Makah and the Treaty of Neah Bay 1855

Makah Research and Cultural Center Online Museum

The Makah have been whaling off the northwest coast of Washginton for around 2000 years. Specifically off the shores of Neah Bay.InsideOut Solutions / savvyinnkeeper.com

In the 19th century when white settlers had taken authority of the Washington Territory, the Makah agreed to the Treat of Neah Bay on January 31st, 1855. The treaty consisted of reducing the majority of the Makah's tribal and native lands in exchange for $30,000 and the rights to fish, hunt seal, and perform whaling. The treaty was signed by Issac Stevens, who at the time was governor and superintendent of Indian Affairs for Washington Territory. To this day, the Treaty of Neah Bay is the only one of its kind by permitting the exclusive right to hunt whale without restrictions (until recently minor limitations have been set by the International Whaling Commission and the Marine Mammal Protection Act).

Makah Cultural and Research Center- Makah.com

Whaling is considered a main component of the Makah culture and heritage. The Practice has been dated back around 2000 years ago after a dig at the town of Ozette pulled up reminents of whale bone used as tools. The whale was very important to the Makah becasue after a catch they would use the whale in its entirity and not waste any of the precious animal. The Whale oil also was very beneficial to the Makah.

Makah Cultural and Research Center - Makah.com

The Makah in the 1920's was not permitted to whale anymore due to the population depletion from over commercialized whaling. But in 1996 the Makah were allowed to resume their native culture of Whaling as the population of the Gray Whale had been restored. In 1999 the Treaty of Neah Bay had its importance revived as the Makah successfully hunted their first whale in over 70 years.

Content sources: Makah.com

NARA!

National Archives Regional Facility- Pacific Alaska Region

photo courtesy of -www.archives.gov/pacific-alaska/

Yesterday, the Westsiders and I had the pleasure of getting a tour and perform research in the research center as we had previously obtained researcher ID cards. It was quite the experience to see the incredible size of the place and how many records there are for just the states of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho (w/ parts of Montana & Alaska). The area seemed bigger than a football field just full of Federal records and what not. Another thing I found interesting was that the records are only held for 10-30 years before a small 3-5% will then be trasferred to the Archives holding area. Pretty Neat. The place is great for excellent research on varying topics. I was able to look at documents from the 19th century and was exited to see how good of shape there were in. History lovers have taken good care of all those documents in order to preserve them for viewing in the 21st century! Check out the website and i do recommend giving the place a look when you get a chance!

project

Hello, I have decided to do my project on the makah tribe and the history of whaling and the treaties signed in the 19th century. I find it an interesting topic and want to know more about it! I also over the fourth of July weekend was over in the Olympic Peninsula not too far from where the Makah are from which is incentive to want to know more about the Makah. I will get a good jump start on the research tomorrow! See you westsiders tomorrow!
History link webpage of Makah!

Nordstroms and how it originated

On our class field trip to the Klondike Gold Rush Museum in downtown Seattle, i found it quite interesting how one of Seattle's biggest retail chains came to be. the museum had nice displays of individual accounts of men who had made the journey to strike it rich in gold.
It is said at the Museum that John Nordstrom arrived in Seattle in 1899 after the grueling adventure to Alaska and back to be a lucky one who brought back gold in his possession. It is said that he had amounts to 13,000 dollars in gold and with that bought 10 acres of land in the Rainier Valley and a decent size lot downtown. John Nordstrom with another fella, Carl Wallin, opened a shoe store together and the rest is histroy. The shoe store eventually grew into what the Nordstrom retail chain is today!
It is crazy to believe that the historic chain of Nordstroms was created from wealth that Mr. Norstrom obtained from the gold found in Klondike Alaska. The Gold Rush helped boost the economy of seattle at the time and impacted the future of Seattle's economy as well!

Source: National historic park of the Klondike Gold Rush Museum in Seattle Washington!

Sorry no pictures, my camera won't load to my computer!

Timeline Nomination #1: 1849 California Gold Rush stimulates the Puget Sound economy!

The strike of gold in 1848 started what is known as the Gold Rush of 1849. This turn of events created massive immigration to the west coast in search for gold and economic success! What also fell into place was the economic boom of the lumber industry in the northwest and especially the Puget Sound.

The Pacific Northwest held a 60 year focus of the fur trade that ran from 1780 through 1840. As more and more white settlers came into the region to establish residence, logging was a practice in order to clear land for agriculture means. This also started the logging business. The timber industry became widely recognized in the pacific northwest and Puget Sound especially because of the convenience of lumber transport. The 1849 Gold Rush brought the demand for lumber in california. The Puget Sound attracted investors from San Francisco to harbor over 2 dozen mills in the Puget Sound to meet demands for lumber. The Lumber was targeted in the Puget Sound because of the easy access to the water for transport. The majority of the lumber that was sold was on the shore where it was easily put into the water for transport which was a vital option over land transport.

The California Gold Rush is responsible for the thriving "colonial economy" of timber for the pacific northwest and it continued well into the 20th century.

Sources: histoylink.org

"the colonial economy of the pacific N.W."

"Evergreen State, Exploring the history of Washington Forests"

short video of the westiders first outing

Exploring historylink.org

I have been spending a bit of time reading through the timeline on the Historylink website and have been pretty intrigued on how detailed it is. What I have found really interesting and entertaining is reading about the individual cities history and the story about the growth of each one. I scanned through and read about the towns that I grew up around. I grew up in Kenmore (which was an annex of Bothell until I believe 1998) and have always wondered about the history of my home town. Kenmore is not on the list of towns that have been researched since it is a fialry new town, so i looked at Bothell. It was created as a farming town after a bunch of loggers clear cutted the area to make room for in the 1880's. The earliest known inhabitants of the Bothell area which is along the Samammish River was the "Native American tribe that called themselves s-tsah-PAHBSH or 'willow people.'" (Historylink.org) The city of Bothell was established in 1909.

There is plenty of more info but I just wanted to share a bit of it.

I recommend everyone go check out the site and find the info on the town you live in currently. It is fun to learn about. Thanks!

Field Day #1 rockin the sailboat!

Today the westside four is nearly complete of our first field trip on the Freedom VII! We toured Alki point and the Seattle waterfront From Bill Youngs sailboat. It was very exciting as it was my first ride on a sailboat. Although we did not open up the sails, it was a smooth ride on the glass waters of the Puget Sound. More reflection to come soon with pictures and video! Thanks!