History of the west coast of North America

The human history of the west coast of North America[1] is believed to stretch back to the arrival of the earliest people over the Bering Strait, or alternately along the ice free coastal islands of British Columbia.

Although the cultures on the west coast of today's Canada and United States are not known to have developed substantial urban centers and sophisticated writing or scientific systems, it is likely that, before European contact, the population density was significantly higher than in the rest of the northern part of the continent.

[11][12] Along the middle reaches of Marsh Creek near the modern day city of Brentwood lies land that was once occupied by the Bay Miwok speaking peoples more specifically the Volvon tribelet.

Observations by researchers suggest that individuals were not interred based on their sex or age, leading some archaeologists to assume a more culturally significant reason.

These practical difficulties discouraged all but the Spanish Empire from making regular visits and establishing settlements and ports until the second half of the 18th century—some 200 years after Europeans first reached the east coast of North America.

These formal acts gave Spain the exclusive rights to colonize the entire Western Hemisphere (excluding eastern Brazil), including all of the west coast of North America.

Confirmation of the land connection, and discovery of this Strait of Anián, were key elements in Spain's efforts to establish direct trade routes with China and other countries in Asia.

[16] From 1533–1535, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés personally sponsored and financed exploratory sailing voyages north from Acapulco, in a search for legendary riches reported to be in the site of today's California.

[17] In 1539, another voyage financed and sponsored by Cortés, and led by Francisco de Ulloa, embarked on an expedition in three small vessels, sailing north from Acapulco to explore the Pacific Coast, and to seek the Strait of Anián.

Unable to find the Strait of Anián, Ulloa turned south and sailed along the eastern coast of the Baja California peninsula, landing at the Bay of La Paz.

After much difficulty, the larger number of these ships (under the command of Ruy López de Villalobos) was ordered to make the first crossing of the Pacific Ocean from North America to the Philippines.

But Cabrillo died on January 3, 1543, and the remainder of the exploration was led by Bartolomé Ferrer, who sailed perhaps as far north as the Rogue River in today's western coast of Oregon.

[24][25] When Miguel López de Legazpi completed the conquest of the Philippines in 1565, he sent his flagship, the San Pedro, back to New Spain, with orders to survey and chart a practicable route for ships returning from the Islands.

This route was charted by the Basque navigator and friar Andrés de Urdaneta,[26] on board the San Pedro, and for nearly three centuries was the one followed by the galleons of Spain sailing from Manila to Acapulco.

[25][27][28] In 1585, Captain Francisco de Gali, on the return voyage from the Philippines, via Macao,[29] was directed to sail as far north as the weather would permit, and then east, and upon reaching the coast of California to make maps on his journey south.

It has been speculated that the reasons San Blas was chosen included that it was a week's sailing closer than Acapulco to the intended destination sites in California, that it was not far from the capital of New Spain, and perhaps more importantly, it had ready access to tropical hardwoods that would be needed to build the ships for the strenuous voyages as far north as today's Alaska.

In the early 19th century, fur trappers of the Russian Empire explored the west coast of North America, hunting for sea otter pelts as far south as San Diego.

In the late 18th century, Spain reacted to the increasing Russian and British presence in the Pacific Northwest by sending exploratory expeditions along the coast as far north as Alaska.

In Acapulco, Malaspina took over two schooners, the Sutil and Mexicana, placed them under the command of one of his officers, Dionisio Alcalá Galiano, and had them sail north to explore the Strait of Georgia.

The primary beneficiary of this agreement was the Hudson's Bay Company, which, in 1825, established a major trading post at Fort Vancouver across the Columbia River just north of today's Portland, Oregon.

From this headquarters, Company fur trappers spread throughout the Pacific Northwest, extending as far east as the Rocky Mountains and, by using the Siskiyou Trail, as far south as California's Central Valley.

In 1841, the United States Exploring Expedition visited the west coast of North America by ship, and sent an overland party down the Siskiyou Trail, from the site of today's Portland, Oregon, to San Francisco.

The formal delineation of the international border had not completely allayed Britain's fears of losing its Pacific territories, especially as it continued to lag behind the western United States in population and development.

The countries of Central America continued to struggle politically during this time (with perhaps the notable exception of Costa Rica), and began to expand agriculture, particularly in coffee and bananas with investment and substantial control by the United States.

Following Alaska's admission to the Union in 1959, military spending, the development of Cook Inlet oil industry, and rebuilding after the 1964 earthquake fueled the state's economic growth in the 1960s.

Unlike other areas of the United States, the western economies were not based upon manufacturing and the great deindustrialization of the 1970s and 1980s did little to hurt the region—creating an imbalance between rapid growth in the west and stagnation or decline in the east.

During this period, the west coast departed from positions held in the FDR years and moved toward the direction of conservatism with the population favoring lower taxes.

Nonetheless, the great port cities of San Francisco and Vancouver both fostered alternative views, acting as centers for environmentalism, unions, feminism, and gay rights.

California, Washington, and Oregon were pivotal in Bill Clinton's two presidential victories as well as Al Gore and John Kerry's near wins in 2000 and 2004 respectively; however, Alaska voted against all three candidates.

Inland, rural regions of California remained staunchly Republican, and although once full of labour strongholds, the Interior of British Columbia has voted solidly for the Reform Party and its successors.