Washington

Washington is the only state named after a president, and Congress almost changed the name to avoid confusion with Washington, D.C. The proposals went nowhere.

The state became the 42nd to join the Union on November 11, 1889, the same year a pot of boiling glue in a cabinet shop started the Great Seattle Fire, which burned 25 blocks to the ground.

Coast Salish, Yakama, Chinook, Makah, and dozens of other Native peoples lived here for at least 12,000 years. They built sophisticated fishing and trading networks along the Columbia River and Puget Sound, and carved massive cedar longhouses that could stretch hundreds of feet.

Lewis and Clark reached the Pacific coast through Washington in 1805. The U.S. and Britain both claimed the territory until 1846, when they split it along the 49th parallel.

Settlers poured in, and between 1854 and 1856, Governor Isaac Stevens pressured tribes into signing treaties that forced them onto reservations. The Yakima War, Puget Sound War, and other conflicts followed as Native peoples fought to keep their land.

In 1897, a ship carrying gold from Alaska's Klondike docked in Seattle, and the city became the supply hub for the gold rush. The money that poured through helped build Seattle into a major city.

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted and blew 1,300 feet off its own peak. The blast flattened 200 square miles of forest, sent ash 80,000 feet into the sky, and killed 57 people. Don't worry, scientists watch it like a hawk now, and the hiking up there is spectacular.

Hike through the wildflower meadows at Mount Rainier National Park and explore the tide pools at Olympic National Park's coast. Ride the ferry across Puget Sound, and grab fresh salmon or Dungeness crab at Pike Place Market, where fishmongers toss whole fish to each other across the counter.