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106-652: Queen Charlotte Sound was named by James Strange on August 5, 1786, in honour of Queen Charlotte , the consort of King George III . Strange was the leader of a fur trading expedition of two vessels, the Captain Cook , under Captain Henry Lawrie, and the Experiment , under Captain John Guise. During a boat excursion up Goletas Channel , Strange saw an opening ahead and named it Queen Charlotte Sound. The body of water he named

212-468: A co-dominion of interests in the region in lieu of a settlement. In 1840, American Charles Wilkes explored in the area. John McLoughlin , Chief Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company , headquartered at Fort Vancouver, was the de facto local political authority for most of this time. This arrangement ended as U.S. settlement grew and President James K. Polk was elected on a platform of calling for annexation of

318-661: A deep and wide gorge around the rim of the Columbia Plateau and through the Cascade Range on its way to the Pacific Ocean. Because many areas have plentiful rainfall and mild summers, the Pacific Northwest has some of North America's most lush and extensive forests, which are extensively populated with Coast Douglas fir trees, the second tallest growing evergreen conifer on earth. The region also contains specimens of

424-541: A diversity of cultures and societies. Some areas were home to mobile and egalitarian societies. Others, especially along major rivers such as the Columbia and Fraser, had very complex, affluent, sedentary societies rivaling those of the coast. In British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, the Haida and Tlingit erected large and elaborately carved totem poles that have become iconic of Pacific Northwest artistic traditions. Throughout

530-664: A nation of hunters". Maritime fur trader Charles William Barkley also visited the area in Imperial Eagle , a British ship falsely flying the flag of the Austrian Empire . American merchant sea-captain Robert Gray traded along the coast, and discovered the mouth of the Columbia River . Explorer Alexander Mackenzie completed in 1793 the first continental crossing in what is called today central British Columbia and reached

636-681: A part of the Great Basin Desert , although by their northern and eastern reaches, dry land and desert areas verge at the end of the Cascades' and Coast Mountains ' rain shadows with the boreal forest and various alpine flora regimes characteristic of eastern British Columbia, the Idaho Panhandle and western Montana roughly along a longitudinal line defined by the Idaho border with Washington and Oregon. The North American inland temperate rainforest

742-503: A partner in the bank of Strange, Dashwood & Company, of New Bond Street , London. In 1803 Strange's bank failed, which left him impoverished and caused him to return to India, where his brother Sir Thomas Andrew Lumisden Strange helped James acquire employment with the East India Company. James Strange's first marriage, in 1785, was to Margaret Durham, the daughter of James Durham of Largo, Fife , Scotland. Margaret's brother

848-552: A population of approximately 530,000), the Okanagan Valley in the British Columbia interior (about 350,000 people centered around the city of Kelowna, which has close to 200,000 people). Large geographical areas may only have one mid-sized to small-sized city as a regional center (often a county seat), with smaller cities and towns scattered around. Vast areas of the region may have little or no population at all, largely due to

954-518: A profit. Two Bombay-built, copper-hulled snows were purchased. They were the Captain Cook of 350 tons , and the Experiment of 100 tons. The Captain Cook was commanded by Henry Laurie, and the Experiment by Henry Guise. Strange was supercargo and also in overall command of the voyage. As far as the EIC was concerned, Strange was a company servant in command of a company-sanctioned, private project that, it

1060-430: A second expedition never happened. Mackay remained with Maquinna's Nuu-chah-nulth for about a year. At first Mackay was quite satisfied, but one day he accidentally broke a taboo that earned him the wrath of Maquinna, after which Mackay was poorly treated and spent a miserable winter. In June 1787 Charles William Barkley arrived at Friendly Cove in the Imperial Eagle . Mackay helped Barkley gain 700 sea otter pelts from

1166-552: A suitable harbor to repair his ailing ship. On June 17, Drake and his crew found a protected cove when they landed on the Pacific coast of what is now Northern California. While ashore, he claimed the area for Queen Elizabeth I as Nova Albion or New Albion . Juan de Fuca , a Greek captain sailing for the Crown of Spain , supposedly found the Strait of Juan de Fuca around 1592. The strait

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1272-597: A third Spanish expedition, under the command of Ignacio de Artega in the ship Princesa , and with Quadra as captain of the ship Favorite , sailed from Mexico to the coast of Alaska, reaching 61° N . Two further Spanish expeditions, in 1788 and 1789, both under Esteban Jose Martínez and Gonzalo López de Haro , sailed to the Pacific Northwest. During the second expedition, they met the American captain Robert Gray near Nootka Sound . Upon entering Nootka Sound, they found William Douglas and his ship Iphigenia . Conflict led to

1378-664: A very large presence in Tacoma's Hilltop and South Tacoma neighborhoods, Seattle's Central District and Rainier Valley neighborhoods, and in Portland's Northeast Quadrant. There are growing numbers in Vancouver as well, particularly Africans, Jamaicans and Black people from the United States. Beginning in the late 20th century, a general suburbanization of East and South Asian communities occurred in Vancouver, prompting concerns regarding

1484-594: A year before. Up until then Strange and his crew thought themselves the first fur traders on the Northwest Coast. Walker wrote favorably of chiefs Maquinna and Callicum , who later came to figure prominently in the Nootka Crisis . Both Walker and Strange were confused about the rank of Maquinna and Callicum and generally about the Nuu-chah-nulth's system of social hierarchy. Maquinna was the highest ranked chief of

1590-750: Is a diverse geographic region, dominated by several mountain ranges, including the Coast Mountains , the Cascade Range , the Olympic Mountains , the Columbia Mountains , and the Rocky Mountains . The highest peak in the Pacific Northwest is Mount Rainier, in the Washington Cascades, at 14,410 feet (4,392 m). Immediately inland from the Cascade Range are broad, generally dry plateaus. In

1696-681: Is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common conception includes the U.S. states of Oregon , Washington , Idaho , and the Canadian province of British Columbia . Some broader conceptions reach north into Alaska and Yukon , south into northern California , and east into western Montana . Other conceptions may be limited to

1802-644: Is closely associated with the North Central Rockies forests ecoregion designated by the WWF , which extends over a similar range but incorporates various non-temperate rainforest ecosystems. The overwhelming majority of the population of the Pacific Northwest is concentrated in the Portland–Seattle–Vancouver corridor. As of 2016, the combined populations of the Lower Mainland region (which includes

1908-570: Is defined as being the Northwestern United States specifically, excluding Canada . The Pacific Northwest has been occupied by a diverse array of indigenous peoples for millennia. The Pacific Coast is seen by some scholars as a major coastal migration route in the settlement of the Americas by late Pleistocene peoples moving from northeast Asia into the Americas. The coastal migration hypothesis has been bolstered by findings such as

2014-448: Is due to immigration quotas at the federal level, as while Canada has one-tenth the population of the United States, it takes in one-quarter as many immigrants, many of whom are from Asia. Vancouver settled about a quarter of all emigrants from Hong Kong to Canada in the late 1980s. In the U.S. side of the region, Latinos make up a large portion of the agricultural labor force east of the Cascade Range, and are an increasing presence in

2120-539: Is in the so-called interior wet-belt, approximately 500–700 km inland from the Pacific coast on western, windward mountain slopes and valley bottoms of the Columbia Mountains and the Rocky Mountains . The interior wet-belt refers to a discontinuous band of humid forest patches, that are scattered over 1000 km between Purden Lake in Canada's British Columbia (54° North) and Montana and Idaho's Bitterroot Mountains and Idaho's Salmon River Mountains (45° North). It

2226-429: Is possible on Vancouver Island due to the mild winters. The Big Dark is a term for winter in the Pacific Northwest. At a latitude of almost 48 degrees north , Seattle has sunsets before 6 PM between October and March, and fewer than nine hours of daylight for many weeks around the winter solstice. The darkness contributes to seasonal affective disorder among people living in northern cities, including those in

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2332-488: Is probably a mistake. According to the BC Geographical Names , the northern boundary of Queen Charlotte Strait is defined as a line running Cape Sutil , at the north end of Vancouver Island, to Cape Caution on the mainland. The southern end of Queen Charlotte Strait is described as "several narrow channels north and east of Malcolm Island ". The strait lies between the mainland and Vancouver Island portions of

2438-716: Is the largest of the world's temperate rain forest ecoregions in the system created by the World Wildlife Fund , stretches along the coast from Alaska to California. The dry desert inland from the Cascade Range and Coast Mountains is very different from the terrain and climate of the coastal area due to the rain shadow effect of the mountains, and comprises the Columbia, Fraser and Thompson Plateaus and mountain ranges contained within them. The interior regions' climates largely within Eastern Washington, south central British Columbia, Eastern Oregon, and southern Idaho are

2544-621: The 1700 Cascadia earthquake . The geological record reveals that "great earthquakes" (those with moment magnitude 8 or higher) occur in the Cascadia subduction zone about every 500 years on average, often accompanied by tsunamis . There is evidence of at least 13 events at intervals from about 300 to 900 years. Active volcanoes in the region include Mount Garibaldi , Mount Baker , Mount Rainier , Mount St. Helens , Mount Adams , Mount Hood , Mount Meager , Mount Jefferson , Mount Shasta , Lassen Peak and Glacier Peak . The Pacific Northwest

2650-527: The Canadian province of British Columbia. Broader definitions of the region have included the U.S. states of Alaska and parts of the states of California, Montana, and Wyoming, and the Canadian territory of Yukon . Definitions based on the historic Oregon Country reach east to the Continental Divide , thus including all of western Montana and western Wyoming . Sometimes, the Pacific Northwest

2756-565: The Discovery Islands , charting the coastline together. They passed through Johnstone Strait and Cordero Channel and returned to Nootka Sound. As a result, the Spanish explorers, who had set out from Nootka, became the first Europeans to circumnavigate Vancouver Island. Vancouver himself had entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca directly without going to Nootka first, so had not sailed completely around

2862-568: The Inside Passage , even though it is not an official international waterway. Disputes between British Columbia and Alaska over the Dixon Entrance of the Hecate Strait between Prince Rupert and Haida Gwaii have not been resolved. The Northwest is still highly geologically active, with both active volcanoes and geologic faults . The last known great earthquake in the northwest was

2968-556: The Lewis and Clark Expedition to travel through the Midwest starting from St. Louis , cross the Continental Divide and reach the Columbia River up to its mouth. Americans reached the Pacific Ocean "overland" in 1805. The Pacific Fur Company sent in 1811 an "over-lander" crew including a large contingent of Voyageurs to retrace most of the path of the earlier expedition up to the mouth of

3074-712: The Metro Vancouver Regional District ), the Seattle metropolitan area , and the Portland metropolitan area totaled more than nine million people. However, beyond these three cities, the PNW region is characterized by a very low density population distribution. Some other regions of greater population density outside this corridor include the Greater Victoria area and Greater Nanaimo area on Southern Vancouver Island (with

3180-533: The Nootka Crisis , which was resolved by agreements known as the Nootka Convention . In 1790, the Spanish sent three ships to Nootka Sound, under the command of Francisco de Eliza . After establishing a base at Nootka, Eliza sent out several exploration parties. Salvador Fidalgo was sent north to the Alaska coast. Manuel Quimper , with Gonzalo López de Haro as pilot, explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca, discovering

3286-468: The Nootka Sound Conventions , the last in 1794, Spain gave up its exclusive a priori claims and agreed to share the region with the other powers , giving up its garrison at Nootka Sound in the process. The United States established a claim based on the discoveries of Robert Gray , the Lewis and Clark Expedition , the construction of Fort Astoria, and the acquisition of Spanish claims given to

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3392-726: The North West Company (NWC). During the 1820s, the upper Willamette, the Umpqua , the Rogue , the Klamath were all reached still heading southward up toward the Sacramento River and California under the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) having now itself acquired the NWC. The Siskiyou Trail was gradually being established by Alexander Roderick McLeod and Peter Skene Ogden leading related expeditions for

3498-579: The North West Company , the Pacific Fur Company or the Hudson's Bay Company include: Fort Saint-James (1806; oldest in British Columbia west of the Rockies), Fort Astoria (1811; oldest in Oregon), Fort Nez Percés (1818), Fort Alexandria (1821), Fort Vancouver (1824), Fort Langley (1827; oldest in southern British Columbia), Fort Nisqually (1833), and Fort Victoria (1843). Also of interest are

3604-494: The Northwest Territories of Canada . The region is sometimes referred to as Cascadia, which, depending on the borders, may or may not be the same thing as the Pacific Northwest. The region's largest metropolitan areas are Greater Seattle , Washington, with 4 million people; Metro Vancouver , British Columbia, with 2.84 million people; and Greater Portland , Oregon, with 2.5 million people. The culture of

3710-635: The Olympic Peninsula near the mouth of the Quinault River . On August 17, 1775, Heceta, returning south, sighted the mouth of the Columbia River and named it Bahia de la Asunción . While Heceta sailed south, Quadra continued north in the expedition's second ship, Sonora , reaching Alaska , at 59° N . In 1778 English mariner Captain James Cook visited Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island and also voyaged as far as Prince William Sound . In 1779,

3816-522: The Oregon Coast , Burrard Inlet , Puget Sound , and the highly complex fjords of the British Columbia Coast and Southeast Alaska . The region has one of the world's longest fjord coastlines. The Pacific Northwest contains an uncountable number of islands, many of the smaller ones being unnamed. The vast majority of such islands are in British Columbia and Alaska. Vancouver Island is by far

3922-585: The Oregon Territory in 1848. It was later subdivided into Oregon Territory and Washington Territory . These territories became the states of Oregon, Idaho, Washington and parts of other Western states. During the American Civil War , British Columbia officials pushed for London to invade and conquer the Washington Territory in effort to take advantage of Americans being distracted in the war on

4028-646: The Pacific Northwest Coast. Captain James King , who had helped take over after the death of Cook, wrote of the possible profits to be made selling Northwest Coast furs in China. Upon Strange's return to India and the East India Company (EIC) in later 1785, he discussed the idea of an expedition with David Scott , a prominent Mumbai (Bombay) merchant. Scott and his two partners, Tate and Adamson, obtained

4134-506: The Pacific Ocean . Simon Fraser explored and mapped the Fraser River from Central British Columbia down to its mouth in 1808. And mapmaker David Thompson explored in 1811 the entire route of the Columbia River from its northern headwaters all the way to its mouth. These explorations were commissioned by the North West Company and were all undertaken with small teams of Voyageurs . United States President Thomas Jefferson commissioned

4240-509: The Puget Sound region . The darkness is enhanced by a return from dry summers to extremely cloudy and wet weather characterized by recurring atmospheric rivers and Pacific Northwest windstorms . Much of the Pacific Northwest is forested. The Georgia Strait – Puget Sound basin is shared between western British Columbia and Washington, and the Pacific temperate rain forests ecoregion, which

4346-541: The Regional District of Mount Waddington , a form of regional municipal governance with power over zoning, building and sewer permits and inter-municipal integration. Most communities in the region, however, are Indian reserve communities of the Kwakwakaʼwakw peoples which are outside the jurisdiction of regional district governance. The traditional territories of most of the various Kwakwaka'wakw peoples overlap in

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4452-422: The San Juan and Gulf Island chains. The major cities of Vancouver, Portland , Seattle , and Tacoma all began as seaports supporting the logging, mining, and farming industries of the region, but have developed into major technological and industrial centers (such as the Silicon Forest ), which benefit from their location on the Pacific Rim . If defined as British Columbia, Idaho, Oregon and Washington,

4558-559: The San Juan Islands and Admiralty Inlet in the process. Francisco de Eliza himself took the ship San Carlos into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. From a base at Port Discovery , his pilotos ( masters ) José María Narváez and Juan Carrasco explored the San Juan Islands , Haro Strait , Rosario Strait , and Bellingham Bay . In the process, they discovered the Strait of Georgia and explored it as far north as Texada Island . The expedition returned to Nootka Sound by August 1791. Alessandro Malaspina , sailing for Spain, explored and mapped

4664-410: The Sea Otter . After their encounter, Tipping's Sea Otter was never seen again. It might have been attacked and destroyed, or it might have been lost at sea. In September 1786, Strange left Prince William Sound and sailed to Canton, China. He sold his furs for about £5,600, which was not nearly enough to cover the expenses of the expedition, nor even his own personal investment. Although his venture

4770-485: The tallest trees on earth, the coast redwoods , in southwestern Oregon, but the largest of these trees are located just south of the California border in northwestern California. Coastal forests in some areas are classified as temperate rainforest . Coastal features are defined by the interaction with the Pacific and the North American continent. The coastline of the Pacific Northwest is dotted by numerous fjords, bays, islands, and mountains. Some of these features include

4876-401: The 1870s and the 1880s, though no cross-border attacks were experienced. During the Alaska Boundary Dispute , U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt threatened to invade and annex British Columbia if Britain would not yield on the question of the Yukon ports. In more recent times, during the so-called " Salmon War " of the 1990s, Washington Senator Slade Gorton called for the U.S. Navy to "force"

4982-425: The Columbia and join the company ship. The Tonquin came oversea via Cape Horn to build and operate Fort Astoria . These early land expeditions mapped the way for subsequent land explorations and building early settlements. The Willamette River was the first PNW inland waterway to be explored north–south during trapping expeditions carried out throughout the 1810s by the Pacific Fur Company soon acquired by

5088-445: The Columbia. Noteworthy Russian settlements still in place include: Unalaska (1774), Kodiak (1791), and Sitka (1804) making them the oldest permanent non-Indigenous settlements in the Pacific Northwest. Temporary Spanish settlement Santa Cruz de Nuca (1789–1795) held on a few years at Nootka Sound . Other early occupation non-Indigenous settlements of interest, either long lasting or still in place, built and operated by either

5194-401: The EIC and in private trade. In 1778 he became a Factor of the EIC. In 1780 Strange returned to England, having made a fortune. He was promoted to a Junior Merchant of the EIC in 1782. On 18 February 1785 Strange married Margaret Durham. The same year he returned to India with his new bride. From late 1785 to early 1787 he undertook a voyage to the Pacific Northwest Coast, hoping to be

5300-526: The EIC as Postmaster General and a Senior Member of the Board of Trade. In 1816 he retired and returned to Great Britain. On the voyage home he stopped at Saint Helena where he won a game of piquet with the exiled Napoleon . In 1785 while returning to India after marrying Margaret Durham, Strange read newly published accounts of the third voyage of Captain Cook , including news of the large profits made by his crew in Guangzhou (Canton), China, selling sea otter furs they had obtained at Nootka Sound on

5406-484: The EIC, Strange retired to Scotland. After a five-month illness, James Strange died on 7October 1840 at Airth Castle , Airth , Lanarkshire , Scotland . Several places in British Columbia were named for James Strange, including Strange Island, in Nootka Sound , and Strange Rock, near Cape Scott , Guise Bay, and Lowrie Bay. Other places are named for Strange's captains, Guise and Lowrie, and his ships, Captain Cook and Experiment . For example, near Cape Scott at

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5512-463: The Eastern region. This was rejected, as the UK did not wish to risk war with the United States, whose forces were better prepared and trained much more than the British troops. American expansionist pressure on British Columbia persisted after the colony became a province of Canada, even though Americans living in the province did not harbor annexationist inclinations. The Fenian Brotherhood openly organized and drilled in Washington, particularly in

5618-450: The European population contains large communities of English Canadians , Scottish Canadians , Irish Canadians , French Canadians , German Canadians , and many others. Europeans form between 80 and 90 per cent of the population in U.S. section of the Pacific Northwest, thus the Asian presence is comparably smaller, with all Asian groups together comprising about 8% of Washington state's population, and less than 4% in Oregon and Idaho. This

5724-421: The HBC. Also during the 1820s, HBC explorations were carried out northward originating from the Columbia River Fort Astoria long renamed to Fort George. Simon Plamondon first ventured during the early 20s into the Cowlitz River up to Cowlitz Prairie . By 1824, an expedition led by James McMillan was reaching Puget Sound via the Chehalis River (Washington) and a portage. The same expedition went on all

5830-405: The Northwest Coast, they found one of the world's most complex hunting and fishing societies, with large sedentary villages, large houses, systems of social rank and prestige, extensive trade networks, and many other factors more commonly associated with societies based on domesticated agriculture. In the interior of the Pacific Northwest, the indigenous peoples, at the time of European contact, had

5936-465: The Nuu-chah-nulth are valuable as the earliest detailed documentation, other than Captain Cook's 1778 journal, since no first-hand account of Hanna's 1785 stay at Nootka Sound survives. Strange had been instructed to establish a trading relationship with the natives. To this end he left John Mackay , assistant surgeon of the Experiment , at Nootka Sound. Strange hoped to make a second expedition, which would benefit from Mackay's time at Nootka Sound, but

6042-534: The Nuu-chah-nulth. In August another maritime fur trader, George Dixon , arrived in the King George . Mackay, eager to leave, shipped out with Dixon. Leaving Mackay behind, Strange left Nootka Sound in late July, 1786, sailing north. He stopped near the northern end of Vancouver Island, which he named Cape Scott , after David Scott, his patron in Mumbai (Bombay). He found and named the Scott Islands . He found San Josef Bay and named it Scott's Bay, also after his patron, but in that case his name did not survive to

6148-467: The Pacific Northwest are temperate; cool temperatures and frequent cloudy skies are typical. Under the Köppen climate classification , a warm-summer Mediterranean ( Csb ) designation is assigned to many areas of the Pacific Northwest as far north as central Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands , including cities such as Victoria , Vancouver (coast area), Seattle, and Portland. Other climate classification systems, such as Trewartha , place these areas in

6254-488: The Pacific Northwest has four US National Parks : Crater Lake in Oregon, and Olympic , Mount Rainier , and North Cascades in Washington. If a larger regional definition is used, then other US National Parks might be included, such as Redwood National and State Parks , Glacier Bay National Park , Wrangell–St. Elias National Park , Grand Teton National Park , and parts of Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park . There are several Canadian National Parks in

6360-400: The Pacific Northwest is influenced by the Canada–United States border , which the United States and the United Kingdom established at a time when the region's inhabitants were composed mostly of indigenous peoples . Two sections of the border—one along the 49th parallel south of British Columbia and one between the Alaska Panhandle and northern British Columbia—have left a great impact on

6466-403: The Pacific Northwest, including Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Mount Revelstoke National Park and Glacier National Park in the Selkirk Range alongside Rogers Pass , Kootenay National Park and Yoho National Park on the British Columbia flank of the Rockies, Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve in Haida Gwaii, and the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve in

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6572-526: The Pacific Northwest, thousands of indigenous people live, and some continue to practice their rich cultural traditions, "organizing their societies around cedar and salmon". In 1579, the British captain and erstwhile privateer Francis Drake sailed up the west coast of North America perhaps as far as Oregon before returning south to land and make ship repairs. On 5 June 1579, the ship briefly made first landfall at South Cove, Cape Arago, just south of Coos Bay, Oregon , and then sailed south while searching for

6678-420: The Pacific Northwest. The Experiment was holed while still in the Indian Ocean , forcing a stop at Batavia (now Jakarta ) for repairs, costing time and money. After a seven-month voyage the expedition arrived on the coast of Vancouver Island on 25 June 1786, late in the trading season. On the 28th Strange entered Nootka Sound , but not the way he intended. It took nine more days to reach Yuquot , which

6784-423: The Spanish settlement and Fort San Miguel . Quadra sent Caamaño north, to carefully explore the coast between Vancouver Island and Bucareli Bay , Alaska. Various Spanish maps, including Caamaño's, were given to George Vancouver in 1792, as the Spanish and British worked together to chart the complex coastline. From 1792 to 1794, George Vancouver charted the Pacific Northwest on behalf of Great Britain, including

6890-461: The Strait of Georgia, the bays and inlets of Puget Sound , and the Johnstone Strait – Queen Charlotte Strait and much of the rest of the British Columbia Coast and southeast Alaska shorelines. For him the city of Vancouver and Vancouver Island are named, as well as Vancouver, Washington . From Mexico, Malaspina dispatched the last Spanish exploration expedition in the Pacific Northwest, under Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayentano Valdes aboard

6996-413: The Strait of Georgia. There are numerous protected areas in British Columbia and in the United States . Other outstanding natural features include the Columbia River Gorge , Fraser Canyon , Mount St. Helens , Malaspina Glacier , and Hells Canyon . The south-central Coast Mountains in British Columbia contain the five largest mid-latitude icefields in the world. The main general climatic types of

7102-403: The US, this region is known as the Columbia Plateau , while in British Columbia, it is the Interior Plateau , also called the Fraser Plateau . The Columbia Plateau was the scene of massive ice-age floods, and as a consequence, there are many coulees , canyons, and the Channeled Scablands . Much of the plateau, especially in eastern Washington, is irrigated farmland . The Columbia River cuts

7208-399: The United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty . From the 1810s until the 1840s, modern-day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and western Montana, along with most of British Columbia, were part of what the United States called the Oregon Country and Britain called the Columbia District . This region was jointly claimed by the United States and Great Britain after the Treaty of 1818 , which established

7314-449: The border disputes (see Pig War ). The mainland territory north of the 49th parallel remained unincorporated until 1858, when a mass influx of Americans and others during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush forced the hand of Colony of Vancouver Island 's Governor James Douglas , who declared the mainland a Crown colony . The two colonies were amalgamated in 1866 to cut costs, and joined the Dominion of Canada in 1871. The U.S. portion became

7420-400: The coast from Yakutat Bay to Prince William Sound in 1791, then sailed to Nootka Sound. Performing a scientific expedition in the manner of James Cook, Malaspina's scientists studied the Tlingit and Nuu-chah-nulth peoples before returning to Mexico. Another Spanish explorer, Jacinto Caamaño , sailed the ship Aranzazu to Nootka Sound in May 1792. There he met Quadra, who was in command of

7526-406: The coastal areas west of the Cascade and Coast mountains. The Northwest Coast is the coastal region of the Pacific Northwest, and the Northwest Plateau (also commonly known as " the Interior " in British Columbia), is the inland region. The term "Pacific Northwest" should not be confused with the Northwest Territory (also known as the Great Northwest, a historical term in the United States) or

7632-576: The coastal migration hypothesis is still subject to considerable debate. Due in part to the richness of Pacific Northwest Coast and river fisheries, some of the indigenous peoples developed complex sedentary societies, while remaining hunter-gatherers . The Pacific Northwest Coast is one of the few places where politically complex hunter-gatherers evolved and survived to historic contacts, and therefore has been vital for anthropologists and archaeologists seeking to understand how complex hunter and gatherer societies function. When Europeans first arrived on

7738-516: The entire Oregon Country and of Texas. After his election, supporters coined the famous slogan "Fifty-four Forty or Fight", referring to 54°40′ north latitude —the northward limit of the United States' claim. After a war scare with the United Kingdom, the Oregon boundary dispute was settled in the 1846 Oregon Treaty , partitioning the region along the 49th parallel and resolving most, but not all, of

7844-452: The entrance to the fabled strait, but fur trading took priority and he did not investigate. Furs were not plentiful in this area, so Strange sailed north, making for Prince William Sound in Alaska , as Cook had done. On the way north land was sighted, probably Haida Gwaii , but Strange kept far to sea and passed by. On 29 August 1786, Cape Hinchinbrook , the entrance to Prince William Sound,

7950-577: The establishment of a new channel of commerce from the Pacific Northwest Coast to China and India. Despite these instructions, the actual voyage was a commercial fur-trading venture no different from other early maritime fur trading expeditions to the Northwest Coast. Strange's expedition left Bombay in December, 1785. Unable to acquire goods on the Malabar Coast for trade in Macau , Strange sailed directly for

8056-679: The first mixed ancestry settlements sometimes referred as Métis settlements or French Canadian settlements. Native and newly arrived "half-breeds" (born out of "Europeans" and Indigenous alliances), local and newly arrived Indigenous people as well as "French Canadians" all issued of the fur trade were all able to peacefully coexist. Small scale farming occurred. Catholic missions and churches thrived for many years. These first settlements were: French Prairie , Frenchtown near Walla Walla, Cowlitz Prairie (Washington), French Settlement (Oregon) and Frenchtown near Missoula. Most mixed ancestry people ended up resettled in or around Indigenous reserves during

8162-606: The first to capitalize on the nascent maritime fur trade . Afterward he returned to India and continued his career with the EIC. He was promoted to Senior Merchant in 1790. In 1795 he was appointed Collector and Paymaster for the EIC in Tanjore , India. Later that year he retired from the East India Company and returned to England. Later he rejoined the EIC and became Magistrate Collector in Puducherry (Pondichery), in 1806, then Judge of Court of Appeal, in 1807. From 1813 to 1815 he served

8268-574: The general labor force west of the Cascades. Despite the Second Great Migration from the 1940s to 1960s due to the booming Boeing war industry and post-war growing economy, African Americans are less numerous in the Pacific Northwest; however, the overall African American population has been growing in other smaller urban areas throughout the region such as Eugene. African Americans tend to concentrate in western urban areas such as Tacoma, south Seattle, and Portland. Nonetheless, Black people have

8374-401: The highest ranked house , while Callicum was the leading chief of the second ranking house. The visitors did not understand these things. Walker and Strange both showed preference to Callicum, and Strange made the mistake of giving gifts to Callicum before Maquinna. These things offended Maquinna and caused tension and uneasiness, which Walker failed to understand. Still, Walker's descriptions of

8480-527: The hot season is associated with high atmospheric pressure . The shadows of the mountains also greatly decrease the amount of precipitation. West of the Cascades , the marine climates have a much greater precipitation than the west coast of Europe due to orographic lift , with some regions seeing as much as 3,500 mm (138 in) of precipitation per year. Winters are very mild for the region's latitude. The growth of Arbutus , an evergreen broad-leafed tree,

8586-490: The island. In 1786, Jean-François de La Pérouse , representing France, sailed to Haida Gwaii after visiting Nootka Sound, but any possible French claims to this region were lost when La Pérouse and his men and journals were lost in a shipwreck near Australia. Upon encountering the Salish coastal tribes, either Pérouse or someone in his crew remarked, "What must astonish most is to see painting everywhere, everywhere sculpture, among

8692-475: The largest island in the area, but other significant land masses include the Haida Gwaii , vast and remote Princess Royal Island , Prince of Wales Island and Chichagof Island . The Salish Sea located close to major populated areas contains smaller but more frequently visited and well known islands. These include Whidbey Island , Salt Spring Island , and Texada Island , along with dozens of smaller islands in

8798-503: The natives very much. Alexander Walker, an ensign of the Bombay Army and later Governor of Saint Helena , who had shipped aboard the Experiment , spent a great deal of time with the Nuu-chah-nulth. He had studied the language based on Cook's vocabularies, and was able to talk with the Nuu-chah-nulth. He was astonished to learn that the British fur trader James Hanna had been at Nootka Sound

8904-456: The north end of Vancouver Island, Experiment Bight, and Guise Bay. And in Fitz Hugh Sound , Guise Point, and Experiment Point. A fictional account of Strange, portrayed by Jonathan Pryce , appears in the television show Taboo on BBC One and FX . Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest ( PNW ; French : Nord-Ouest Pacifique ), sometimes referred to as Cascadia ,

9010-533: The oceanic zone ( Do ). An Alpine climate dominates in the high mountains. Semi-arid and arid climates are found east of the higher mountains, especially in rainshadow areas. The Harney Basin of Oregon is an example of arid climate in the Pacific Northwest. Humid continental climates occur inland on windward sides, in places such as Revelstoke, British Columbia . A subarctic climate can be found farther north, especially in Yukon and Alaska. The lack of rain in

9116-431: The presence of extensive mountains and forests, and plateaus containing both extensive farm and range lands, much of which is protected from development in large parks and preserves, or by zoning use regulation related to traditional land use. For example, all cities within the portion of California which are sometimes included some definitions of the "Pacific Northwest" have populations less than 100,000, with that portion of

9222-474: The present day. Strange explored the waters north of Vancouver Island, which he named Queen Charlotte Sound . Contact was made with a group of Kwakwaka'wakw off the north coast of Vancouver Continuing east and south around Vancouver Island Strange noted the more constricted waters of Queen Charlotte Strait . Strange's discovery of Queen Charlotte Strait revived speculation about Bartolome de Fonte's alleged Northwest Passage . Strange himself thought he had found

9328-490: The region. According to Canadian historian Ken Coates , the border has not merely influenced the Pacific Northwest—rather, "the region's history and character have been determined by the boundary". Definitions of the "Pacific Northwest" region vary, and even Pacific Northwesterners do not agree on the exact boundary. The most common conception includes the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and sometimes

9434-484: The report that the sediments in the Port Eliza Cave on Vancouver Island indicate the possibility of survivable climate as far back as 16 kya (16,000 years ago) in the area, while the continental ice sheets were nearing their maximum extent. Other evidence for human occupation dating back as much as 14.5 kya (14,500 years ago) is emerging from Paisley Caves in south-central Oregon. However, despite such research,

9540-476: The schooners Sutil and Mexicana . They met Vancouver in the Strait of Georgia on June 21, 1792. Vancouver had explored Puget Sound just previously. The Spanish explorers knew of Admiralty Inlet and the unexplored region to the south, but they decided to sail north. They discovered and entered the Fraser River shortly before meeting Vancouver. After sharing maps and agreeing to cooperate, Galiano, Valdés, and Vancouver sailed north to Desolation Sound and

9646-512: The state containing millions of acres of national forests and parks. In British Columbia, Europeans form 64% of the population with Asians comprising a further 29% of the provincial population. Both the Asian and European populations of the province are diverse; of the Asian population, 15% of the population is of East Asian descent, 8% of the population is of South Asian descent, with smaller numbers of Southeast Asians (4%) and West Asians (2%);

9752-449: The strait, which is a vital fishery resource and transportation link between their communities. [REDACTED] Media related to Queen Charlotte Strait at Wikimedia Commons James Charles Stuart Strange James Charles Stuart Strange (8 August 1753 – 6 October 1840) was a British officer of the East India Company , one of the first maritime fur traders , a banker, and a Member of Parliament . James Charles Stuart Strange

9858-628: The subsequent period, or otherwise assimilating in the mainstream. Initial formal claims to the region were asserted by Spain in 1513 with explorer Nuñez de Balboa , the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean from the Americas. Russian maritime fur trade activity, through the Russian-American Company , extended from the farther side of the Pacific to Russian America . This prompted Spain to send expeditions north to assert Spanish ownership, while Captain James Cook and subsequent expeditions by George Vancouver advanced British claims. As of

9964-459: The support of the president and council of the East India Company in Bombay for an expedition of two ships from Mumbai (Bombay) to the Northwest Coast of America. Strange invested 10,000 pounds in the venture, which he borrowed from David Scott. Overall the cost of fitting out the expedition rose to the point where only a major success in fur trading could possibly pay back investments, let alone make

10070-668: The way to Boundary Bay and reached the Fraser River via the Nicomekl and the Salmon linked via a portage. The lower Fraser was revisited 16 years after explorer Simon Fraser (NWC) had first reached its mouth, although originating from northern present-day British Columbia . Puget Sound soon after would get reached via the Cowlitz and the Cowlitz Landing portage, but originating from new HBC headquarter Fort Vancouver located closer by, north of

10176-635: Was Philip Charles Durham , later Admiral Sir Philip Charles Calderwood Henderson Durham of the Royal Navy . They had one daughter, Isabella Katherine Strange (1785-1847). Margaret died in 1791. In 1798 Strange married Anne Dundas, the daughter of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville , and widow of Henry Drummond , an English banker and politician. They had three daughters: Mary Anne Strange (c. 1806–1889), Louisa Strange (1810-1895), and Isabella Strange (1816-1879). In 1816, after his second time in India working for

10282-424: Was a financial disaster, Strange was one of the first trader-explorers working on Pacific Northwest Coast, along with James Hanna , Charles William Barkley , and George Dixon . In 1796 James Strange, a Whig , became a Member of Parliament (MP) as a guest of John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset , a silent supporter of William Pitt's administration. Strange's constituency was East Grinstead . In 1802 Strange

10388-712: Was also James' godfather. Robert and Isabella Strange moved to London in 1750. A few years later James Charles Stuart Strange was born. James attended the College of Navarre in Paris in 1770. In 1772 James Strange obtained a writership with the East India Company (EIC), in Madras , India . He gained this post through Sir Lawrence Dundas , a relative of Strange's maternal grandmother. Like many members of former Jacobite families, James Strange and his brother Thomas Strange made their way to India, arriving in 1773. James advanced rapidly in

10494-523: Was born on 8 August 1753 in London , England , United Kingdom . His parents were Robert Strange and Isabella Lumisden. His father, Robert Strange, was a former Jacobite from Orkney and had fought in the Jacobite rising of 1745 , under Charles Edward Stuart , known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie" and the "Young Pretender". Robert Strange named his son James Charles Stuart Strange after Bonnie Prince Charlie, who

10600-409: Was elected as MP of Okehampton , having been recommended to the patron Henry Holland by James Strange's father-in-law Henry Dundas . Strange survived a challenge to his election by two wealthy London merchants. Strange was an inconspicuous MP, speaking only once, arguing against severity toward James Trotter, an election offender. After retiring from the East India Company in 1795 Strange became

10706-513: Was hoped, would lead not only to the discovery of new channels of commerce but also forestall rival attempts. Strange's instructions from the East India Company described two main purposes for the expedition. First, exploration for the benefit of navigation. This included instructions to return via Bering Strait , the Arctic Ocean as far as the North Pole, then Kamchatka , then China . Second,

10812-514: Was named after these settlements. In 1774, the viceroy of New Spain sent Spanish navigator Juan Pérez in the ship Santiago to the Pacific Northwest. Peréz made landfall on Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) on July 18, 1774. The northernmost latitude he reached was 54°40′ N . This was followed, in 1775, by another Spanish expedition, under the command of Bruno de Heceta and including Juan Peréz and Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra as officers. On July 14, 1775, they landed on

10918-499: Was named for him, but whether he discovered it or not has long been questioned. During the early 1740s, Imperial Russia sent the Danish-born Russian Vitus Bering to the region. By the late 18th century and into the mid-19th century, Russian settlers had established several posts and communities on the northeast Pacific coast, eventually reaching as far south as Fort Ross, California . The Russian River

11024-402: Was sighted. The two ships entered and sailed to Snug Corner Cove, where Cook had anchored. They stayed for about two weeks, until 16 September. Strange tried to acquire furs but it was late in the season and there was little to be had. Additionally, the natives were far less enthusiastic about trade than the Nuu-chah-nulth. While at Prince William Sound Strange was joined by William Tipping of

11130-481: Was what is today known as Queen Charlotte Strait. For some time Queen Charlotte Strait was also called Queen Charlotte Sound, until 1920 when the BCGNIS and Hydrographic Service distinguished between Queen Charlotte Sound and Queen Charlotte Strait. George Vancouver , who used the name in his maps and writings, wrote that the sound was named by Mr. S. Wedgeborough, in command of the Experiment under James Strange, but this

11236-406: Was where Captain Cook had anchored. Strange named the harbor at Yuquot "Friendly Cove", a name which persisted for a long time. He spent about a month trading for furs around Nootka Sound with the native Nuu-chah-nulth. Strange conducted the trading negotiations himself and, like other traders, found the Nuu-chah-nulth very shrewd traders. Beyond trading negotiations, Strange did not interact with

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