Top to Bottom: 1. Glacier, 2. Klallam man drying fish, 3. Elinor Chittenden in 1907 with Steelhead on Elwha River (A. Curtis), 4. Construction of Elwha dam in 1911 (NPS), 5. Elwha dam, 6. Construction of Glines Canyon dam in 1927 (NPS) 7. Franklin D. Roosevelt in his car visiting Port Angeles and Olympic National Park.
Timeline:
25,000 years ago – 1940:
25,000-10,000 years ago: The Fraser glaciation occurs and upon receding, the Elwha watershed is created.
Until late 1800's: The Klallam and other tribes inhabited a great deal of the northern Olympic coast and the mouth of the Elwha River, fishing, hunting, clamming and harvesting the lands.
Late 1800's: Port Angeles begins to grow as Euro-American homesteaders arrive and settle the peninsula.
1910 – With financial backing of the Olympic Power Company created by Thomas Aldwell and investors, contruction of Elwha dam begins.
1912 – First gravity dam blows as the reservoir fills. Thomas Aldwell receives more funding to rebuild dam.
1913 – Elwha Dam operational without facilitation for fish passage.
1925 – Construction on Glines Canyon dam begins. No fish passage is provided.
1927 – Glines Canyon Dam operational.
1935 – Washington Congressman Monrad C. Wallgren sponsors a bill for the establishment of a national park on the Olympic Peninsula.
1937 – President Roosevelt's visit to the area in the fall seals the effort for those pushing for establishment of Olympic National Park.
1938 – Congress passed the bill, and with Roosevelt’s signature, Olympic National Park was created on June 29, 1938.
(still under construction) Timeline of the Elwha 1941 – Present
