Library Search Results

Topic: Agriculture

123 Features

Agricultural Exports from Washington

In Washington, a national leader in both farm production and international trade, agricultural exports played a key role in development from the early years of non-Indian settlement. As steamboats car...

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Agriculture in Washington 1792 to 1900

Washington's soils and climate make it one of the most productive agricultural states in the union. When explorers and fur traders from the East Coast and Europe reached the Northwest in the late 1700...

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Agriculture in Washington since 1900

At the turn of the twentieth century, Washington farmers and ranchers realized they still had much to learn about the land. Washington State College (later University) in Pullman became the center of ...

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American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) of Washington

The U.S. government officially recognizes more than 250 wine-growing regions, known as American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). Twenty of those AVAs are located partially or entirely within Washington...

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Andersen, Joy (b. 1957)

Joy Andersen had no idea that a career in the wine industry was awaiting her as she completed her chemistry degree at the University of Washington. It wasn’t until she started her first job at C...

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Apple Farming in Washington

For nearly a century, Washington has been the nation's leading apple-growing state. Washington's apple story began in the 1820s, when the first apple seeds were planted at Fort Vancouver. Early farmer...

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Associated Vintners -- Washington's Academic Winemakers

Associated Vintners (AV) was a Seattle winemaking firm formed primarily by a group of University of Washington faculty members. Its backstory is perhaps the classic local instance of home garage-based...

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Auburn: A Reminiscence of Childhood by Joseph Koch

Joseph Koch (1920-2000) was a longtime resident of Auburn, a small town located in south King County only a few miles from the Pierce County border. From the time of his retirement in 1962, Joe was on...

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Beef Cattle Farming in Washington

Beef cattle have been an economic driver in Washington's agricultural history since the first cattle arrived by ship with Spanish explorers, likely in 1780. Production soared with the rush of gold min...

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Bellevue Strawberry Festival: Childhood Memories (ca. 1925)

The following short essay was written in 1934 by Bellevue native Patricia Groves Sandbo (b. 1916), a freshman at Seattle Pacific College, for her English II Class. She received an "A" for her story th...

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Benton City -- Thumbnail History

Benton City is a small municipality of some 3,000 residents on the north bank of the Yakima River near the center of Benton County in the Columbia Basin region of southeastern Washington. A hunting an...

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Berry Farming in Washington

Berries have long been woven into the fabric of Washington food ways and agriculture. Before and after European settlement, Native tribespeople gathered wild berries, a significant part of their food ...

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Betz, Robert "Bob" (b. 1948)

Bob Betz (b. 1948) is a leader and pioneer in the Washington wine industry. After growing up in Seattle, he took several trips to Europe and fell in love with the culture of winemaking. He abandoned h...

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Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge and the Nisqually River Watershed

Located where the Nisqually River empties into southern Puget Sound on the Pierce-Thurston county border, the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge protects the river's estuary, providing...

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144 Timeline Entries

Shoalwater Bay oysters begin feeding San Francisco in 1851.

In 1851, oysters from Shoalwater (later Willapa) Bay start feeding San Francisco. The oyster business will flourish in the bay until the 1880s and will be an important cause of settlement in the area.

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Collins, Van Asselt, and Maple (or Mapel) select first Donation Land Claims in King County on September 16, 1851.

On September 16, 1851, Luther M. Collins (1813-1860), Henry Van Asselt (1817-1902), and Jacob Maple (or Mapel) (1798-1884) and his son Samuel Maple (1827-1880) select the first Donation Land claims wi...

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First irrigation ditch in the Yakima Valley is dug at the Saint Joseph Mission in 1852.

In 1852, Catholic Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate Father Charles Pandosy and Father Eugene Casmire Chirouse (1821-1892), in company with Yakama people, labor with shovels to dig the first irriga...

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Ben Snipes builds a log cabin near Sunnyside in 1859.

In 1859, cattleman Ben Snipes (1835-1906) constructs a small cabin in the Yakima Valley. The structure is the first cabin in the region to be built by a white person.

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Ben Snipes drives cattle through the Willamette Valley to the Fraser River gold fields in 1859.

In 1859, cowboy Ben Snipes (1835-1906) drives his first herd of cattle north from the Columbia River through Washington Territory to the gold mining camps along the Fraser River in British Columbia. S...

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Michael Sullivan and Samuel Calhoun build the first dike in Skagit County in 1863.

In 1863, Michael H. Sullivan (1840?-1912) and Samuel Calhoun build the first dike in Skagit County. They prove that the treeless flats between the Sullivan and Swinomish sloughs, once thought useless ...

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Ezra Meeker plants hops in the Puyallup Valley in March 1865.

In March 1865, pioneer Ezra Meeker (1830-1928) plants hop vine cuttings on his farm in the Puyallup Valley. The plants flourish and Meeker continues to expand his plantings over the years. By the earl...

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Wait's Mill, in what will become the town of Waitsburg, begins operation in May 1865.

In May 1865, Sylvester M. Wait (d. 1891) begins operating a flour mill in the midst of farmland clustered around the convergence of the Touchet River and Coppei Creek in Walla Walla County. The previo...

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Schanno family plants the first wine grapes in the Yakima Valley near Union Gap in 1869.

In 1869, the Charles Schanno family plants the first known grapevines in the Yakima Valley on their farm near Union Gap. Finding the climate ideal for wine grape production, other settlers follow suit...

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Cattle cross Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle in December 1869.

In December 1869, M. S. Booth drives 200 head of cattle across Snoqualmie Pass to Seattle.

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Man captures cougar near Lake Washington about February 23, 1870.

On February 23, 1870, Seymour Wetmore arrives in Seattle and announces that he captured a large cougar on his farm near Lake Washington. The animal was killing sheep in the area and a trap was devised...

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Cattle drives over Snoqualmie Pass are reported on October 22, 1870.

On October 22, 1870, it is reported that during the previous year more than 1,200 head of cattle were driven from Yakima Valley to Puget Sound. Most if not all of the cattle went over Snoqualmie Pass.

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Work on Stillaguamish Slough dike north of Stanwood commences during the summer of 1871.

In the summer of 1871, William Moore (1833-1913) and other farmers commission work to begin building a major portion of a three-mile dike from Stanwood (northeastern Snohomish County) north toward Mil...

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Charles Carpenter plants hops in Ahtanum near Moxee in 1872.

In 1872 (some sources state 1869) Charles Carpenter brings hop root cuttings to the Yakima Valley and grows them on his homestead at Ahtanum near Moxee. The climate and soil prove perfect for the crop...

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