From the mid-1840s until 1900, the Pacific Northwest transformed from small towns into an urban society. Early on, settlers traveled on foot, by water, and on horseback in the Pacific Northwest; then successively with wagons, stagecoaches, steamboats and sailing ships up to passenger trains. The Pacific Northwest experienced a rapid rate of growth from 1880 to 1890. Between 1859 and 1890, the Pacific Northwest established its state between Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. The growth of travel resources and the increase in immigrants transformed the Pacific Northwest from small towns to an urban society. In 1850, the sidewheel steamer “Columbia,” which began regular service between Astoria and Portland in 1850, was the first steamship to use the Columbia as a common carrier. Half a dozen steamships soon joined her in inland waters, and their numbers increased dramatically after the discovery of gold in the 1860s (Schwantes, 181). In 1857 a Concord carriage was able to complete the fifty-mile run from Portland to Salem in a single trip. day (Schwantes, 183). The California Stage Company was one of the largest organizations of its kind in the United States, establishing regular direct service between Portland and Sacramento in 1860 (Schwantes, 183). Wells, Fargo and Company of San Francisco used an extensive network of stagecoaches and freight lines in the 1860s and 1870s to serve the mining regions of the Interior Northwest (Schwantes, 183). Ben Holladay, the stagecoach king, laid the foundation for his transportation empire in 1862 when he gained control of the stagecoach and boxcar lines that stretched from Salt Lake City to the booming mining camps and supply center of Boise City, Walla Walla and Virginia City, Montana. Holladay sold h......middle of paper......hwantes, 258). In Idaho and Washington State, as previously in the case of Organ, the first months and years of statehood were devoted to perfecting the administrative machinery and creating or adapting state institutions to meet a variety of new circumstances . Idaho, for example, granted women the right to vote in 1896. Washington and Oregon extended the right to vote to women in 1910 and 1912, respectively (Schwantes, 259). cities, travel on foot to build railroads and establish a state. Urban growth increased dramatically from 1880 to 1920. Immigrants from all over Europe and Asia transformed the Pacific Northwest from a pioneer to an urban society. Works Cited Schwwantes, Carlos. "The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History." University of Nebraska. 1996. Print.