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Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

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257 results for: Washington Territory

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Image of Bird's Eye View of the City of Seattle, Washington Territory, 1884
Cartographic material

Bird's Eye View of the City of Seattle, Washington Territory, 1884

"Bird's eye view” maps of cities and towns had their heyday in the U.S. and Canada in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Lithographer Henry Wellge (1850-1917) is one of only five men who produced more than half of the known panoramic maps from this period. Born in Germany, Mr. Wellge immigrated in 1871 to the Milwaukee area and…
ID Number:1947.83.1
Date:1884
Image of Henry Van Asselt's military passport, January 12, 1841
Document

Henry Van Asselt's military passport, January 12, 1841

Henry Van Asselt was born in the Netherlands in 1817. In 1851, he and several others settled in Washington Territory's Duwamish River valley, where Boeing now stands. Van Asselt's land claim is slightly older than that of the Denny Party, making him one of the Seattle area's earliest White settlers. Van Asselt was a successful farmer and furniture maker. In…
ID Number:1952.525.F
Date:1841
Image of Survivor's Pension Certificate issued to Carson D. Boren, May 20, 1903
Document

Survivor's Pension Certificate issued to Carson D. Boren, May 20, 1903

Carson Dobbins Boren (1824-1912) arrived in Seattle in 1851 as part of the group of White settlers known as the Denny party. He built a cabin at what is now the corner of Second and Cherry in downtown Seattle. Mr. Boren served as King County's first sheriff and also helped explore wagon routes over the Cascades. He preferred a solitary…
ID Number:1952.986.56
Date:1903
Image of Map of Puget-Sound, Washington Territory, 1875
Cartographic material

Map of Puget-Sound, Washington Territory, 1875

In 1800, the United States Congress created local Land Offices to facilitate the selling of land to settlers. Each office had a Register to handle sales and documentation, a Receiver to oversee the money, and a Surveyor General who provided plat maps, one of which was logged in the Land Office. In 1852, over one year after the Washington Territory…
ID Number:1952.986.57.1
Date:1875
Image of Map of the City of Seattle, King County, Washington Territory, 1887
Cartographic material

Map of the City of Seattle, King County, Washington Territory, 1887

R. H. (Reginald Heber) Thomson (1856-1949) was Seattle City Engineer from 1892 until 1911 and instrumental in reshaping the landscape of Seattle. Thomson was born in Hanover, Indiana, and worked as a surveyor there before heading west with his father to Oakland, California. In 1881, Thomson arrived in Seattle and soon after partnered with F. H. (Frederick Harrison) Whitworth (1846-1933),…
ID Number:1952.986.57.3
Date:1887
Image of Statistics of the Territory of Washington, 1886
Ephemera

Statistics of the Territory of Washington, 1886

These statistics from 1886 were compiled from the Records of the Office of the Territorial Secretary, during the period that Watson C. Squire held the Territorial Governorship. Statistics compiled here include, among many others: County Seats, Vote totals, Vote on each side of the mountain, and names of County Surveyors and School Superintendents. Women's Suffrage was granted in 1883 in…
ID Number:1952.986.57.7
Date:1886
Image of Account book, 1875
Ephemera

Account book, 1875

This account book lists debits and credits for February 1875 through October 1877. The first page of the notebook lists two names -- John Mathison and G. A. Meigs. The ledger is probably connected with George Anson Meigs (1816-1896), a lumber merchant from San Francisco who built a saw mill at Port Madison on Bainbridge Island in 1854. Mr. Meigs…
ID Number:1953.641.1a
Date:1875
Image of Marriage certificate for David Denny and Louisa Boren, January 23, 1853
Document

Marriage certificate for David Denny and Louisa Boren, January 23, 1853

David Thomas Denny (1832-1903) was born in Putnam County, Indiana. In 1851, at age 19, he traveled overland to Alki Point, in what was then Oregon Territory, to prepare for the arrival of the rest of the Denny Party. In 1853, he married his stepsister Louisa Boren (1827-1916), also a member of the Denny party, and moved across the bay…
ID Number:1955.921.c
Date:1853
Image of Atlieu, Nuu-cha-nulth carver, Neah Bay, circa 1900
Photograph

Atlieu, Nuu-cha-nulth carver, Neah Bay, circa 1900

The Nuu-chah-nulth are a group of 14 First Nations peoples living on the west side of Vancouver Island: Ditidaht, Huu-ay-aht, Hupacasath, Tse-shaht, Uchucklesaht, Ahousaht, Hesquiaht, Tla-o-qui-aht, Toquaht, Ucluelet, Ehattesaht, Kyuqout/Checlesaht, Mowachat/Muchalaht, and Nuchatlaht. They share cultural traditions and language but remain distinct nations, each with a hereditary chief. The Nuu-chah-nulth peoples were previously called the Nootka after European colonizers misunderstood…
ID Number:1955.970.470.2
Date:Circa 1900
Image of Moses R. Maddocks posing in studio, Seattle, circa 1875
Photograph

Moses R. Maddocks posing in studio, Seattle, circa 1875

Early Seattle settler Moses R. Maddocks (1833-1919) was born in Maine and worked in logging camps across the country before moving to Port Gamble in 1858. He was elected to the Territorial Legislature in 1863, after which he came to Seattle, was a partner in building the Occidental Hotel, then partnered with Gordon Kellogg in one of Seattle's first drug…
ID Number:1957.1279.6
Date:Circa 1875
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MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
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