Appendix H - Historical Archaeological and ... - CBP.gov

until the 1960s (Fahey, 1986:175-176; Dahlgren and Kincaid, 1991:173; Hackbarth, 2003:57;
Savage, 1967:90-95).
Lime and concrete manufacturing also developed along Lake Pend Oreille and was the basis of
important industrial expansion in other parts of the Northwest, including the Baker River
drainage and the San Juan Islands in the Western Washington. Coal mining conducted in the
Cascade Mountains and in areas south of Seattle contributed to that city’s early export base.
Food processing began as early as the 1870s as salmon canneries were built in coastal towns like
Mukilteo and Anacortes, while the milling of wheat and other grains became an early mainstay
of Spokane and other inland communities. The advent of the railroad allowed grain to be
shipped to coastal ports like Seattle and Tacoma where it could also be processed and shipped to
markets abroad. Energy production also became an important industry in the Northwest, as
rivers were harnessed to provide power for growing communities. Private companies built many
of the early dams and hydroelectric facilities, but public projects like Seattle’s Ross Lake Dam
development or the huge, Federally sponsored Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River, added
significantly to the region’s industrial base.
Commerce and Trade
Beginning with the shipment of furs, salted salmon and a few agricultural products during the
early decades of the nineteenth century, the Northwest coast developed a thriving Pacific trade.
For many years California was the region’s major commercial partner, and a number of new
ports, including Bellingham, Anacortes and Port Gamble, grew up around north Puget Sound to
ship out lumber and other wood products. The advent of regional and then transcontinental rail
lines not only opened up interior markets by the 1880s and 1890s, but also fostered an expanded
trans-Pacific trade with Hawaii, China and other parts of Southeast Asia as well as Central and
South America. Seattle became a supply point for the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897, forging
stronger trade ties with Alaska and British Columbia (Berner, 1991:22-23).
Elsewhere in Washington and northern Idaho, the availability of transportation also frequently
dictated the growth of towns and the development of commercial enterprises. Communities
usually first evolved around significant industrial or agricultural activities, but location on major
road or rail systems helped to ensure longevity. Most of the major Washington cities—
Bellingham, Everett, Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia on Puget Sound and Spokane in the
interior—are within the Northern Border PEIS project area, and these urban centers generally
grew as transportation hubs and commercial entrepots for resource-rich hinterlands.
Depending on their size, smaller towns in northern Idaho, eastern Washington, the Columbia Basin
and the interior of northwestern Washington often developed their own commercial districts that
included basic banking, retail and supply functions, but also warehousing and storage facilities for
the products that were grown, mined or manufactured nearby. Transportation-related activities,
including gas stations, auto repair as well as restaurants, taverns and tourist facilities also became
established commercial ventures, especially as highway systems improved.
Domestic
Population distribution throughout the Northwest has generally been very uneven, with the
preponderance of settlement in lowlands along the coastline or on major river drainages. Since
Northern Border Activities H-123 July 2012