The Great Migration to the Pacific Northwest
An old pioneer of the Washington Territory returns from Iowa, leading a massive train of hundreds of wagons toward the growing settlements of the Puget Sound.
General Tilton, an old pioneer of this Territory who has held many offices of trust within its borders and is perhaps as well known as any man in this north-western country by the pioneers, is coming hitherward from Iowa, followed by a train of immigrants bound for this Territory. The General was an old surveyor and is perhaps as well acquainted with the different mountains, plains, valleys, rivers, creeks, bays, harbors, towns, and cities as any living man, and is well calculated to be at the head of such a movement. He has on the way five trains with twenty, twenty-three, twenty-five, forty, and fifty-three wagons respectively. Two hundred and fifty wagons drove into Laramie City five days after the arrival of the General's train at that point. This will be a big acquisition to our population. Some of these, however, will settle in Oregon, but the majority will settle and make homes among us.
“This will be a big acquisition to our population.”
In 1878, Seattle was fueled by a massive, organized influx of homesteaders arriving via wagon train, a stark contrast to today’s migration patterns which are driven by high-tech labor and rapid urbanization. While the scale of the movement has shifted from covered wagons to transcontinental flights, the perpetual tension of accommodating a rapidly growing population remains a defining characteristic of the region.
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