65 Million Years Ago: Oregon and Washington were islands positioned far out to sea. 1543: Spanish explorers first spot the Oregon Coast. 1765: British Major Robert Rogers uses the name "Ouragon" in a proposal to explore the country west of the Mississippi. 1776: The Constitution of the United States is written. 1788: Marcus Lopez, cabin boy of Captain Robert Gray, becomes first person of African descent known to have set foot on Oregon soil. 1792: The first non-native explorers venture to the mouth of the Columbia River which is named after the explorer Robert Gray's ship. 1805: Explorers Clark and Lewis arrive in Oregon. 1818: The United States and Britain agree on "joint occupancy" for the Oregon Country. 1819: The Adams-Onis Treaty establishes the 42nd parallel as the southern boundary of the Oregon Country. 1830: Epidemics strike many bands of Oregon Indians, killing thousands along the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. 1844: Slavery is declared illegal in the Oregon Country. 1847: Peter Guild claims Guild's Lake area. 1848: The Oregon Country is made a United States territory. 1853: The Washington Territory is named and created north of the Oregon Country. 1859: Oregon granted statehood. 1861: The Civil War begins in the East. 1865: The Civil War ends at Apomattox Courthouse. 1866: Oregon's citizens do not pass the Fourteenth Amendment, granting citizenship to blacks. 1867: Swan Island bar is dredged, mouth of Willamette deepened to 17 feet. 1868: Fourteenth Amendment passes in Oregon. 1873: Rail lines are first built through Guild's Lake area. 1888: Northern Pacific Railroad purchases embankment along Willamette River. First railroad bridge is built over the Willamette River. 1889: Washington gains statehood. 1900: Planning for Portland World's Fair begins. 1904: St Louis World's Fair. 1905: Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition. 1909: Seattle hosts Yukon World's Fair. 1914: Archduke Francis Ferdinand is assissinated and World War I begins. 1918: World War I ends. 1921: Montgomery Ward Building completed. 1923: First switching terminal installed in Guild's Lake area. 1927: West channel of Swan Island reaches 33 feet in depth. 1929: Stock market crash initiates America's Great Depression. 1929: Guilds Lake is completely filled in. 1933: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt begins implementation of his "New Deal" to boost the failing economy. 1934: International Longshoremens Association Waterfront Strike. 1939: Bonneville dam is constructed on the Columbia River. 1939: New York World's Fair. 1937: The Housing Authority of Portland (HAP) is created. 1941: Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, The United States officially declares war on Japan and enters World War II. 1942: Portland is established as a prominent ship building center. 1945: World War II ends. 1948: The Vanport flood devistates the lower Willamette lowlands. 1948: Housing Authority of Portland approves removing residential area for industrial occupation. 1950: The Korean War begins. 1953: July 27th Armistice ends the Korean War. 1961:Yuri Gagarin is the first human to orbit the Earth. 1962: Seattle hosts World's Fair. 1963: American involvement in The Vietnam War begins. 1964: Forestry Building burns down. 1964: New York hosts World's Fair. 1969: Neil Armstrong is the first man to step foot on the moon. 1971: 2nd Major International Longshoremen's Association strike at Guild's Lake. 1976: North and South Vietnam are united and the Vietnam War ends. 1979: Construction of apartment complex on former site of forestry building. 1980: Mount St. Helens erupts with a blast 500 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. 1984: Montgomery Ward building is purchased by H. Naito Properties. 1991: The Gulf War begins, lasts only 42 days. 1996: Hundred year flood overfills the Willamett's banks. 1999: Lower Columbia River Chinook Salmon are placed on the endangered species list. 2001: Guild's Lake Industrial Sanctuary Plan is implemented. 2001: September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. 2003: The Iraq War begins. |