Economics of the PNW before 1900

* What next?

- by 1840, fur trade was wrapping up

- pioneers were pouring into the Willamette Valley

-> doing basic farming, but creating a base for larger

industry

- Economic troubles and hope for good land pushed people West

from back East

-> big swells of settlers as a result of periodic crashes

-> Homesteading

=> 160 acres for $1.25 an acre

- routes made the trip easier

-> Oregon Trail

-> Transcontinental railroads

* Mining

- coal

-> San Francisco and steam ships needed coal

=> Bellingham, Black Diamond, Issaquah, Renton were some

coal fields in the area

- gold

-> California gold strikes in 1849 pushed prospectors all

over the West

-> some gold found in Idaho, Eastern Washington

- lead, zinc, silver also found in Idaho

- mining brought growth

-> farmers cold sell produce

-> small towns grew to service the miners

=> barkeeps, bankers, and madams built local fortunes

=> capital could be invested locally

-> busted miners settled down as residents

=> Chinese immigrants also settled down

-> Native American pushed onto smaller and smaller

reservations as even mountains became off-limits

* Fishing

- Salmon processing early on

-> 1886 purse seine nets

-> Salmon usually smoked or canned

=> 1867 first cannery in Eagle Cliffs, Washington

=> sold in San Francisco, China, Australia, and South

America

=> canneries often used large numbers of Chinese laborers