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The History for Control over the Pacific Northwest

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Throughout the history for control over the Pacific Northwest many battles were fought. We found the ancestors of our families to be taken by surprise of the many actions we took. Many different tribes had established long lasting communities in the 18th century. Such as the Chinook, Salish and Nez Perce etc. The land was spread throughout the cascades through the Rocky Mountains. Years of torment and battle began from the Spanish and British explorers looking for the land. They searched for what they could not find at home, most of them having no idea what to expect when they arrived. In 1792, Captain George Vancouver was the first explorer to sail the waters of Puget Sound, claiming British sovereignty over the entire region. But he was not the only captain to have found the Pacific Northwest. Captain Robert Gray found the Columbia River and soon after Lewis and Clark made their way down the Rockies and the river as well. Many different explorers wanted to capture and take control of the land they didn’t own. They knew that the task was not one that would be easy. Lots of different explorers faced the task of removing the Natives as well as the other Countries fighting for the land. The settlers soon began to realize the opportunities they had in front of them. Explorers from Spain, England, Russia, and the new United States, looked with interest toward the Northwest. A major goal of the explorers was to discover the so-called "Northwest Passage" to the Pacific Ocean.

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