History of the Pacific Northwest

History of the Pacific Northwest

This Podcast is an exploration of the Pacific Northwest, and its fascinating history of exploration, pioneering, and experimentation. History and storytelling as well as the occasional interview.

Episodes

October 6, 2025 58 mins

Lewis and Clark make there way out from Fort Mandan.  Truly a different Corps of Discovery was leaving the Mandan villages than had left Camp Dubois the previous Spring.  Moving towards the headwaters of the Missouri, and later the Pacific, some of the biggest surprises were in store for the Corps of Discovery!

 

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Mike Nolan is a retired school guidance counselor and has taken up writing to fill his days.  His first book is a memoir entitled Hardhat Days: My Reeducation In Seattle's Shipyards.  It is a close look into the world of heavy construction in the late 1970s, but there is more to it than that.  Mike reinvents himself as he struggles to find his footing after graduating from Gonzaga University.  Though not his dream job, Mike found h...

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August 30, 2025 60 mins

I'm back with part 2 of our series on Lewis and Clark!  Here we will witness the party build members and Meriwether Lewis and William Clark meet face to face in Clarksville Indiana, venture to St Louis, and up the Missouri River to the Mandan Villages.

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October 13, 2024 48 mins

The Corps of Discovery treked over 3,000 miles to cross Continental North America.  There mission was to collect information, map a navigable route to the Pacific, and secure the United States interest in its expansion.  Without Lewis and Clark, the Oregon territory may have been a part of Canada instead.  How did this amazing journey happen?  Tune in as we begin part 1 of a series on the dynamic duo of Captains Meriwether Lewis an...

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February 20, 2024 36 mins

The Final episode in our series on the Columbia.  In this episode we will explore the most important moment of Robert Gray's career, analyze the man who was the first American to sail around the world, as well as catch up with Kendrick, and close the book on this exciting tale!

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January 14, 2024 20 mins

Continuing the fur trading ventures of the ship Columbia.  In this episode, Robert Gray departs as the commander of the expedition.  He reunites with an old comrade and finds himself in his most dangerous situation yet...

 

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December 14, 2023 15 mins

In this episode, Robert Gray finally returns home to Boston.  He arrived as the first American to circumnavigate the world, and would leave Boston again to change Pacific Northwest History

Attoo's Mahiole (feathered helmet)

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November 22, 2023 16 mins

A new trading season began in the Spring of 1789.  Gray was determined to make this venture work and bring a bundle of furs to the Chinese Markets.  The British were still in the are, but Gray would find himself on the brink of an international incident when our old friend Jose Esteban Martinez came to Nootka Sound.

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November 11, 2023 15 mins

We continue to follow the expedition of John Kendrick and Robert Gray.  When last we left them, they had rounded Cape Horn but were separated.  Robert Gray was bent on reaching Nootka Sound alone and carrying out his mission.

 

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October 25, 2023 13 mins

Robert Gray would become the first American to circumnavigate the globe as well as the 1st non-native to sail a ship up the Columbia River.  His exploits would increase American claims to the Pacific Northwest substantially.  It all started with an expedition under the leadership of John Kendrick in a venture to trade for valuable sea otter furs in Nootka Sound.

 

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October 11, 2023 12 mins

John Meares was attempting to avoid fines and fees and establish a trading post at Nootka Sound for his own profit and the British Empire.  Jose Esteban Martinez was on his way to erect a fort at the same place.  The two empires would nearly come to war due to the events that followed.

 

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After Captain Cook's voyage into Nootka Sound, a burgeoning fur trade immerged.  Sailors from Russia, Spain, Great Britain, and the United States would sail to Nootka in search of Sea Otter Pelts.  World empires would vie to claim Nootka Sound for their own which would lead to a controversy between Spain and Great Britain that almost embroiled Europe in a full scale war.

 

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September 6, 2023 22 mins

The life of Captain Cook is an impressive one, and he is perhaps one of the greatest navigators to have ever lived.  His final voyage of exploration was to be extremely consequential for the Pacific Northwest.  His crew traded with the people of Nootka Sound for Sea Otter pelts which would come to be known as "soft gold" and would become a major trade good.

 

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August 23, 2023 18 mins

With word of Russian fur trapping in the Aleutian Islands as well as the establishment of colonies in Alaska, Spain became very nervous about its place in North America.  The viceroyalty decided to organize expeditions up the Pacific Coast to map the region, search for natural resources, and find places to settle.

 

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August 9, 2023 16 mins

In the 1700s, Russia was on the move and keen on keeping up with the other powers in Europe.  What started as a voyage to discover the Strait of Anian, led to the establishment of Russian colonies in Alaska, as well as a state chartered fur company.  Russia's new dominion would make the Spanish nervous and redirect their attention north to the Pacific Northwest.

 

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July 26, 2023 16 mins

While the Spanish had dominated South America, the British were establishing a presence in North America.  It was in Hudson Bay that the Titan of the fur trade, the Hudson's Bay Company, was founded.  That fur trade empire would extend its reach across much of North America, and lead the British to establish a claim to the Pacific Northwest.

 

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Before any other European power, Spain claimed all of North America as part of its empire.  They felt secure in the protections granted by the Treaty of Tordesillas.  However, other European powers would come to challenge Spain.  Among those challengers was Sir Francis Drake, whose privateering expeditions led him to be the first European to set eyes upon the Pacific Northwest.

 

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June 28, 2023 23 mins

Native Americans lived and developed complex civilizations in both North and South America and lived there for over 10,000 years before ever coming into contact with Europeans.  The Pacific Northwest was home to many different tribes who lived according to their environment.  This episode will explore the three distinct Native American Cultural Groups that lived in the Northwest.

 

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June 16, 2023 16 mins

Welcome to History of the Pacific Northwest!  In this very first episode we will look at the Geographic makeup of the Pacific Northwest as well as what the main focus of this podcast will be.  The Pacific Northwest story is a long one that reaches far beyond the borders of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

 

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