Des Moines History Timeline 1700-1849

1700-1849 | 1850-1869 | 1870 | 1880 | 1890 | 1900 | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2020

January 26 - At about 9 pm PST an earthquake of magnitude 8.7–9.2 hits the Pacific Northwest coast. The earthquake caused violent shaking that lasted for three to five minutes, felt across the Pacific Northwest. A tsunami was generated, with wave heights reaching up to 33 feet along the Washington coast. This is the earliest documented historical event in local history.

May 28 - British Captain George Vancouver and Lieutenant Peter Puget pass by the future site of Des Moines in HMS Discovery. The distinct waterway connecting the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the Tacoma Narrows was named Admiralty Inlet for the British Board of Admiralty. The name was officially changed to Puget Sound on December 30, 1919 by the United States Board on Geographic Names.

November 18 - James McMillan, a chief administrator for the Hudson Bay Company, started from Fort George (Astoria), traveled north through Willapa Bay and the Chehalis River system, portaged to Black Lake, reached Eld Inlet (west of Olympia) at the south end of Puget Sound, and then proceeded by water through Puget Sound to the lower Fraser River. McMillan's party almost certainly passed through the waters off present-day Des Moines and Vashon Island during late November or early December 1824, making it one of the earliest documented European journeys through the central Puget Sound basin after Vancouver's survey thirty-two years earlier.

May 30 - Fort Nisqually, the first European settlement on Puget Sound, was established near DuPont, Washington.
June 29 - Dr. William Tolmie recorded an earthquake while temporarily in charge of Fort Nisqually, proving the post was already operating by that date.

Spring - Cowlitz Farms was formally established as a major Hudson's Bay Company agricultural enterprise and began full-scale production. It was established on the overland route between Forts Vancouver, Nisqually, and Langley.

The Methodist Mission near Fort Nisqually opened, being the first American (U.S.) presence on Puget Sound.

May 18-19 - The United States Exploring Expedition under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes (U.S. Navy) surveyed the waters between present-day Des Moines and Vashon Island, producing the first American charts of central Puget Sound and naming numerous regional geographic features.

June 15 - The United States and Great Britain signed the Oregon Treaty, establishing the international boundary at the 49th parallel from the Rocky Mountains to the Strait of Georgia. This gave the United States sovereignty over the land south of the 49th parallel (except Vancouver Island, which remained British).
August 14 - The Oregon Territory was officially created by the United States Congress, when President James K. Polk signed the Oregon Territorial Act into law. The territory includes all of present day Idaho, Oregon, and Washington together with portions of Wyoming and Montana.

August 22 - The U.S. Army officially established Fort Steilacoom on the former Joseph Heath farm near present-day Lakewood, Washington. The Army leased the property from the Hudson's Bay Company and occupied existing farm buildings while constructing additional military structures. The fort closed in 1867 when its unit relocated to Sitka, Alaska. The property now contaions a state hospital, park, and Pierce College.