Settling the WestSettling the West

Five Stages of Migration

Native Americans Here for at least 14,000 years before

European exploration Coastal and plateau tribes Well established civilization By late 1700’s, population rapidly declined

due to European diseases

Coastal People Tribes: Salish, Chinook and Makah Marine Economy: Fishing, Shellfish, Seals,

Sea lions, Porpoises, Whale hunting Cedar Homes Family Groups Social Status: Wealth matters/ Potlatches Spirituality: Shaman/Animism Art: wood carving, basket weaving

Plateau People 2 Main Tribes: Northern Part spoke Salish,

Southern part spoke several different languages

Lived a life that was a mix of Coastal and Great Plains

Pit Houses: permanent homes by the Cascade Range until 1800’s

Seasonal Round Gender Roles and Equality Material Culture and Art Religion: “Vision Quest” Trade Connections: The Dalles/Kettle Falls

Disease-Protohistoric1700-1810

Disease spreads to Pacific NW by late 1700’s

Smallpox, measles, malaria, typhoid, diphtheria

1830’s 90% of the Chinook had lost their tribe to smallpox and malaria

Indian population was reduced by 1/3

European Exploration Started in the mid 1500’s until the

early 1800’s Spain, Great Britain, Russia and U.S.

came to politically claim region Very little violence between explorers

and Native Americans Built trading relationships Explorers believed Native Americans

were simple-minded people

Northwest Passage Many European explorers tried to find a

shortcut to China and the Indies that didn’t have to go around Africa

Christopher Columbus accidentally found North America on his way to the Indies trying to find a shortcut

Many Europeans after Columbus kept searching for a way through North America so they wouldn’t have to sail through S. America

Spanish Explorers First to sail ships along Pacific Coast Juan de Fuca: 1596 (Strait of Juan de

Fuca) Juan Perez: 1774 (Tried to claim

Vancouver Island) Bruno de Heceta: 1775 (Washington

Coast) Esteban Jose Martinez: (Built Spanish

settlement called Fort San Miguel) p.64

Why didn’t Spain Settle in the Northwest?

Spanish crews were very busy harvesting pearls off the coast of Mexico and California

No mineral wealth (i.e. gold, silver) Native peoples lived in small villages-no

large population to capture for slaves Coastline was steep and rugged, many tall

trees on shoreline, making development difficult

Spain lost out to the British in the Pacific NW

British Explorers Revolutionary War: 1776 Americans

vs. Great Britain James Cook (British): famous

explorer who had been around the world twice in both directions. Discovered the Hawaiian Islands (Sandwich Islands)

George Vancouver: 1792 (Sailed into the Columbia River, mapped out and explored Puget Sound region)

Cook’s Outcome

Made it to the Nootka Sound (Vancouver Island)

Discovered Spanish already trading with the Indians

Traded for sea otter furs—felt trip was a failure

Returns to Hawaiian Islands and is killed in a fight with the natives

American Explorers

John Ledyard: Had sailed with Captain Cook (tried to plan a new route to the Pacific Coast from Western Asia)

Robert Gray: 1792 (Sailed into the Columbia River)

Fur Traders Started in the 1800’s Traded with Native Americans for

furs, Nootka Sound Controversy Britain and U.S. established trading

posts and employed own citizens to trap

Competition between Native Americans and fur traders for space, food, and natural resources (land)

Increased conflicts

American Fur Traders

Pacific Fur Company: John Jacob Astor, owner of company

Captain Jonathan Thorn, hired to send his crew to trade for fur

Thorn’s men built Fort Astoria to establish Pacific Fur Company

Traders come by land-most do not make it

War of 1812: Fort Astoria sold to Britain, renamed Fort George

British Fur Traders

Alexander Mackenzie (Canadian): Explored British Columbia 2 years before Lewis and Clark. Northwest Company did business with Indians.

David and Charlotte Thompson: Spokane House, first trading house in Washington State

Dr. John McLoughlin: 1821, Director of Operations for the Hudson Bay Company (formerly Northwest Company), establishes Fort Vancouver

Furs, Forts and Farms

Main business of forts: trading for furs

Most popular fur was beaver pelt called a plew

HBC set up farming companies around several forts

Crops were grown for trade: grain mostly

Late 1840s the fur era ends

Missionaries During the 1830’s and 1840’s : 3 Nez Perce

and a Flathead Indian went to St. Louis with Lewis and Clark

“Christianize and Civilize” Native Americans Saw Native Americans as “noble savage” Whitman Massacre 1847

Misunderstanding between Whitmans and Native Americans about property

Marcus Whitman could not cure disease Marcus Whitman brought settlers Started 30 years of wars between

Native Americans and U.S. settlers. U.S. army becomes involved.

Methodist Missionaries

Jason Lee and Daniel Lee answered Nez Perce request to come

Stopped in Fort Vancouver and stayed there

Converted few Indians Jason Lee returned to East, brought

back 50 more settlers to Oregon and opened new missions

Spent time establishing a settlement instead of working with the Indians, mission was later closed

Catholic Missionaries Some members of the Hudson Bay

Company were Catholic and wanted to have a priest out in the fort

Father Francis Blanchet came and worked with French Canadian Catholics and not with Indians

Many of the Coeur d’Alenes and Flatheads were baptized Christians with the work of Jesuit priest Peter John de Smet and others

Missionary Work and Children

Built log houses and schoolrooms Taught how to raise animals, grow

& harvest crops, weave wool into clothes

Translated the Bible into Indians language to teach them to read

Several children were born at the missions—first white Americans

Settlers Started coming in large numbers in the

1840’s Oregon Trail Transcontinental Railroad Few violent conflicts between settlers

and Native Americans U.S. Army pursues policy of genocide

and confining Native Americans to reservations with or without treaties.

Oregon Trail

Oregon Territory

Washington Territory