"An Outlet to the Western Sea": Puget Sound, Terraqueous Mobility, and Northern Pacific Railroad's Pursuit of Trade with Asia, 1864–1892. Issue 4 (27th September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fraga, Sean
• Is Part Of: Western historical quarterly. Volume 51:Issue 4(2020)
• Page Start: 439
• Page End: 458
• Publication Date: 2020-09-27
• Subjects: West (U.S.) -- History -- Periodicals; United States, West; Histoire; Amérique du Nord (Ouest); Electronic journals; History; Periodicals; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 978.005
• DOI: 10.1093/whq/whaa114
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1939-8603

Abstract

Abstract: The Northern Pacific Railroad saw Puget Sound harbors as environments uniquely suited to connect the North American interior with the Pacific Ocean and enable U.S. trade with East Asia. But in building the physical infrastructure to link transcontinental trains with transpacific ships, Northern Pacific significantly altered Commencement Bay's shoreline and displaced Puyallups from their traditional territory. The articles uses a terraqueous perspective, emphasizing movement between terrestrial and aqueous environments, to demonstrate how U.S. pursuit of transpacific trade shaped the North American West.