The Cascade Range runs north to south and includes the state's highest peaks: Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier and Mount Baker. The Cascades divide the state roughly in two. Areas to the west of the mountains, which include Puget Sound, Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula, are well watered and green—the verdant landscape most people associate with the state. East of the mountains, the state is much drier, made up of farmland, rolling hills and areas with desertlike conditions.
The first people to appreciate Washington's landscapes arrived around 13,000 years ago. Later, the Northwest coastal groups (Lummi, Skagit, Twana, Snugualmi, Makah, Klallam, Chinook) who originally occupied western Washington developed an elaborate nonagricultural society similar in style to that of the coastal peoples of British Columbia and southern Alaska. They lived in permanent settlements of timber log houses and relied almost entirely on the region's abundant marine life for food. Like their neighbors to the north, the Native Americans of Washington excelled at woodworking—carving house facades, masks, totems, crests, boats, utensils and other objects.
The British and the Spanish were the first Europeans to explore what is today the state of Washington. Ideally situated for overseas trading and abundant in saleable natural resources, the area was highly coveted by numerous economic leaders. During the mid-1700s, England, Spain and Russia all laid claim to the area. Later, in a tense and barely workable compromise, Britain and the U.S. shared control of the Oregon Territory, as the area was called, for a number of years. The issue was more or less settled with the Treaty of 1846, which set the U.S.-Canadian border at the 49th parallel (U.S. expansionists had rallied under the slogan "54-40 or Fight," which would have set the border well above modern-day British Columbia's most populated areas).
By 1853, the Oregon Territory was subdivided, and the Washington Territory came into existence. Thirty years later, the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad increased the already steady influx of new settlers, enough for U.S. President Benjamin Harrison to welcome Washington as a state in November 1889.
In the past two centuries, Washington has seen its share of prosperous times, first with the timber industry boom of the mid-1800s and more recently with the establishment of huge aerospace-manufacturing and high-tech industries. Washington is home to such powerhouse corporations as Boeing, Microsoft, REI, Amazon.com and Starbucks. But even when boom has turned to bust, the state's marine and agricultural riches have helped it to maintain an even keel. In addition to industry, the state has churned out cultural movements such as the grunge bands of the early 1990s and the coffee culture of the late '90s.
Among Washington's main attractions are spectacular mountains, fishing, Native American culture, Seattle, outdoor activities, the San Juan Islands, the Columbia River Gorge, fresh produce, more than 240 wineries, seafood, temperate rain forests, Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park and Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
It is impossible to walk more than a block or so in the state's large cities, such as Seattle, and not find a coffeehouse.
Those travelers who seek an exciting outdoor-oriented vacation will particularly love Washington. Those who object to frequent rainfall will find the state less to their liking, though the heavy precipitation is characteristic only of the western part of the state.
In 1859, a war nearly erupted between the U.S. and Great Britain after a British pig was shot by a U.S. citizen on San Juan Island. The island was claimed by both nations at the time, and when the pig rooted in the wrong garden, it led to a tense standoff that lasted until the 1870s, when the U.S. took full control of the island.
At Peace Arch State Park (Blaine), a six-story arch straddles the border between the U.S. and Canada. The best time to visit is summer, when thousands of flowers are in bloom on the park grounds.
August in Omak means the annual Omak Stampede and Suicide Race, a competition that began in 1931 and is based on a traditional Native American event called the Downhill Race. In this chaotic event, Native Americans charge their horses down a precipitous hill into the Okanogan River. Serious injuries and dead horses sometimes result.
Tenino is home to Wolf Haven, a sanctuary for wolves. You can join weekend howl-ins, which involve sing-alongs, storytelling and, of course, howling with the wolves.
Near Ellensburg is the Ginkgo Petrified Forest, where you can see what's said to be the world's rarest fossil wood.
Some 300 bald eagles winter at the Skagit River Eagle Preserve in Rockport.
More rhubarb is produced in the Kent-Puyallup valley than anywhere else in the U.S.
In April, fields of tulips unfurl under snowcapped peaks in Skagit Valley, an hour north of Seattle. Dutch and Scandinavians planted the flowers when they settled this picturesque region.
