Junius Rochester, whose family has shaped the city for many generations, is an award-winning Northwest historian and author of numerous books about Seattle and other places.
Port Townsend hoped that the Northern Pacific Railroad Company would choose it as their western terminus, snaking up the west side of Puget Sound to be closer to the Pacific Ocean. When Tacoma won the railroad prize, residents of Port Townsend turned to the prospect of grain shipments from the Columbia River as the key to Key City.
At the first official meeting of the Outing Club in July, 1906, several signatories would have long and important roles in the growth of the University of Washington. They included F.M. Padelford, Judge J.T. Ronald, Henry Landes, and William Savery. Later, Pulitzer Prize winner and influential literary critic
In 1805-1806, Lewis and Clark, Thomas Jefferson’s intrepid travelers, first charted the Gorge’s path and wonders.  Later, trappers, voyageurs, and missionaries followed and mapped and described new details of this unique highway.
Washington was placed by the wine gods between 30 degrees and 50 degrees latitude north and south of the equator – the historic region for grape growing in Europe.Â
When Seattle attorney and scholar Alfred J. Schweppe, age 93, died in April of 1988, his name was high in the legal firmament, and beyond. He had seemingly touched the lives of most Washington state residents.
Nard Jones once wrote: "It's a hick show that has nothing to do with Seattle's traditions." With tongue in cheek, Jones recommended that Greater Seattle leaders be strapped into the cockpits of old hydroplanes: "set the throttle wide and aim at the log boom. The crowd would love it."