehood in 1889, it was by no means a foregone conclusion that Olympia would remain the capital of the new state. A concerted campaign featuring posters like this one, and “bribes” in the form of local restaurateur Woodbury Doane’s famous pan-roasted oysters, helped Olympia retain its status over contenders Ellensburg and North…
The Bordeaux logging community was established in the 1880s by French Canadian-born Thomas Bordeaux. Before the advent of a logging railroad, teams of oxen laboriously pulled the huge logs along makeshift corduroy roads. This photograph of one such team is said to be the model for the oxen team depicted in bronze on the doors…
