![\"Washington](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Washington-in-the-United-States-300x186.png\" "\\"\\"")
Washington is the 18th largest state, with an area of 71,362 square miles \u00a0and the 13th most populous state, with more than 7.4 million people. Approximately 60 percent of Washington’s residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry along Puget Sound<\/a>, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean consisting of numerous islands, deep fjords, and bays carved out by glaciers. \u00a0The remainder of the state consists of: deep temperate rainforests<\/a> in the west; mountain ranges in the west, central, northeast, and far southeast; and a semi-arid basin region in the east, central, and south, given over to intensive agriculture. \u00a0Washington is the second most populous state on the West Coast and in the Western United States<\/a>, after California. Mount Rainier<\/a>, an active stratovolcano<\/a>, is the state’s highest elevation, at almost 14,411 feet and is the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States.<\/p>\n Washington is a leading lumber producer. \u00a0Its rugged surface is rich in stands of Douglas fir<\/a>, hemlock<\/a>, ponderosa pine<\/a>, white pine<\/a>, spruce<\/a>, larch<\/a>, and cedar<\/a>. \u00a0The state is the biggest producer of apples, hops, pears, red raspberries, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries, and ranks high in the production of apricots, asparagus, dry edible peas, grapes, lentils, peppermint oil, and potatoes. Livestock and livestock products make important contributions to total farm revenue, and the commercial fishing of salmon, halibut, and bottomfish makes a significant contribution to the state’s economy. \u00a0Washington ranks second only to California in the production of wine.<\/p>\n Manufacturing industries in Washington include aircraft and missiles, ship-building, and other transportation equipment, lumber, food processing, metals and metal products, chemicals, and machinery. \u00a0Washington has over 1,000 dams, including the Grand Coulee Dam<\/a>, built for a variety of purposes, including irrigation, power, flood control, and water storage.<\/p>\n Washington is one of the wealthiest and most liberally progressive states in the country. \u00a0Along with Colorado<\/a>, Washington was one of the first to legalize medicinal and recreational cannabis, was among the first thirty-six states to legalize same-sex marriage, doing so in 2012, and was one of only four U.S. states to have been providing legal abortions on request before the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade<\/a> loosened federal abortion laws. \u00a0Similarly, Washington voters approved a 2008 referendum on legalization of physician-assisted suicide<\/a>, and is currently only one of five states, along with Oregon<\/a>, California<\/a>, Colorado and Vermont<\/a>, as well as the District of Columbia<\/a> to have legalized the practice. \u00a0The state is also one of eight in the country to have criminalized the sale, possession and transfer of bump stocks<\/a>, with California, Florida<\/a>, New Jersey<\/a>, New York<\/a>, Vermont, Maryland<\/a>, and Massachusetts<\/a> also having banned these devices.<\/p>\n Washington was named after President George Washington by an act of the United States Congress during the creation of Washington Territory<\/a> in 1853. \u00a0The territory was to be named “Columbia”, for the Columbia River<\/a> and the Columbia District<\/a>, but Kentucky<\/a> representative Richard H. Stanton<\/a> found the name too similar to the District of Columbia (the national capital, itself containing the city of Washington), and proposed naming the new territory after President Washington.\u00a0 Washington is the only U.S. state named after a president.<\/p>\n Confusion over the state of Washington and the city of Washington, D. C., led to renaming proposals during the statehood process for Washington in 1889, including David Dudley Field II<\/a>‘s suggestion to name the new state “Tacoma”. \u00a0These proposals failed to garner support.\u00a0 Washington, D. C.’s, own statehood movement in the 21st century includes a proposal to use the name “State of Washington, Douglass Commonwealth”, which would conflict with the current state of Washington.<\/p>\n Washington is the northwestern-most state of the contiguous United States. \u00a0It borders Idaho<\/a> to the east, bounded mostly by the meridian running north from the confluence of the Snake River<\/a> and Clearwater River<\/a>, except for the southernmost section where the border follows the Snake River. \u00a0Oregon<\/a> is to the south, with the Columbia River forming the western part and the 46th parallel forming the eastern part of the Oregon-Washington border. \u00a0To the west of Washington lies the Pacific Ocean<\/a>.\u00a0 Its northern border lies mostly along the 49th parallel, and then via marine boundaries through the Strait of Georgia<\/a>, Haro Strait<\/a>, and Strait of Juan de Fuca<\/a>, with the Canadian province of British Columbia<\/a> to the north.<\/p>\n Washington is part of a region known as the Pacific Northwest, a term which always includes Washington and Oregon, and may or may not include some or all of the following, depending on the user’s intent: Idaho, western Montana<\/a>, northern California, British Columbia, and Alaska<\/a>.<\/p>\n The high mountains of the Cascade Range<\/a> run north-south, bisecting the state. \u00a0In addition to Western Washington and Eastern Washington, residents call the two parts of the state the “West side” and “East side,” “Wet side” and “Dry side,” or “Timberland” and “Wheatland,” the latter pair more commonly in the names of region-specific businesses and institutions.<\/p>\n From the Cascade Mountains westward, Western Washington has a mostly Mediterranean Climate, with mild temperatures and wet winters, autumns and springs, and relatively dry summers. The Cascade Range has several volcanoes, which reach altitudes significantly higher than the rest of the mountains. \u00a0From north to south, these major volcanoes are Mount Baker<\/a>, Glacier Peak<\/a>, Mount Rainier<\/a>, Mount St. Helens<\/a>, and Mount Adams<\/a>.<\/p>\n All are active volcanoes. \u00a0Mount Rainier, the tallest mountain in the state, is 50 miles south of the city of Seattle, from which it is prominently visible. \u00a0The USGS considers 14,411-foot-tall Mt. Rainier the most dangerous volcano in the Cascade Range, due to its proximity to the Seattle metropolitan area, and most dangerous in the continental U.S. according to the Decade Volcanoes list<\/a>.\u00a0 It is also covered with more glacial ice than any other peak in the contiguous 48 states.\u00a0 Western Washington also is home of the Olympic Mountains<\/a>, far west on the Olympic Peninsul<\/a>a, which support dense forests of conifers and areas of temperate rainforest. These deep forests, such as the Hoh Rainforest<\/a>, are among the only temperate rainforests in the continental United States.<\/p>\n Eastern Washington \u2013 the part of the state east of the Cascades \u2013 has a relatively dry climate, in distinct contrast to the west side. \u00a0It includes large areas of semiarid steppe and a few truly arid deserts in the rain shadow of the Cascades.<\/p>\n Farther east, the climate becomes less arid, with annual rainfall increasing as one goes east. \u00a0The Okanogan Highlands<\/a> and the rugged Kettle River Range<\/a> and Selkirk Mountains<\/a> cover much of the state’s northeastern quadrant. \u00a0The Palouse<\/a> southeast region of Washington was grassland that has been mostly converted into farmland, and extends to the Blue Mountains<\/a>.<\/p>\n The skeletal remains of Kennewick Man<\/a>, one of the oldest and most complete human remains found in North America, were discovered in Washington.\u00a0 Before the Europeans arrived, the region had many established tribes of aboriginal Americans, notable for their totem poles and their ornately carved canoes and masks.<\/p>\n Prominent among their industries were salmon fishing and, notably among the Makah<\/a>, whale hunting. \u00a0The peoples of the Interior had a very different subsistence-based culture based on hunting, food-gathering and some forms of agriculture, as well as a dependency on salmon<\/a> from the Columbia and its tributaries. \u00a0The smallpox<\/a> epidemic of the 1770s devastated the Native American population.<\/p>\n The first recorded European landing on the Washington coast was by Spanish Captain Don Bruno de Heceta<\/a> in 1775, on board the Santiago, part of a two-ship flotilla with the Sonora. \u00a0He claimed the coastal lands up to Prince William Sound<\/a> for Spain<\/a> as part of their claimed rights under the Treaty of Tordesillas<\/a>, which they maintained made the Pacific a “Spanish lake” and all its shores part of the Spanish Empire<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 1778, British explorer Captain James Cook<\/a> sighted Cape Flattery<\/a>, at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, but Cook did not realize the strait existed. \u00a0It was not discovered until Charles William Barkley<\/a>, captain of the Imperial Eagle, sighted it in 1787. \u00a0The straits were further explored by Spanish explorers Manuel Quimper<\/a> in 1790 and Francisco de Eliza<\/a> in 1791, and British explorer George Vancouver<\/a> in 1792.<\/p>\n The British-Spanish Nootka Convention of 1790<\/a> ended Spanish claims of exclusivity and opened the Northwest Coast to explorers and traders from other nations, most notably Britain and Russia<\/a> as well as the fledgling United States. \u00a0American captain Robert Gray<\/a> then discovered the mouth of the Columbia River. \u00a0He named the river after his ship, the Columbia. \u00a0Beginning in 1792, Gray established trade in sea otter pelts. The Lewis and Clark Expedition<\/a> entered the state on October 10, 1805.<\/p>\n Explorer David Thompson<\/a>, on his voyage down the Columbia River camped at the confluence with the Snake River on July 9, 1811, and erected a pole and a notice claiming the country for Great Britain and stating the intention of the North West Company<\/a> to build a trading post at the site.<\/p>\n Britain and the United States agreed to what has since been described as “joint occupancy” of lands west of the Continental Divide<\/a> to the Pacific Ocean as part of the Anglo-American Convention of 1818<\/a>, which established the 49th Parallel as the international boundary west from Lake of the Woods<\/a> to the Rocky Mountains<\/a>. \u00a0Resolution of the territorial and treaty issues, west to the Pacific, were deferred until a later time. \u00a0Spain, in 1819, ceded their rights north of the 42nd Parallel to the United States, although these rights did not include possession.<\/p>\n Negotiations with Great Britain over the next few decades failed to settle upon a compromise boundary and the Oregon boundary dispute was highly contested between Britain and the United States. \u00a0Disputed joint-occupancy by Britain and the U.S. lasted for several decades. \u00a0With American settlers pouring into Oregon Country<\/a>, Hudson’s Bay Company<\/a>, which had previously discouraged settlement because it conflicted with the fur trade, reversed its position in an attempt to maintain British control of the Columbia District<\/a>.<\/p>\n Fur trapper James Sinclair<\/a>, on orders from Sir George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company<\/a>, led some 200 settlers from the Red River Colony<\/a> west in 1841 to settle on Hudson Bay Company farms near Fort Vancouver<\/a>. \u00a0The party crossed the Rockies into the Columbia Valley, near present-day Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia<\/a>, then traveled south-west down the Kootenai River<\/a> and Columbia River. \u00a0Despite such efforts, Britain eventually ceded all claims to land south of the 49th parallel to the United States in the Oregon Treaty on June 15, 1846.<\/p>\n In 1836, a group of missionaries, including Marcus Whitman<\/a>, established several missions and Whitman’s own settlement Waiilatpu<\/a>, in what is now southeastern Washington state, near present day Walla Walla County<\/a>, in territory of both the Cayuse<\/a> and the Nez Perce<\/a> Indian tribes.<\/p>\n Whitman’s settlement would in 1843 help the Oregon Trail<\/a>, the overland emigration route to the west, get established for thousands of emigrants in following decades. \u00a0Marcus provided medical care for the Native Americans, but when Indian patients \u2013 lacking immunity to new, “European” diseases \u2013 died in striking numbers, while at the same time many white patients recovered, they held “medicine man” Marcus Whitman personally responsible, and murdered Whitman and twelve other white settlers in the Whitman massacre<\/a> in 1847. \u00a0This event triggered the Cayuse War<\/a> between settlers and Indians.<\/p>\n The growing populace of Oregon Territory<\/a> north of the Columbia River formally requested a new territory, which was granted by the U.S. government in 1853.\u00a0 The boundary of Washington Territory<\/a> initially extended farther east than the present state’s, including what is now the Idaho Panhandle<\/a> and parts of western Montana, and picked up more land to the southeast that was left behind when Oregon was admitted as a state. \u00a0The creation of Idaho Territory<\/a> in 1863 established the final eastern border.<\/p>\n Washington became the 42nd state in the United States on November 11, 1889.<\/p>\n Early prominent industries in the state included agriculture and lumber. \u00a0In eastern Washington, the Yakima River Valley<\/a> became known for its apple orchards, while the growth of wheat using dry farming techniques became particularly productive. \u00a0Heavy rainfall to the west of the Cascade Range produced dense forests, and the ports along Puget Sound prospered from the manufacturing and shipping of lumber products, particularly the Douglas fir. \u00a0Other industries that developed in the state included fishing, salmon canning and mining.<\/p>\n For a long period, Tacoma<\/a> had large smelters where gold<\/a>, silver<\/a>, copper<\/a>, and lead<\/a> ores were treated. \u00a0Seattle was the primary port for trade with Alaska and the rest of the country, and for a time, it possessed a large ship-building industry. \u00a0The region around eastern Puget Sound developed heavy industry during the period including World War I<\/a> and World War II<\/a>, and the Boeing Company<\/a> became an established icon in the area.<\/p>\n During the Great Depression<\/a>, a series of hydroelectric dams were constructed along the Columbia River as part of a project to increase the production of electricity. \u00a0This culminated in 1941 with the completion of the Grand Coulee Dam<\/a>, the largest concrete structure in the United States.<\/p>\n During World War II, the state became a focus for war industries. While the Boeing Company produced many of the nation’s heavy bombers, ports in Seattle, Bremerton<\/a>, Vancouver<\/a>, and Tacoma were available for the manufacture of warships. \u00a0Seattle was the point of departure for many soldiers in the Pacific, a number of whom were quartered at Golden Gardens Park<\/a>. \u00a0In eastern Washington, the Hanford Works atomic energy plant<\/a> was opened in 1943, and played a major role in the construction of the nation’s atomic bombs.<\/p>\n On May 18, 1980, following a period of heavy tremors and eruptions, the northeast face of Mount St. Helens<\/a> erupted violently, destroying a large part of the top of the volcano. \u00a0The eruption flattened the forests, killed 57 people, flooded the Columbia River and its tributaries with ash and mud, and blanketed large parts of Washington eastward and other surrounding states in ash, making day look like night.<\/p>\n Washington has a strong economy in general, 14th in the nation.<\/p>\n Significant business within the state include the design and manufacture of aircraft (Boeing<\/a>), automotive (Paccar<\/a>), computer software development (Microsoft<\/a>, Bungie<\/a>, Amazon<\/a>, Nintendo of America<\/a>, Valve Corporation<\/a>, ArenaNet<\/a>),<\/p>\n telecom (T-Mobile US<\/a>), electronics, biotechnology, aluminum production, lumber and wood products (Weyerhaeuser<\/a>), mining, beverages (Starbucks<\/a>, Jones Soda<\/a>),<\/p>\n real estate (John L. Scott<\/a>, Colliers International<\/a>, Windermere Real Estate<\/a>, Kidder Mathews<\/a>), retail (Nordstrom<\/a>, Eddie Bauer<\/a>, Car Toys<\/a>, Costco<\/a>, R.E.I.<\/a>), and tourism (Alaska Airlines<\/a>, Expedia, Inc<\/a>.).<\/p>\n Washington is a leading agricultural state.\u00a0 For 2013, the total value of Washington’s agricultural products was $10.2 billion. \u00a0In 2013, Washington ranked first in the nation in production of red raspberries (92.7 percent of total U.S. production), hops<\/a> (79.2 percent), spearmint oil<\/a> (72.9 percent), wrinkled seed peas (60 percent), apples (57 percent), sweet cherries (50.9 percent), pears (49.5 percent), Concord grapes (36.5 percent), carrots for processing (36.5 percent), green peas for processing (34.4 percent), and peppermint<\/a> oil (31.4 percent).<\/p>\n Washington also ranked second in the nation in production of fall potatoes, nectarines, apricots, grapes, sweet corn for processing, and summer onions.<\/p>\n The apple industry is of particular importance to Washington. \u00a0Because of the favorable climate of dry, warm summers and cold winters of central Washington, the state has led the U.S. in apple production since the 1920s.\u00a0 Two areas account for the vast majority of the state’s apple crop: the Wenatchee\u2013Okanogan region and the Yakima region<\/a>. \u00a0Washington produces 7 principal varieties of apples which are exported to over 60 countries worldwide.<\/p>\n Washington ranks second in the United States in the production of wine<\/a>, behind only California.\u00a0 By 2006, the state had over 31,000 acres of vineyards, a harvest of 120,000 short tons of grapes, and exports going to over 40 countries around the world from the state’s 600 wineries.<\/p>\n Washington has a system of state highways, called State Routes.\u00a0 The state highways incorporate an extensive network of bridges to serve transportation needs in the Puget Sound area.\u00a0 Washington is home to four of the five longest floating bridges<\/a> in the world: the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge<\/a>, Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge<\/a> and Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge<\/a> over Lake Washington<\/a>, and the Hood Canal Bridge<\/a> which connects the Olympic Peninsula and Kitsap Peninsula<\/a>.<\/p>\n Washington is also home to Interstates 5<\/a>, 82<\/a>, and 90<\/a>.<\/p>\n Washington has an extensive ferry system<\/a> which is the largest in the nation\u00a0 and the third largest in the world.\u00a0 There are extensive waterways in the midst of Washington’s largest cities, including Seattle, Bellevue<\/a>, Tacoma and Olympia.<\/p>\n Washington’s marine highway constitutes a fleet of twenty-eight ferries that navigate Puget Sound and its inland waterways to 20 different ports of call, completing close to 147,000 sailings each year.<\/p>\n Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)<\/a> is the major commercial airport of greater Seattle.<\/p>\n Other airports featuring commercial service include:<\/p>\n Washington has a number of seaports on the Pacific Ocean, including Seattle, Tacoma, Kalama<\/a>, Anacortes<\/a>, Vancouver, Longview<\/a>, Greys County<\/a>, Olympia, and Port Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n Amtrak’s passenger Cascade route<\/a> between Eugene, Oregon<\/a> and Vancouver, BC<\/a> is the eighth busiest Amtrak service in the US.\u00a0 The Coast Starlight<\/a> runs between Seattle and Portland<\/a> to Los Angeles<\/a>.\u00a0 The Empire Builder<\/a> comes in from Chicago<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Mount](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Mount-Rainier-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Grand](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Grand-Coulee-Dam-300x179.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Origin of the Name:<\/h2>\n
![\"Columbia](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Columbia-River-300x118.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"Strait](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Strait-of-Juan-de-Fuca-300x188.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Topograghic](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Topograghic-Map-of-Washington-State-300x211.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Mount](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Mount-Baker-300x157.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Southeastern](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Southeastern-Washington-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
History:<\/h2>\n
Early History:<\/h3>\n
![\"Kennewick](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Kennwick-Man-300x225.png\" "\\"\\"")
European Exploration:<\/h3>\n
Settlement:<\/h3>\n
![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Lewis-and-Clark-Expedition-300x162.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Oregon](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Oregon-Country.png\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Fort](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Fort-Nez-Perces-1841-300x248.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Statehood:<\/h3>\n
![\"Seattle](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Seattle-1887-300x202.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Industrial Era:<\/h3>\n
![\"Hanford](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Hanford-Atomic-Works-300x221.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"Microsoft](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Microsoft-Headquarters-Redmond-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Starbucks](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Starbucks-Headquarters-225x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Agriculture:<\/h3>\n
![\"Washington](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Washington-Apples-300x169.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Wine:<\/h3>\n
Transportation:<\/h2>\n
Roadways:<\/h3>\n
![\"Lake](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Lake-Washington-Floating-Bridges-300x184.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Transportation](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Transportation-Map-of-Washington-State-300x232.png\" "\\"\\"")
Ferries:<\/h3>\n
![\"Washington](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Washington-State-Ferry-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Air:<\/h3>\n
![\"Sea-Tac](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Sea-Tac-Airport-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
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Sea:<\/h3>\n
Rail:<\/h3>\n
Flag of Washington:<\/h2>\n
![\"Washington](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Washington-State-Flag-300x178.png\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Washington](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Washington-State-Flag-1923-to-1967-300x169.png\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Washington](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Washington-State-Quarter-300x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")