Vancouver, Whistler & Vancouver Island - Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest - page 853

20,000 BC
Nomadic people cross a land bridge connecting Asia and North America and disperse south-
ward, becoming the ancestors of today's Native Americans.
c 13,000 BC
Epic glacial floods carve out 4000ft cliffs along an 80-mile section of the Columbia River Gorge.
Eventually the river will stretch to 1243 miles long.
c 5600 BC
Mt Mazama erupts in an explosion estimated to be over 40 times more powerful than Mt St
Helens' in 1980. The subsequent caldera creates what is now Crater Lake.
1543
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's crew are the first Europeans to sight the Pacific Northwest coast.
Cabrillo himself didn't see it, having died along the way.
1792
American Robert Gray finds the elusive mouth of the Columbia River and sails upstream, be-
coming the first non-Native American to do so. He names the river after his ship, theColumbia
Rediviva.
1793
Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie becomes the first European to reach the Pacific Ocean
(north of Mexico) via an overland route. He crosses the Canadian Rockies and reaches present-
day Bella Coola, BC.
1804
The Lewis and Clark Expedition - which consisted of 33 members, including Sacagaw ea -
leaves St Louis, MO, on its journey toward the Pacific Ocean.
1805
Lewis and Clark finally reach the Pacific Ocean after 18 months of traveling. They lay ground-
work that immensely aids future US expansion toward the West.
1811
Pacific Fur Company mogul John Jacob Astor establishes Fort Astoria, the first permanent US
settlement on the Pacific Coast. He later becomes the country's first millionaire.