Page 47 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Pacific Northwest

THE HIST OR Y OF THE P A CIFIC NOR THWEST  45

in Pioneer Square were destroyed by a
combination of the rioters’ violence
and the effects of the quake.
For the First Nations peoples of the Pacific
Northwest, the 20th century brought gains
as well as losses. Fishing rights were
restored, but the construction of dams
along many rivers destroyed some
traditional fishing grounds and greatly
diminished salmon runs. The casinos on
Mount St. Helens before its cataclysmic explosion
Native lands brought economic benefits to
debate. On the streets of Seattle, in some tribes but not to others. With the
December 1999, more than 30,000 Nisga’a Treaty, drawn up in 2000, the
protested against the World Trade Canadian and BC governments acknow-
Organization and its policies on ledged that 744 sq miles (1,927 sq km) of
multinational corporations, environmental Crown land in northern British Columbia
and labor laws, and subsidies for belongs to the Nisga’a Nation.
developing countries. Keeping the landscape pristine in the
The Pacific Northwest has also had its Pacific Northwest continues to be both a
share of natural disasters in modern times. source of pride and an ongoing bone of
Washington’s Mount St. Helens (see contention. Conservationists fight to curtail
pp196–7) erupted violently in 1980, and lumbering operations and limit growth,
the accompanying earthquake triggered while loggers and ranchers often resist
the largest avalanche in recorded history, government intervention in their affairs.
killing 57 people as well as millions of This conflict between the need to protect
birds, deer, elk, and fish. Floods and the environment and interests in
avalanches devastated parts of Oregon capitalizing on the region’s natural
and Washington in February 1996, as a resources shows no sign of slowing.
result of heavy rains and melting snow
caused by unusually mild temperatures;
the swelling of the Willamette River and
its tributaries forced the evacuation of
residents in low-lying areas, stranded
hundreds of drivers, and resulted in at
least one fatality. On the evening of
February 28, 2001, Seattle was rocked
by a Mardi Gras riot and then a
6.8-magnitude earthquake. The façades
of many of the historic red-brick buildings Airplanes on the Boeing assembly line, Seattle

1962 Seattle’s Century 21 Fair 1999 Protesters 2002 Seattle football and soccer fans
and opening of Space Needle shut down celebrate opening of Seahawks Stadium,
World Trade now CenturyLink Field
1980 Mount St. Helens Mount Organization talks 2010 Vancouver, BC, hosts
erupts in Washington St. Helens in Battle of Seattle Winter Olympic Games
1940 1960 1980 2000 2020
1971 Environmental 1986 Vancouver hosts 2015 The Rocky
group Greenpeace Expo ’86; Microsoft Mountaineer®
founded in Vancouver world headquarters 1995 Amazon. 2000 The Nisga’a Treaty (see p324) cele-
established in com launched awards land in northern brates 25 years
Redmond, Washington from Seattle BC to the Nisga’a Nation of service

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