The History Of The Olympic Peninsula

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The Olympic Peninsula is in the upper northeast corner of Washington State. The Pacific Ocean, Strait of Juan de Fuca and Hood Canal border the extensive forests, mountains, and beaches that contributes to a pristine environment. Right in the center of the Olympic Peninsula is the Olympic National Park. President Franklin Roosevelt designated this area the Olympic National Park in 1938 after he acknowledged the need to preserve such unspoiled land. Unfortunately he made an effort far too late because settlers and entrepreneurs with industrialist ideologies made their mark on the untouched land in 1910.
In the late 1800s Seattle, then the heart of the industrialized Olympic Peninsula saw many changes. Industrialization is not a cheap endeavor for cities so Seattle contracted workers from China. White and Native Americans saw the Chinese as labor competition and prejudices quickly developed. Victor Smith, head and founder of the Puget Sound Cooperate Colony and emerging entrepreneur opposed the new labor force so greatly that he decided to move to an area where he could attain and retain more power. In 1862 Smith was given permission by President Abraham Lincoln to set aside 3,520 acres of raw land in the upper most corner of Washington State. The same year Port Angeles was established as a city, Thomas Aldwell another entrepreneur arrived by steamboat into the recently established community - Aldwell traveled with a vision to harness uncharted lands.
With no consideration for the native Lower Elwha Klallam tribe of the Olympic Peninsula, Aldwell and Smith began to advance their industrialization plans. Aldwell secretly acquired rights to the Elwha River in the Olympic National Park and it is said he purchased the lan...

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...dly will the importance and dependence remain? Based on the tribe’s resilience in fighting any opposition and retaining traditional values, the importance of the river will not decline. Even as society has shifted from traditional tribal life to the modern world, there has been minimal cultural decline except in cultural language retention. Although there is no longer physical dependence on the river to feed an entire tribe, there is still emotional dependence. As long as elders continue to pass down stories with important values children will continue to protect their land. Other than environmental groups, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe is responsible for the major push to preserve the Olympic National Park’s most significant river. The strong ideology and political push of the Klallam tribe was responsible for the biggest dam removal to date in the United States.

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