Twain's party crossed the Cascades, on the switchbacks, in about two hours. It took six more hours to reach Seattle.
Native Americans were pretty much gone from the area, the Treaty of Point Elliott was one of the major instruments in their removal and confinement in reservations. Some did, however, retain fishing rights.
Seattle had become the western terminus of the Great Western railway, reaching the city in 1893. Four transcontinental railways jostled for position along the waterfront. Japan's Nippon Yusen Kaisha shipping line contracted with the Great Northern in 1896 to begin regular steamship service between Seattle and Japan. J.J. Hill soon had his own ocean liners, the Minnesota and the Dakota, carrying passengers and goods from Smith Cove to China, Japan and the Philippines.
Twain's party transferred to the "Little greyhound of Puget Sound", the Flyer. Twain was not impressed with the baggage handlers. They arrived in Tacoma at five o'clock. The ladies remain there while Major Pond and Twain travel to Portland, Oregon.
The Northern Pacific ran from Seattle to Kalama, where a steam ferry crossed the Columbia River, to Goble.
They reached Portland at 8:22 to find the Marquam Grand packed with a waiting audience and Standing Room Only signs. They depart Portland at 11 am the next day and travel to Olympia. They are both back in Tacoma on the 12th and the entire party in Seattle on the 13th. By the 14th they are in Whatcom, an area that will become Bellingham.
Twain had a bad cold and his throat was in poor condition, but he lectured at the Lighthouse Theater, the fourth floor of a building with no fire escapes.
On the 15th, they are in Vancouver. Because of bad health and other delays, they remain in Vancouver until August 20th, arriving in Victoria around midnight. There he gives two lectures and a speech at a supper club.
August 23, Friday, Sam, Olivia and Clara depart Victoria B.C. on board the R.M.S. Warrimoo, bound for Australia and a journey around the world.
The Treaty of Point Elliott of 1855, is the lands settlement treaty between the United States government and the nominal Native American tribes of the greater Puget Sound region. in the recently formed Washington Territory (March 1853), one of about thirteen treaties between the U.S. and Native Nations in what is now Washington.The treaty was signed on 22 January 1855, at Point Elliott, now Mukilteo (Muckl-te-oh ), Washington, and ratified 8 March and 11 April 1859.
