The area now occupied by the city of Seattle was settled by the Duwamish people during the last ice age; almost 10,000 years ago. George Vancouver, an English captain in the Royal Navy, was the first European to land in the area during a 1792 charting expedition. Seattle was incorporated in 1862 and is named after Chief Si'ahl, a Duwamish tribal leader. Seattle is the largest American city in the Pacific Northwest.
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The first capital of North Carolina, New Bern, had become open to British attack during the Revolutionary War and provided incentive for finding a less vulnerable site. The state legislature purchased 1,000 acres of land and began laying out a new city in 1792; the first session of the state’s general assembly met in their new capital in 1794. The city was named in honor of Walter Raleigh, an English explorer.
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Dallas was established near the Trinity River in 1841. By the 1860’s, a stage line had connected the town and a railway link from the south was nearing completion. It became a leading center for transporting grain and cotton, serving as the largest inland cotton market in the United States. Dallas emerged from its agricultural roots in the early 20th century to become a banking and industrial metropolis.
